- Read the explanation below about The Hero's Journey inspired by Joseph Campbell's research on mythology and then the short discussion on archetypes by Carl Jung.
- Next choose a film and identify the archetypes portrayed within the film. Refer to the archetypes discussed by Carl Jung below.
- As you identify the archetypes, have a discussion--not a list-- on how the film shares similarities with the stages of the hero's journey according to Joseph Campbell's work. YOU MAY NOT USE A WORK NOTED IN THE DISCUSSION BELOW--such as The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars etc. . . .
- Finally, respond to one classmate's posting and discuss to what extent you agree or disagree with their analysis.
Warning, at this point if you are not having some kind of discussion with significant commentary to your peer, then you will not receive credit for your response to a peer. So please work at thinking. Look for similarities within another film that might be close to the one your peer analyzed or compose a polite disagreement. Just please have something intelligent to say other than the fact that you agree with their analysis or not. Learning the art of conversation on paper will make the difference between an AP score of a 3 or a 4. So please really stretch the manner in which you respond to your peer.
First Posting Due: Monday, September 23 (50 Points)
Response to a Classmate Due: Friday, September 27 (20 Points)
THE HERO’S JOURNEY
Joseph Campbell, an American psychologist and mythological researcher, wrote a famous book entitled The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In his lifelong research Campbell discovered many common patterns running through hero myths and stories from around the world. Years of research lead Campbell to discover several basic stages that almost every hero-quest goes through (no matter what culture the myth is a part of). He calls this common structure "the monomyth."
George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, claims that Campbell’s monomyth was the inspiration for his groundbreaking films. Lucas also believes that Star Wars is such a popular saga because it taps into a timeless story-structure which has existed for thousands of years.
Many followers of Campbell have defined the stages of his monomyth in various ways, sometimes supplying different names for certain stages. For this reason there are many different versions of the Hero’s Journey that retain the same basic elements. THE ORDINARY WORLD
Heroes exist in a world is considered ordinary or uneventful by those who live there. Often the heroes are considered odd by those in the ordinary world and possess some ability or characteristic that makes them feel out-of-place, such as:
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Dorothy in Kansas
The Hobbit: Bilbo Baggins in Hobbiton
Star Wars: Luke Skywalker on Tatooine
The Lion King: Simba at Pride Rock
THE CALL TO ADVENTURE For heroes to begin their journeys, they must be called away from the ordinary world. Fantastic quests don’t happen in everyday life. Heroes must be removed from their typical environment. Most heroes show a reluctance to leave their home, their friends, and their life to journey on a quest. But in the end they accept their destiny.
Usually there is a discovery, some event, or some danger that starts them on the heroic path. Heroes find a mystic object or discover their world is in danger. In some cases, heroes happen upon their quest by accident. Campbell puts it like this, "A blunder—the merest chance—reveals an unsuspected world."
The new world the hero is forced into is much different than the old one. Campbell describes this new world as a "fateful region of both treasure and danger… distant land, a forest, a kingdom underground, beneath the waves, or above the sky, a secret island, lofty mountaintop, or profound dream state… place of strangely fluid and polymorphous beings, unimaginable torments, superhuman deeds, and impossible delight". This description may seem pretty vague, but think of all the various fantasy realms characters have entered throughout the years: Middle-Earth, Oz, Narnia, Wonderland. It could even be outer space, a haunted house, or the Matrix. Regardless of the details, the new world is sure to be filled with adventure. For example, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The tornado ; The Hobbit: Gandalf the wizard arrives; Star Wars: R2D2’s cryptic message.
REFUSAL OF THE QUEST During the Call to Adventure heroes are given a task or quest which only they can complete. They are faced with a choice: accept the quest or deny it. Their choice might seem like a no-brainer. If they don’t accept the quest, there won’t be much of a story—or will there? Actually there are stories where heroes don’t accept their destinies. When this happens, the stage is set for disaster. There’s a reason why the powers-that-be have chosen a particular hero. A refusal of the quest only brings trouble.
King Minos, the monarch of Crete who antagonizes the Greek hero Theseus, does not do what the gods ask of him. Poseidon, Lord of the Seas, sends him a beautiful white bull. The god’s only order is that Minos must sacrifice the creature back to him. After seeing the magnificent beast, Minos decides he just can’t bring himself to do what the god asks and keeps the bull as a personal trophy.
Enraged, Poseidon vows revenge and causes Minos’ wife to burn with lust for her husband’s prized beast. The rest of this story is strictly NC-17. It results in the birth of the Minotaur, a creature half-bull, half-human, a curse to his father King Minos.
Campbell notes that heroes who refuse their quest often become characters in need of rescuing or in Minos’ case, the villain of another hero’s journey. For example, in Star Wars: Luke refuses the quest until he learns his aunt and uncle are dead; The Lion King: Simba refuses to return to Pride Rock and accept his destiny Groundhog Day: Example of the negative cycle caused by refusing the call
ACCEPTING THE CALL:
Once the adventure is accepted, the heroes advance into the next stage of their journey.
ENTERING THE UNKNOWN As they embark on their journey, the heroes enter a world they have never experienced before. Very often it is filled with supernatural creatures, breathtaking sights, and the constant threat of death. Unlike the heroes’ home, this outside world has its own rules, and they quickly learns to respect these rules as their endurance, strength, and mettle are tested time and time again. After all, it is not the end of the journey which teaches, but the journey itself.
The Wizard of Oz: Dorothy must learn the rules of Oz
The Matrix: Neo must come to grips with the realities and unrealities of the Matrix SUPERNATURAL AID
Supernatural doesn’t have to mean magical. There are plenty of hero stories that don’t have wizards or witches per say. Supernatural simply means "above the laws of nature." Heroes are almost always started on their journey by a character who has mastered the laws of the outside world and come back to bestow this wisdom upon them. This supernatural character often gives them the means to complete the quest. Some of the time the gift is simply wisdom. Other times it is an object with magical powers. In every instance it is something the hero needs to succeed. As Campbell says, "One has only to know and trust, and the ageless guardians will appear." The job of the supernatural assistor is to give the heroes what they need to finish the quest—not finish it for them.
The Hobbit: Gandalf Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi
Cinderella: Fairy Godmother
TALISMAN:
A Special (and often magical) items that assist the heroes on their quest.
The Wizard of Oz: Ruby Slippers
The Hobbit: The Ring
Star Wars: Lightsaber
ALLIES/HELPERS
Every hero needs a helper, much like every superhero needs a sidekick. Without the assistance of their companions and helpers along the way, most heroes would fail miserably. For example, in the Greek hero story of Theseus, Minos’ daughter Ariadne, after falling hopelessly in love, helps Theseus navigate the Labyrinth. She does this by holding one end of a golden thread while Theseus works his way inward to slay the Minotaur. Without her help, Theseus would never have fulfilled his quest or found his way out of the maze once he did so.
Lord of the Rings: Samwise Gamgee
The Wizard of Oz: The Tin Woodsman, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion
TESTS & THE SUPREME ORDEAL The heroes progress through a series of tests, a set of obstacles that make them stronger, preparing them for their final showdown. At long last they reach the Supreme Ordeal, the obstacle they have journeyed so far to overcome.
