Have you noticed how films now turn on one hinge? They either portray protagonists as ironic pastiches of former protagonists or they make the protagonist full of human flaws. A hero is now to be revealed in all his messy humanness or he is not to be taken seriously. Bond must show his emotional dark side, his history; Superman and all his superhero friends must make their strength a result of their weakness. Take Tom Cruise’s film, Knight and Day, a silly romp in which death is funny, love is shallow and character is abolished. Then take The American, George Clooney’s film about the last days of an assassin. Clooney’s character is flawed (he kills nearly everyone he meets). But a…