Talk:Folk hero

Seems like an obvious addition in keeping with some of the other American figures- if we're including Bonny & Clyde, can't really leave him out. 72.227.98.109 (talk) 09:18, 30 January 2015 (UTC)Reply[reply]

All of these entries are public figures who are documented in the international media. This makes them unlikely to be "folk heros" in the sense of someone who is likely to become the subject of folk tales and to achieve mythic qualities similar to the other folk heros mentioned in the article.

The individuals listed above may be popular "heroes of the people" but that is, IMO, another category that is quite different from the concept being presented in this article.

I can see arguments for and against including Marvin Heemeyer in this article. The major argument in favor of inclusion is the fact that so many people seem to want to recast his Wikipedia article into a hagiography of him as a popular hero. The major argument against inclusion is the question of whether his status as a folk hero has been documented outside of the Internet. Here is a mention of his "Internet folk hero" status in the Boston Globe. [1]. Note the sentence: "Websites sprung up celebrating Heemeyer as a folk hero and patriot." Nonetheless, the question is whether Heemeyer has made enough of an impression on the popular consciousness to warrant an entry here. I'm open to debating this question.

I've removed Heemeyer. He is repeatedly being pushed as a "folk hero" on various hero-related Wikipedia articles. However, it's not Wikipedia's place to make such a call, and this will really need the test of time to see if he is ever really considered a folk hero. Thoughts? --Ckatz^chat_spy 00:24, 22 April 2007 (UTC)Reply[reply]

At the very least, we could have this article and one or more lists (e.g. List of American folk heroes. Alternatively, we could have one or more categories. In any event, the intro paragraphs would stay here as a definition of what a folk hero is but it seems to me that there are better ways in Wikipedia to build lists. --Richard 19:02, 28 November 2006 (UTC)Reply[reply]