All the heroes’ training and toil comes into play now. The journey has hardened them, and it’s time for them to show their prowess. Once this obstacle is overcome, the tension will be relieved. The worst is passed, and the quest, while not officially over, has succeeded. Star Wars: Blowing up the Death Star
Lord of the Rings: Mount Doom
The Wizard of Oz: Defeating the Wicked Witch
REWARD AND THE JOURNEY HOME
Typically, there is a reward given to heroes for passing the Supreme Ordeal. It could be a kingdom. It could be the hand of a beautiful princess. It could be the Holy Grail. Whatever it is, it is a reward for the heroes’ endurance and strength.
After the heroes complete the Supreme Ordeal and have the reward firmly in hand, all that is left is for them to return home. Just because the majority of the adventure has passed doesn’t mean that the return journey will be smooth sailing. There are still lesser homebound obstacles to overcome. The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Hobbiton
MASTER OF TWO WORLDS/ RESTORING THE WORLD Success on the heroes’ quest is life-changing, for them and often for many others. By achieving victory, they have changed or preserved their original world. Often they return with "the exilir," an object or personal ability that allows them to save their world.
The heroes have also grown in spirit and strength. They have proved themselves worthy for marriage, kingship, or queenship. Their mastery of the outside world qualifies them to be giants in their own. Lord of the Rings: Frodo saves the Shire
The Wizard of Oz: Dorothy rids Oz of the Wicked Witch
THE MONOMYTH: NOT JUST FOR MYTHOLOGY While Joseph Campbell’s monomyth works best with the traditional form of the quest—folk and fairy tales, myths, legends, and other fantasies—it can be applied to many different genres or types of stories. A quest does not have to include swords and monsters. It can just as easily occur in the real world. The monomyth, ageless and universal, exists anywhere and everywhere.
ARCHETYPES APPEARING IN THE HERO’S JOURNEY
Joseph Campbell was heavily influenced by the Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung whose theory of the collective unconscious involved archetypes—recurring images, patterns, and ideas from dreams and myths across various cultures. Below are several archetypes often found in myths.
HEROES: Central figures in stories. Everyone is the hero of his or her own myth.
SHADOWS: Villains, enemies, or perhaps the enemy within. This could be the repressed possibilities of the hero, his or her potential for evil.
MENTORS: The hero’s guide or guiding principles.
HERALD: The one who brings the Call to Adventure. This could be a person or an event.
THRESHOLD GUARDIANS: The forces that stand in the way at important turning points, including jealous enemies, professional gatekeepers, or even the hero’s own fears and doubts.
SHAPESHIFTERS: In stories, creatures like vampires or werewolves who change shape. In life, the shapeshifter represents change.
TRICKSTERS: Clowns and mischief-makers.
ALLIES: Characters who help the hero throughout the quest.
WOMAN AS TEMPTRESS: Sometimes a female character offers danger to the hero (a femme fatale)
Mythology Teacher.Com. Jan. 21, 2103. Web
http://www.mythologyteacher.com/documents/TheHeroJourney.pdf
- Read the explanation above about The Hero's Journey inspired by Joseph Campbell's research on mythology and then the short discussion on archetypes by Carl Jung.
- Next choose a film and identify the archetypes portrayed within the film. Refer to the archetypes discussed by Carl Jung below.
- As you identify the archetypes, have a discussion--not a list-- on how the film shares similarities with the stages of the hero's journey according to Joseph Campbell's work. YOU MAY NOT USE A WORK NOTED IN THE DISCUSSION BELOW--such as The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars etc. . . .
- Finally, respond to one classmate's posting and discuss to what extent you agree or disagree with their analysis.
Warning, at this point if you are not having some kind of discussion with significant commentary to your peer, then you will not receive credit for your response to a peer. So please work at thinking. Look for similarities within another film that might be close to the one your peer analyzed or compose a polite disagreement. Just please have something intelligent to say other than the fact that you agree with their analysis or not. Learning the art of conversation on paper will make the difference between an AP score of a 3 or a 4. So please really stretch the manner in which you respond to your peer.
First Posting Due: Monday, September 23 (50 Points)
Response to a Classmate Due: Friday, September 27 (20 Points)
The HeroŹ»s Journey
ReplyDeleteAfter reading and analyzing “The HeroŹ»s Journey, the first film I thought of immediately was Lost. It was a television show that aired on ABC from 2004-2010. The plot of the show is that random humans (or so they thought) were in an airplane crash and landed on a stranded island. Throughout the show, the survivors of the plane incident must face the dangers and mysteries of death, faith and destiny. However, just like the reading had said, there was a central figure of the story that lead the all the survivors to overcome their trials. In this case, the “heros” name was Jack Shephard. Jack Shephard had been on the airplane to attend his fatherŹ»s funeral. At the time, he hadn’t had a solid relationship with his dad and was reluctant to fly all the way from Los Angeles to Australia. He was a notorious doctor in Los Angeles and he was the type of guy who always had a plan. In this sense the character of this show is almost identical to CampbellŹ»s definition of “The Call to Adventure”. In CampbellŹ»s reading, he says that the hero is reluctant to leave their home, family and friends. He goes on to say that the finding of the adventure comes from an unplanned event, such as a distant land, secret island or underground forest. Clearly, one can indicate that JackŹ»s jouney so far into his quest had matched up with CampbellŹ»s description.
After the sudden plane crash, Jack must deal with the aftermath. There were many other people on the flight whom had survived and were either injured or trying to find help. Jack, being a doctor, feels obligated to aid everyone as he possibly can. This scene of the show is a viewing of the crash site and all its survivors running around frantically trying to process what had just happened. In the following scene, Jack automatically takes charge of the remaining survivors and assembles them to try and make up a plan to get them off the island. This is much similar to when Campbell was discussing how the hero goes through the stage of “Accepting the Call”. Jack now knows that he has been summoned to figure out why or who brought them to the island and more importantly, how to get off of it and back into the real world.
Jack is now meeting the survivors of the plane crash and like any man would do, starts to create allies and enemies. Perhaps one could argue that Jack making enemies was unintentional. The enemy in this case was none other than the supernatural curse of the island itself with shape shifting polar bears and large clouds of black smoke. Along his greetings, he meets Kate Austen, an ex convict of arson and 2nd degree murder (whom he later falls in love with), Sawyer, an ex con artist (he is always looking for a way to get his sarcastic joke in), John, an ex military (a guide for Jack) and Hurley, a former lottery winner (JackŹ»s most loyal friend). In the show Jack has his ups and downs with all of people, but overall they remain his closest allies. These characters of the film are Carl JungŹ»s archetypes: the mentors, allies, tricksters, and woman as temptress.
Of course, as any heroic story, there has to be test and mastering of the world. In the end, Jack tries to “save” the island to prevent all the survivors from dying, but it turns out that they were all dead anyways and the island was a realm they were put in. They were all specifically chosen because it was part of their destiny concluding that Jack had afterall won because he was following his destiny. As CampbellŹ»s reading states that the hero grows and restores his world, one can see the similarity of CampbellŹ»s writing and the ending of “Lost”.
