In the past it seems the hero that uses his intellect to solve the lands problem was more common than it is now. Even the strongest greek heroes often used wit. In the first Greek myth Rhea helps her son Zeus defeat his father, her husband through planning and trickery.
There are many archetypes this kind of hero can fit into including Orphan, Seeker, Creator, Ruler, and Sage. This hero type is most likely succesful because they are able to hone their skills to fit almost any situation. They are able to reason, justify, discover and outwit.
Now a more common hero is centered around the hero archetype. We send our warriors, soldiers, to defeat possible threats and procure resources. Our defenders, police officers, focus more on stopping crime than avoiding it all together. We put more funding into capturing and punishing our criminals than into preventing their development.
Today in our movies we admire the hero who shoots or slashes his way to victory. Even in "The Book of Eli" a man must strike down his enemies in order to protect The Bible a book that preaches co-existence and gives us guidelines on how to live peacefully. This archetype of a warrior who destroys the danger surrounds us. Young people admire fictional characters that are strong, tough, and violent. There isn't anything wrong with movies that have a physically gifted person as the hero. In fact many people love superhero movies which are often violent for the greater good. Violence simply isn't the ideal. Movies are for the most part used for entertainment. I certainly don't believe we should do away with violent movies, I believe we need an equally strong presence of clever heroes.
In our U.S. Culture the intellectual is seen as a weak person. Boys are encouraged to be strong and physically fit. Strength is a good and useful trait to have but smart people are much more versatile and applicable.
We could learn from the great heroes of the past that we can succeed by brain power. We need to use ideas to solve our problems, even ones we have presented to ourselves such as global warming and economic trouble. As Edward Bulwer-Lytton said "The pen is mightier than the sword." I take this to mean that a person can use words and ideas to conquer any threats.