Marina Mireles
HOPES
Dear Marina,
DeleteI totally agree with your analysis. I've watched LOST and it is a crazy good show; great example. They definitely follow "The Hero's Journey" because they're trying to survive, and they need all the archetypes to do that.
Sincerely,
Elise McDonald
Dear Marina,
DeleteI thought that lost is a great example in portraying the archetypes. It relates to the hero’s journey so well. You explained your analysis so clearly your choice of vocabulary is amazing. This is one of my favorite shows, the ending of the show confused me a lot but you explained it well.
Sincerely,
Zhaira Agrade
Dear Marina,
DeleteWhile I have never watched ABC's "Lost" I have heard that it is an interesting and compelling show, your essay has actually peaked my interest in the program, I found myself wanting to know more about the characters and the world they were present in, and I may actually have to watch it now. That aside, I believe that your analysis was displayed in a clear and concise manner throughout the piece without sacrificing your explanation of the plot. With so few words available for the piece, that is an impressive accomplishment. There is really no criticism I can give for it, except perhaps to not have spaces in between paragraphs and instead just use tab to separate them, but that is far more of a personal preference than something that is required, at least not in the blog.
Sincerly,
Ryemin Liddle
One of my favorite movies “Labyrinth” (1986) portrays the archetypes and refers to “The Hero’s Journey”.
ReplyDeleteThe movie is about our “hero”, a 15-year-old named Sarah who accidentally wishes her baby half-brother, Toby, away to the Goblin King Jareth who will keep Toby if Sarah does not complete his Labyrinth in 13 hours.
Now, of course, I’m sure everyone would think that a labyrinth wouldn’t be that hard, just a bit confusing. But this labyrinth is different. You have to see what you want. For example, Sarah couldn’t even get in the labyrinth until Hoggle, a dwarf who works as a gardener in Jareth's Labyrinth, explains to her that in order to find the entrance, you have to see it. Hoggle becomes her “allie” throughout this journey by trying to help her save Toby.
But then Jareth sees our hero succeeding, so he of course has to stop her in some way. Jareth is our “shadow” and our “herald” (he is the ones who takes Toby and starts this madness). He can’t leave his kingdom, as Toby is only about 2, so he can’t leave him. Jareth sends out his goblin minions to try to stop Sarah and Hoggle by changing the pathways and chasing them into traps. The goblins are our “tricksters”.
Now to clear something else up, Jareth took Toby because he fell in love with Sarah. He created the labyrinth from Sarahs dreams; so he knows all of her secrets. The challenges are specifically for Sarah, so jareth knows she will stop to help, though she only has a limited amount of time. Like one of them was when she heard a strange noise, so she ended up finding Ludo, a huge, shaggy-haired monster, being tormented by a group of mounted guards wielding horrific, biting monsters on sticks.
This movie represents “The Hero’s Journey” because it follows the guidelines he wrote about. The “ordinary world” was her home. The “call to adventure” was when Jareth took Toby. Refusal of the quest was when she didn’t want to go rescue Toby because she wanted him to go away anyway (as he was “ruining her life”). She “accepted the call” by accepting the journey into the labyrinth (which also counts for “entering the unknown”). The ”tests” were the challenges in the labyrinth that prevented her from getting there quickly. The “reward/journey” home was when she tells Jareth that "You have no power over me”! and the words defeat Jareth, and Sarah finds herself back in the entrance hall of her house with Toby, sleeping upstairs in his cot. The “restoring the world” part is when Sarah is back home and her success from her quest makes her realize she does love her brother and that she should have never wished him away. Her “elixir” she brings back to help is her friends she made back in labyrinth that end up saying “You can call on us whenever you need” and then they all appear in her room and they have a super awesome dance party.
You guy should all watch this movie because David Bowie plays Jareth and he is just fabulous.
Elise McDonald
IDEAS
(524 words)
Dear Elise,
DeleteYour ability to analyze such a complex film such as Labyrinth is outstanding. I can clearly see the comparisons you used to connect the film with all the archetypes mentioned in the reading. I especially was interested in the one with Sarah because she went through all of CampbellŹ»s HeroŹ»s JourneyŹ»s. For example, she has to go into the labyrinth and gain power then go back into the real world. I also agree that everyone should watch this movie.
Oops forgot to say this at the end
DeleteRespectfully,
Marina
Dear Ms. Sette,
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Life of Pi, a man reflects on his catastrophic, amazing, unintentional adventure he endured as a young boy. His journey from a small zoo in India to his present life in America can be compared to Joseph Campbell’s theory of the monomyth and to Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung’s archetypes.
The monomyth is the basis for any story of adventure and heros. As Joseph Campbell’s research shows, every story has something in common: the hero’s home or known territory, the call to adventure, the many challenges faced throughout the journey, the big bad enemy who needs to be defeated and the return home. Archetypes are the people and things that the hero encounters on his journey. There are allies, enemies, mentors, heralds, tricksters, shapeshifters and temptresses.
In Life of Pi, the hero’s home was his family’s zoo in India. The call to adventure could be one of two things; when his parents announced that they were selling the zoo and moving to America or when their ship sank leaving only Pi and a few animals alive. He faced challenges such as taming the tiger whom he was forced to share a lifeboat with, enduring storms at sea and finding an island only to discover that it was just a floating pile of trees and acid. The enemy, or rather the biggest challenge, was himself. The boy had to not only maintain his physical health long enough to be rescued but also stay sane and keep his will to live. Being stuck on a boat alone with a tiger for months is sure to make you go crazy and Pi had to face his own demons and survive solely off will power for days on end. In this case there was no return home but Pi reached his destination, America, and started a new life.
On his journey, Pi’s archetypes were not people but things. The challenges he faced could even be considered the archetypes. His allies were few but the enemies many. The untamed, hungry tiger was the initial enemy but upon training Pi turned him into an ally. The tiger helped catch fish for them to eat and led Pi to dry ground (or so they thought). The mentor was the on-board survival handbook which taught the boy how to tame wild animals, collect rainwater and various other things that saved his life. The heralds, or the ones who brought about the call to adventure, were Pi’s parents who decided to get on a boat to America that ended up sinking. The floating acid island, as I call it, could be considered three different archetypes in one; an enemy, a trickster and a shapeshifter. The floating island almost killed Pi and the tiger with its flesh-dissolving acid pools, a sure sign of an enemy. It tricked the pair into thinking that it meant rescue, or at least dry land to live on but at night it shapeshifted into a dangerous jumble of glowing acid pools. The temptress, as sad as it may sound, was Pi’s own sanity. If he had lost just a little more of his sanity he might have given into the temptations of death, not a good step towards the completion of his journey.
Life of Pi reflects all the elements of Campbell’s monomyth and Carl Jung’s archetypes. It includes, but is not limited to call to adventure, challenges, enemies, allies and the return home, just like any story. Since the movie was so full of confusing things others might say that the tiger was the enemy the whole time or that the island was actually an ally because it helped him find his way to real civilization. However you may interpret it, though, it still has all the characteristics of a monomyth and the archetypes to go with it.
Ruby Hawthorne
Ideas Academy
Ruby, I liked the way you clearly restated what the theories of a monomyth and archetypes are. It even helped me have a better understanding, and I read an entire page on them! It was really beneficial to your essay to include this information, because assuming they are unfamiliar with these terms, listing all the little elements would seem mundane and opaque. I wish I had remembered this in my own work.
DeleteLife of Pi seems like a difficult story to use for this assignment! The way you related the events to the monomyth was very thoughtful. Calling Pi's temptress his sanity was a connection I never would have made.
Love, Zuri Shanklin
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie "The Labyrinth", every archetype identified by Carl Jung is clearly present, and a majority of Joseph Campbell's explanation of "The Hero's Journey". Because of the movies mythical nature, it is easy to identify these timeless aspects.
ReplyDeleteEncompassing Campbell's starting point in a story, Sarah (the protagonist) is introduced in the "ordinary world". The archetypes begin to come into play when Sarah's baby brother is stolen by The Goblin King, Jareth. This event was the "herald" or "call to adventure". Sarah must enter an unknown world and defeat a unimaginably massive labyrinth, which could be considered "shadows" by Jung's standards, repressing the possibilities of Sarah.
Reaching the gates of the Labyrinth, Sarah meets her first ally. Although he may not seem like one at first, nothing is as it seems in this place. A gnome named Hoggle, spraying fairies with cyanide. Upon entering the stone walls of the maze, Sarah finds that there is no turns she can take. A small worm offers warm advice, by showing her how to identify the hidden opening in the walls. When Sarah asks "should I go this way?" the worm admonishes her "No! Never go THAT way!". Sarah naively thanks her, and goes the opposite direction. The worm remarks to herself "If she had gone that way, it would have taken her straight to the Goblin City...".
Sarah defeats a "Knights and Knaves" puzzle, escapes from an oubliette, both of which are "threshold guardians",and encounters a number of "tricksters", micey creatures who move ground tiles. Later, she rescues Ludo, a "shape shifter" who resembles a terrifying monster, but is truly kind hearted. A group of "shadows" called the Fire gang harass Sarah. Ludo, Hoggle, and Sarah must then pass through The bog of Eternal Stench, another "threshold guardian". Here another ally joins them, a foxish knight named Sir Didymus.
Hoggle then does something very "shadow" like. He offers Sarah a laced peach that puts her into a trance in which Jareth attemps seducing her. The second part of the trance puts her in a room that looks just like hers. An old hoarder woman resembling a hobo acts as a "woman temptress", relentlessly working to persuade Sarah to stay in the room with all her valued possessions. She releases herself from this trance by shear determination.
Rejoining Ludo, Sir Didymus, and Hoggle, they reach the Goblin city. As a reunited team prevail over the goblin soldiers (shadows). Sarah enters Jareth's thrown room alone, remembering the goal that guides her, saveing her baby brother (mentors). Jareth again tries seducing her which could be considered the "woman as temptress" role. She exclaims "You have no power over me!". Jareth accepts defeat and returns Toby and Sarah to their home, the monumental "reward" for all the girls perseverance. Her world is "restored" as Campbell would say. She is a hero.
The purpose of the story was to instigate a variety of lessons. Detachment, perseverance, and seeing through disguises. By using all of Jung's guidelines- and nearly all of Campbell's classifications (with the exclusion of "refusal of the quest", "accepting the call", and obtaining a "talisman"), the creators materialized a classic, fantastical hero's journey.
Zuri Shanklin
IDEAS
The Princess Bride
ReplyDeleteWhile reading The Hero’s Journey, I was reminded of the movie The Princess Bride (1987).
The main character, Wesley, portrays all of the qualities of a hero. He starts off as a farm boy, working for Buttercup and her family. Wesley loved Buttercup, but he had to money for marriage. So he left to go seek his fortune across the sea. While he is gone he is captured by the Dread Pirate Roberts. While he is gone, the evil prince of Florin, Prince Humperdink choses Buttercup to be his wife. In The Hero’s Journey, Carl Jung states that the hero begins in an ordinary world, and in order for their journey to begin, they must leave that world and enter one unknown to them.
During one of Buttercup’s daily horse rides, she is kidnapped by Fezzik, Inigo, and Vizzini. This becomes Wesley’s first call to adventure. He follows the three men. To save her he must defeat Inigo in a sword fight, outsmart Vizzini, and beat Fezzik the giant. He successfully does this and in the process, kills Vizinni, the trickster in the story.
Once he reaches Buttercup, Prince Humperdink finds the two and chases them into the Fire Swamp. In the fire swamp they need to survive flame spurts, lightning sand, and rodents of unusual size. These serve as tests that prepare Wesley for his final battle with Humperdink. After they exit the fire swamp, they are surrounded by Prince Humperdink and his men. They surrender as long as Humperdink promises not to harm Wesley and return him to his ship. But, since Prince Humperdink is the villain in this story, he throws Wesley into the pit of despair- without Buttercups knowledge of course. While in the pit of despair, Wesley is connected to The Machine; designed to literally suck years of his life away. Prince Humperdink plans to kill Buttercup after their wedding and frame Gilder, his enemy country.
Even though Prince Humperdink thinks that he has killed Wesley, Fezzik and Inigo find him and take him to Miracle Max, who tells them that Wesley is only “mostly dead.” Miracle Max gives them a miracle pill that will revive him. This makes Miracle Max and his miracle pill the talismans.
Fezzik, Inigo, and Welsey then team up to save Buttercup once again. This is Wesley’s second call to adventure. At first Wesley denies his quest by saying that he can not possibly defeat the 60 guards at the castle gate with only his brains, Fezzik’s strength, and Inigo’s skill. He says that he at least needs a wheelbarrow. Fortunately, Inigo knows where to find one. Using the wheelbarrow and Fezzik in a flaming coat, they scare off the guards and are able to enter the castle. After entering, Wesley finds Buttercup and ties up Prince Humperdink. With the help of his allies Fezzik and Inigo, they escape, each on a white horse. Buttercup is his reward for passing the Supreme Ordeal, defeating Prince Humperdink. Wesley’s guiding principle in this story is love. In fact, he tells Miracle max that the only thing that is keeping him alive is his true love, Buttercup.
(529 words)
Marissa Nikolas
HOPES
Dear Marissa,
DeleteFirst of all I absolutely love this movie. I think you did a great job at explaining the movie in depth, it really paints a clear picture about what's going on if someone hasn't seen this before. Also, I think you did a good job explaining the archetypes, and stating that Buttercup was his reward, that was spot on!
Sincerely, Haylei Sheldon
IDEAS
Dear Marissa,
DeleteThis is one of my favorite movies. I would have never considered this as a option for this essay, but the way you explained everything in detail really pulled out the heroism of this essay. You really put a clear picture of what was going on throughout the essay, and it never got confusing or messy. Great Job!
Your friend,
Myah Post
HOPES
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie “Avatar” (2009) a wheelchair bound man leaves his original world, earth, to take on a new life in Pandora, the magical majestic land of the Na’vi. This was the first film that came to my mind when reading ‘the hero’s journey” inspired by Joseph Campbell's research, and the archetypes discussed by Carl Jung.
ReplyDeleteJake Sully is sent to the planet of Pandora to take over his late brothers hybrid avatar. Because he is inadequate, and uneducated, with no lab training in the avatar world, he takes on the job as an avatar security escort. He shadows scientists Norm Spellman and Grace Augustine, who play Jakes “allies” and “mentors” who help Jake along his journey . When Norm and Grace are researching biological data of the land, Jake is attacked by a creature called a thanator, where he is then chased away. Jake meets a female Na'vi named Neytiri, and this is where Jake Sully's heroic journey begins.
Neytiri plays the role of a “mentor” and “ally” to Jake sully's avatar. After seeing a sign from Aywa (mother goddess of the na'vi) Neytiri gives Jake a second chance, by not killing him. She then takes him back to her clan, where Jake is commanded by Neytiri’s mother Mo’at, to learn all the Na’vis ways from Neytiri.
Sulley soon finds out that Parker Selfridge (Administrator boss) and Colonel Miles Quaritch (head of security force) who play the “shadows” and “threshold guardians”, Just want one thing, unobtanium. A very princely rock, going for two-million a kilo. And that they will destroy anything in their way to get it. And just so happen, all the unobtanium lies right under the home tree (where all the na’vi live). In the process of learning the na’vi ways Jake and Neytiri fall in love, and Jake mentally and emotionally becomes truly one of the Na’vi people.
Before the Colonel and his forces take down home tree, Jake and Grace try to warn the Na’vi people, to run away and hide. But the Na’vi won't go down without a fight. The complete destruction of hometree results in an all out battle between the Na’vi and the human soldiers. With the help from Jake and fellow allies Norm, Grace, Max and helicopter pilot Trudy. Although some are lost, the outcome of the war results in the dismissal of the humans living on pandora, with an exception of a few worthy ones who respected the Na’vi ways. Regaining worthiness from the Na’vi people, Jake permanently and physically becomes one of the Na’vi in the presence of mother goddess Aywa.
The movie “Avatar” (2009) shows “ A Hero’s Journey” clearly. The movie displays monomyths inspired by Campbell, and archetypes explained by Jung. This film includes “the call to adventure”. Which is his brothers death leading him to leave his old life on earth, for a new life on pandora, a very magical majestic land with very unique creatures. This film also displays “accepting the call” which is Jake accepting the Na’vis culture, and learning it, beginning his heroic journey as a Na’vi avatar himself. Also Jakes “allies/helpers” these were the people that helped him on his heroic journey. And finally “reward and the journey home” is Jake truly and physically becoming one of the Na’vi.
Aaryn Gray
IDEAS
(546 words)
Dear Aaryn,
DeleteThis is really good! I never really thought of Avatar when reading "The Heroes Journey". But now I see all the different archetypes in that movie. Good choice!
Sincerely,
Bryson Baligad
Dear Aaryn,
DeleteI throughly enjoyed your reponse about Avatar! (one of my favorite movies). I never really thought of avatar when I read, the hero's journey. But how you wrote your essay pointing out everything I now see how it fits! Great job on how you wrote it too! It's easy and very nice to read, since it's a subject I like. lol
Sincerely,
Amanda Thayer
The Hero's Journey
ReplyDeleteAfter reading “ The Hero's Journey” a movie that immediately came to my mind was Snow White and the Huntsman(2012). A mother wishing for a daughter with lips as red as blood, skin as white as snow, and hair as black as ravens wings.
The movie first begins with snow white being born, sadly her mother gets sick short after and dies. As a result king Magnus remarries to a women named Ravenna, who beauty is undeniable. On there wedding night, Ravenna who is leader of the dark army and is a powerful sorceress, kills Magnus with a dagger straight to the heart. Ravenna quickly takes control of the entire kingdom, while Snow Whites long time friend William and his father Duke Hammond escape, they are unable to rescue snow, leaving her to be locked away in the north tower of the castle. When Snow White comes of age, Ravenna soon finds out Snow is destined to destroy her unless Ravenna consumes her heart making her immortal. As Ravenna orders her brother Finn to go and get her, Snow quickly escapes into the dark forest where Ravenna has no power. The call of adventure is Snow Whites escape into the dark forest in order to not be killed. As snow wanders about the dark fores that is her period of entering the unknown, something she has never faced or seen before. There are many challenges that take place on snows journey, The underlying fact that Ravenna is out to get her, Finn, Ravenas brother is sent into the dark forest and capture her, The dark forest itself with dangerous qualities that could possibly kill her, and a troll that almost kills her. Ravenna furious, hires a huntsman named Eric to capture Snow White. He then finds her in the dark forest and refuses to give her to Finn because Ravenna could not fulfill his wish, they then run away. Snow then dies from the poison apple, gets brought to Duke Hammods castle, then Eric enters the room where Snow is, kisses her, and she awakens. After awakening she pledges that she and Dukes army go and defeat the evil queen and her army which they do and Snow kills Ravenna. Snow Whites reward was her kingdom that was always supposed to be hers and her true love, Eric. Also, by killing Ravenna she restored the order and peace which like Campbell said was the final stage, “restoring the world”.
The Archetypes that were present in this movie were not only people but mythical creatures as well. The hero was Snow White, who defeated Ravenna. The Villain in this movie was Ravenna, the evil step mother who overtook the kingdom and wanted to kill Snow. The Herald was when Finn came to get Snow but she escaped into the forest. Throughout her journey, there were many Threshold guardians, the dark forest and the troll were two of them who almost killed her. But also Finn who was trying to capture her. Her allies were the 7 dwarfs and Eric, who helped her on her journey. Snow White and the Huntsman present all of the qualities in Campbell’s monomyth and Carl Jung’s archetypes.
Sincerely,
Haylei Sheldon
IDEAS
Dear Haylei,
DeleteThis movie is the perfect example for the heros journey. You explained the archetypes well such as stating the period of unknown, or the herald of the story. This movie is such a clear example of the hero and the villain. You really make it easy to understand! good Job!
Sincerely,
Megan Devin
When I read this passage, I instantly thought of Finding Nemo. Yes, its a little weird because theres no real “action” in this movie, but it does have almost all of the archetypes that Carl Jung explained. Most know the story of the small fish in a big sea, Marlin, trying to get to his lost son, Nemo. In this story, Marlin is the hero, along with his accomplice, the ditzy blue fish with short-term memory loss. As they travel the deep blue seas, Nigel, the pelican also helps to guide them towards Nemo. Some of the shadows in this story included the sharks, jellyfish, and all the annoying seabirds. Many of the challenges/obstacles that Marlin and Dory are getting away from the minefield and strange sharks, making it through a colony of jellyfish, finding directions in the deep blue sea, all while trying to remember the address that Nemo’s captors are located (the famous “ P. Sherman 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney). On the other side of the story, Nemo is trapped in a fish tank with other fish that take him in as one of their own. The leader of the tank, Gill, always tries to plan escapes from the glass prison, as can be implied from all the scars on his fins and torso. The reason for the many escape plans; Darla. Darla is the niece of Nemo’s kidnapper, who is a very passionate fish lover. Well, maybe a little too passionate. The past few fishes that she has owned were from the fish tank that Nemo and the gang are in. All the fish that Darla has owned have been violently shaken in their bags until they “turn belly up”. In other words, they die. So, on the opposite end of the story, all of the fish in Nemo's tank are companions. Darla is also one of the villains/obstacles that the main characters must face. There are no magical items that are given to the main characters.
ReplyDeleteThe story starts with Nemo and Marlin with a strained father-son relationship. With one defiant move, Nemo finds himself captured by humans in Australian waters. Marlin is now on a quest to find his son, where he meets his companion, Dory. They both travel the seas, dealing with stinging jellyfish, non-fish-eating but still blood thirsty sharks, the friendly turtles who help Marlin to realize that a helicopter parent is not a good one, and a whale! who brings them to the Sydney Harbor. In the end, the biggest test is trusting one another. Marlin was an overprotective parent, and needed to learn how to trust Nemo’s actions. The story ends with a happy scene of Marlin and Nemo, in harmony, and building a better relationship. The film follows what Joseph Campbell explained. The call to adventure (Kidnapping of Nemo), entering the unknown (shark encounter, school of jellyfish, catching a ride with a whale, getting directions from a turtle and pelican), allies (Dory, Gill, all the fish in the doctor’s fish tank), the test, and the reward and journey home.
Sincerely,
Bryson Baligad
IDEAS
(513 words)
Dear Bryson,
DeleteThe choice of vocabulary you used is awesome and your summary of finding nemo is right on. You didn't miss any important detail. And you did a great job explaining what each of the archetypes was used and what it was in the movie.
Sincerely, Ariel Cummings
Dear Bryson,
DeleteYour choice of movie was very unique! I feel that by choosing Finding Nemo, you were able to emphasize the point made by Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell, that the Archetypes they described are truly found in basically every movie or book. It was also very impressive how you deciphered through the story and were able to identify all the different archetypes. I completely agree with how you labeled each character. In my opinion, another "herald" in the movie could have been Gil, because he was helping nemo to escape from the fish tank, therefore; making nemo his own hero. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your essay, and your diction and conversational skills were definitely a plus!
Sincerely,
Autumn Begley
After reading About the hero’s journey, It reminded me about the movie “Lilo and Stitch”. Because most of the Archetype is portrayed throughout the whole movie scenes.
ReplyDeleteTo start it we have Lilo who lives in Hawaii who isn’t loved by her friends at hula school. Then we have Stitch who is the experiment from outer space that typically lands in Hawaii and eventually end up with Lilo. Lilo not knowing that Stitch is an alien from space until later on in the movie.
The movie starts with the adventure or journey if you may, when Lilo is being sent away from her only living relative. Her older sister Nani fights to keep her and Lilo together because they only have each other to live on, without each other there life would probably have no purpose because they aren’t together. During this time Stitch escapes the prison up in space and crashed on Earth (more specifically, landed on the island of Kauai.)
There is no refusal call in the story, so we can take that off the list. The mentor meeting is found when stitch is place in a pet shelter. Lilo plans to adopt a dog (pet) so she and Nani go to shelter where stitch is at. At this point, this is where Lilo, Nani and stitch’s lives are changed drastically. Lilo and Stitch are both mentors to each other basically.
The Crossing is the part of the movie when Stitch crashes down on Earth. This was the night of stitch’s escape. Prior to his adoption he adapted to his surrounds but was ran over by a Semi truck and some how survived the accident.
The character shown is Stitch enduring many tests to become a model citizen because he is living a new life and doesn’t want to be known as a terrifying monster. Though the inventor Jumba (the creator of stitch), his intentions were to bring destruction upon the whole Galaxy.
The approach to the story is that stitch is the cause of all of the problems though out the whole movie. This cause the Agent Cobra (the person trying to take Lilo away from Nani) more reason why she is not in a safe environment and that Nani is not doing a great job at watching her younger sister. Even though she tries her best to do so.
The ordeal of the story is that Stitch is coming across that he has no family in his life and that he appears to be alone. The moment Cobra takes Lilo , she basically runs away. Discovering that stitch is an alien she doest want him around anymore to cause trouble. Lilo and Stitch are both captured, Stitch on the other hand appears to be dead
The reward given to stitch is wanting to be apart of a Family, then Stitch proves it by saving Lilo before she is taken into space. The road happens when Stitch is in the Spaceship, this is where his dedication to be apart of a family becomes a reality.
The resurrection of the story happens when Lilo and Stitch become a family. The final return of the elixir story is when all come together and rebuild on Lilo and Nani’s house which was previously destroyed.
Sincerely,
Kristian Sablay
Hopes
(547 words)
Dear Kristian,
DeleteI deeply enjoyed reading your response not just because of your archetype examples but also because I remember watching Lilo and Stitch. The way you tell the story of Lilo and Stitch while still showing examples of the archetypes was well-worded and easy to read. I especially liked your last paragraph where you summed-up the ending in a way that does not leave too much to guess. Good job.
Sincerely,
Matthew Steinohrt
Ideas
After reading over the passage “The Hero’s Journey”, one story that personified the archetypes in the passage is the movie Sleeping Beauty. Many people know the animated fairytale movie, Sleeping Beauty. It is the story of a princess named Aurora who has a spell casted upon her as a baby by the evil witch Maleficent, that she will prick her finger on a spindle and die on her 16th birthday. Thankfully, one of the three good fairies places a “gift” on Aurora that she would only fall into a ageless sleep instead of death, and could be awakened by the kiss of her true love. She is sent to grow up under the guardianship of the three good fairies that pretend to be her aunts in a forest cottage far away from the kingdom. When she is sent to collect berries one day, she meets Prince Phillip and falls in love. On her 16th birthday, Aurora is brought back to the kingdom to celebrate. Unfortunately, Princess Aurora is put into a trance and pricks her finger on the Maleficent’s spelled spindle, sending her into her ageless sleep. Frantic the three good fairies place her in a bed and put the entire kingdom into an ageless sleep as well. They then go to find Prince Phillip to save Princess Aurora. The evil witch Maleficent places a spell on herself and the castle so that thick humongous thorns block the castle entrance and Maleficent herself turns to a dragon. The three good fairies give the prince two weapons, a shield of virtue and sword of truth, and the prince kills Maleficent. It is then that the Prince goes to Aurora and awakes her with a kiss, which then awakens the entire kingdom. Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip are then united and happily share a dance and live happily ever after.
ReplyDeleteThe archetypes from Sleeping Beauty embodied majority of those said in “The Hero’s Journey. “In the movie Sleeping Beauty, Prince Phillip was the hero because he saved the Aurora and the Kingdom. The “shadows” in the movie was Maleficent, the evil witch, since she cast the spell that cursed Princess Aurora and caused all the problems that occurred in the movie. The three good fairies in Sleeping Beauty were both the Mentors and the Allies of the story since they helped the Prince find his way to Aurora as well as guided him in ending the evil witch Maleficent. Maleficent, as well as being the shadow of the movie, is also the herald of the movie because it was her spell that made the prince have to save Aurora and the kingdom in the first place, and the trickster of the movie since she tricked Aurora into pricking her finger on the spindle. The threshold guardians in the movie were Maleficent’s evil minions, since they tried to prevent the saving of Princess Aurora, and the woman as temptress was of course Princess Aurora because Prince Phillip had to go save her which put him in danger. The movie also followed Joseph Campbell’s explanation of the sequence of events the hero takes. This directly shows how the movie Sleeping Beauty embodies all of the qualities in Joseph Campbell’s monomyth as well as Carl Jung’s archetypes from the passage “The Hero’s Welcome”.
Sincerely,
Malia Hickey
IDEAS
(548 words)
After reading Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey discussion I immediately thought of one the most incredible movies I’ve ever seen, The Book of Eli. In this spectacular film, our hero is a man named Eli, who lives in the remnants of a world destroyed by nuclear war, his “ordinary world”. Eli has extreme capabilities with an assortment of weapons including blades, guns, and bows, which he accredits all to his faith. Early in the movie, Eli explains that a voice in his head led him to a book of great power, and told him that it must be brought west, revealing the “call to adventure”. We later learn that the book is the Bible and serves as the “Talisman” in this case. The Bible is such an important element in this story for a few reasons. First of all, not many people at this time were literate, the Great War thirty years prior ended in wide scale catastrophe and left only bits and pieces of the old world behind. Secondly, the Antagonist, known as Carnegie, happens to be one of the few literate men left in the world, and knows just how powerful and persuasive words can be, let alone passages from the Bible itself. He sought to obtain the Bible and use it to expand his following and control them to no end just like a regular villain would. The fact that this may be the last Bible on Earth is what directly ties Eli’s journey with this ruthless tyrants mission. Anyway, Eli “accepts the call” proposed by the voice in his head and begins “entering the unknown” land to the west as instructed. Throughout the film, this voice also acts his “supernatural aid” and pushes him to continue his journey west. In the same town where Eli first meets Carnegie, he acquaints a girl by the name of Salara, who ultimately became Eli’s company for the rest of their journey west, and also acts as his “ally/helper”. Nearing the end of their quest, Carnegie catches up with the duo and ends up shooting Eli, taking the Bible, and leaving him to die in a house in the middle of nowhere. Remarkably, Eli recovers, and the two push on west until they finally reach the safe haven of what was once the island of Alcatraz. Alcatraz is now a library containing all the books that could be saved from the old world, hoping that one day humanity could be rebuilt using its throng of knowledge and literary influence. However, this safe haven did not yet possess the most important book from the old world, and now nor did Eli. Luckily, Eli happened to have memorized the entire Bible and recited it to the head caretaker who recorded his citing and began republishing the book that could give so much people in this broken world the hope and strength to rebuild, thus revealing the “test and supreme ordeal”. Though his death follows shortly after he recites the Bible, the satisfaction Eli feels in completing the task bestowed upon is his own reward and he gracefully accepts his time to go to rest, what I saw as the “reward and journey home”.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Colby Sargent
Ideas
531 words
Dear Colby,
DeleteI think you did a good job at describing the archetypes. Your reference to the heros' call was great, also how it continued to be a supernatural voice that helped him along the way.
Sincerely,
Mo'orea
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe Hero’s Journey
ReplyDeleteAfter reading and evaluating the “Hero’s Journey”, the film I immediately thought of was Harry Potter. It portrays all of the archetypes discussed by Carl Jung, and relates to the write up of the Hero’s Journey. The Plot was a majestical land, full of magic and wizards. The main setting, the school of Hogwarts was where Harry found out he was the chosen one. Throughout the series of films Harry goes through all kinds of obstacles and adventures to achieve his one purpose. To kill his arch enemy, Voldemort. Harry is the only wizard powerful enough to do so because he and Voldemort share the same type of qualities. When Harry was a baby Voldemort killed his parents, while doing so Voldemort left an imprint on Harry, because Harry’s mom sacrificed her life to save her only son.
To start off, Harry accepts his call of adventure, just like the write up states, one must leave their home, family and friends. Harry does exactly that. He leaves everything behind to take on the journey of killing Voldemort. His Herald was Dumbledore. He called upon Harry to take this dangerous adventure. Dumbledore was also his mentor, he showed him many things of his past and helped him understand why he is the way he is. He also told him what he needed to complete and how to complete it. He was a big help in Harry’s journey. Similar to the archetypes, Harry had all kinds of things to help him along the way. His Allies were his two closest friends. Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Without Ron’s sense of humor and carefulness, and Hermione’s genius mind, Harry would have no chance of completing his journey. Both his friends were very brave and did so much to help Harry on his quest. Harry’s Talisman was his wand and cape. These assisted him on his quest. His wand gave him the power and magic to fight off Voldemort and all of the other threshold Guardians. It also helped him with the little things. Like unlock locked doors, turn things into harmless creatures, and heal wounded things. His cape was a invisibility cape. Whenever he wore it he would be invisible. So when he wanted to sneak around, he could do so easily.
Throughout the series, Harry finds out that the way to kill Voldemort is to destroy all of his Horcruxes. These are the things that brought Voldemort back to life. Each Horcrux was a part of him. There were seven that Harry had to destroy. The threshold guardians that got in Harry’s way of doing so was the Death Eaters and the Dementors. The Death Eaters were Voldemorts group. These people assisted Voldemort in anything he did. They were kind of like his slaves. The Dementors were these ghost type creatures that would suck the soul out of you.
Just like any heroic journey, at the end the hero is put to the test to try to concur
this world. Harry does. He kills Voldemort at the end and completes his journey. This film fully represents the hero’s journey because it holds almost all the archetypes and is laid out just the way Joseph Cambell wrote out the Hero’s Journey.
Chaz Pacleb
Hopes academy
(547 words)
The Hero’s Journey
ReplyDeleteJust reading the name of the assignments “the hero’s journey” immediately made me think of iron man. Reading the actual article on the hero’s journey cemented my beliefs that Iron man would be a perfect topic to discuss. From beginning to end, Iron Man and it’s main character tony stark display the hero’s journey perfectly with every phase of the journey shown clearly.
In the beginning of tony starks adventure(in the first movie), he is spoiled and reckless. He just about finds every way to identify himself as a “bad” human, showing no concern for others and no more for himself. However, at the same time that he blows money and uses those around him, he also finds a way to make those who watch the movie like him and want him to succeed because hes a hammer. Tony Stark’s “ordinary world” is unique in that it is by all means unordinary, he lives fast with essentially unlimited money; yet even in his high life he is clearly lacking something that is to be the reward for his journey throughout the movie.
Tony Stark never really encounters a specific call to adventure but given the beginning of the movie it is obvious that if there ever was one he would certainly turn it down. His adventure begins as he is thrust into afghanistan with nothing left that he once knew. It is in every sense the “unknown” mentioned in Campbell’s work. With nobody except Ho Yinsen who is captive with him, he is told to replicate missiles that are to be used against the United States. The talisman in Iron Man is obviously the suit that he uses to escape from his third-world prison. His allies would be those that helped him along the way, in the first movie his only allies are Yinsen who helps him to assemble his first suit and his assistant pepper pots.
After escaping from Afghanistan using shock and awe(the Metal suit), Stark A.K.A. Iron Man returns back to his ordinary world for the Supreme Ordeal where he gets into a fight with Obidiah Stane who is attempting to take over Stark Industries. Stane is the primary antagonist of the story and proves to be stark’s biggest challenge yet. Using his upgraded talisman and with some help from his assistant pepper pots he is able to overcome Stane and reclaim his old life with some rewards such as the affection of his assistant as well as his new personality which is much more respectable and establishes him as a well done character for his future films.
Iron Man is a perfect example of the hero’s journey in every way. Every archetype is displayed in the movie as well as every part of the journey. Thinking of any hero-based movie gives campbell’s research validity because they all display the characteristics of the journey even if movies such as iron man are more clear than others. I personally cannot think of a movie or story that does not follow Campbell’s outline almost exactly.
Mason Schwarze
IDEAS
Dear Mason,
DeleteI was surprised how both of our movies related so closely to The Hero's Journey, while the heroes in each movie are so different. Tony Stark and my hero Eli have no similar physical or personal qualities, however both of their journeys follow the outline that Campbell describes. Crazy!
Sincerely,
Colby
The Hero’s Journey
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this post, I didn’t know what I was going to write about. My first thought was Captain Kirk, but then I thought “Nah Ender Wiggin is way better” Ender Wiggin is the star of one of my all time favorite books Ender’s Game By Orson Scott Card.
The book a future where Earth has been attacked by an alien race. All of Earth has combined to fight this threat and has imposed strict population laws. A couple can only have two children each. The “Hero” Ender Wiggin is a third child, he was born because the Government allowed it. Both his brother and sister are brilliant but for some reason or another where no chosen to attend Battle School. Which is where all the most intelligent and militarily minded children are sent to learn to command armies in the hope that they can stop the alien invaders should they ever come back.
Ender Wiggin has been monitored his whole life by a thing in his neck which lets someone see everything he does and it even lets them know what he is thinking. One day Ender gets the monitor taken out, he is happy because it has alienated him from all the other kids in school. He is attacked by three kids after school and he forced to defend himself because without the monitor no one will know what is happening to him. He is able to fight the boys because he is a hammer. This proved that he is what Battle School needs and a few days later the “Herald” Colonel Graff recruits him. Ender is reluctant to go but know that it is literally what he has born to do.
Once at Battle School Ender faces many “Shadow”, namely Bonzo Madrid, who confronts Ender in the shower and tries to fight him but ends up losing and dying from injuries sustained in the fight. His main “Allies” are Bean and Petra Arkanian. Throughout Battle School they help him when he is in trouble and in the end help him defeat the aliens and win the war. The main “Shapeshifter” in the book in is actually a game that Ender plays and it changes with him and comes up with new problems for him to solve. In the end the game messes with his brain by showing him another “Shadow” his brother Peter who used to come close to killing Ender at times.
After completing Battle School Ender is pretty messed up. He visits his Sister Valentine a “Threshold Guardian” who convinces him to leave Earth and forget about her and their parents. Once Ender is finally able to get over the fact that he must leave his sister and parents possible forever. He is sent to an asteroid to continue his training. Here he meets his “Mentor” Mazer Rackham who defeated the Aliens in the First and Second Formic wars.
After Ender defeats the Formic (aliens) (main Shadow) Earth is plunged in the chaos. As the two factions the Strategos and the Polemarch fight forcing Ender to leave Earth on a colony ship and never return. Ender's Game is the perfect example of the Hero's journey. As it holds to all archetypes and has the structure that Joseph Cambell laid out.
Victor Sanchez
Ideas
(548 words)
Dear Victor,
DeleteYour story Ender's Game had very good examples of archetypes. I really think you showed how well you understood the story and what was being asked of you by intertwining the Shadow element and Shapeshifter, this showed the depth that you looked at this prompt with.
Sincerely,
Wylie Barker
IDEAS
Dear Victor,
DeleteThis book sounds very interesting! I liked the way that you explained the story, it has all the archetypes and you explained them very well. I can tell you know the story very well because after I read your essay i feel like I already know the book. I like the part where you said he fought those two boys and won cause he's a hammer, good diction. Great job
Respectfully,
Chaz Pacleb
The Hero’s Journey
ReplyDeleteThe movie I chose to identify archetypes is The Eagle. This movie is set in 140 A.D. when the son of a defeated and shamed Roman general, Marcus Flavius Aquila is injured in a battle against a Brittanic tribe. As he heals in the care of his uncle, he rescues a slave from being murdered in a brutal gladiator fight. Because Marcus saved this slave's life, the slave is now indebted to him. Whilst he is still healing, Marcus receives a letter from Rome honorably discharging him from his command. Saddened by the loss of his command, he starts off on a journey with his British slave to return one of Rome’s most vital symbol, the aguila or Eagle that each Roman Legion carries into battle. To return his father’s name back to an honorable status, Marcus must get back the Aquila that his father lost and prove to the Romans that he did not desert his troops and men in battle. Marcus’s journey begins when he crosses Hydrian’s Wall into the unconquered world of Britain.
The hero of this story is of course, Marcus Flavius Aquila. He is the main character of the story who is the chosen one and the one man brave enough to go on this quest. The shadows of this story are the Britannic Tribes that Marcus and his slave are up against. These tribes pester and harm Marcus and his slave the entire way. The mentors in this story are Marcus’s Uncle who gave him confidence to rise up and restore honor to his family’s name and, a deserter to his father’s legion who he meets Marcus in his journey towards The Eagle. This deserter tells Marcus of his father’s bravery and unwillingness to surrender. That his father never deserted or ran away. This inspires Marcus to keep hunting for The Eagle. The herald of this adventure is an event: Marcus’s injury on the battlefield. This sets in motion the opportunity for him to journey into Britain and retrieve The Eagle. The threshold guardian in this story is Marcus’s own doubt that his father may have actually deserted. This guardian is crushed when the deserter tells him the truth of his father’s bravery. When Marcus and his slave reach the Britannic tribe that possesses The Eagle, Marcus’s slave-turned-friend lies to the tribe saying that Marcus is in fact his slave. The Tribe allows Marcus to live only because of his supposed master who wishes for him to live. Marcus’s slave-turned captor is the shapeshifter because he turns from slave, to master and then to comrade. The slave comes for Marcus in the middle of the night when all of the local tribesman are in a drunken stupor. Marcus and his now comrade take The Eagle and head back to the wall.
As Marcus and his now-comrade are heading back, the deserters of his father’s legion come together and meet Marcus to help defend The Eagle. These once-deserters along with Marcus’s new-found comrade are the allies of this story. Along with the rag-tag legionnaire deserters, Marcus defends The Eagle and marches back to Rome to present The Eagle to the senate thus returning his father’s name back to honorable status.
This story encompasses many of the archetypes Carl Jung described.
(549 words)
Matthew Steinohrt
IDEAS
Dear Matthew,
DeleteI really enjoyed reading your response just because you put a great amount of detail into your work. I have been meaning to watch the Eagle for quite some time now. The way you describes the archetypes for The Eagle is well worded, i should probably watch this one day. Great job this week and I'm hoping to read some more of your work.
Sincerely,
Kristian Sablay
Hopes
After reading ”The Heros Journey” by Joseph Cambell, I started to think about all my favorite movies and noticed how much of them had all the characteristics he had talked about. Majority of the movies did.
ReplyDeleteOne of my all time favorite movies is another Cinderella Story. And this movie had a number of archetypes Joseph Cambell talked about. For the hero, in this case, it was no guy in a cape, but a young teenage girl named Mary. Who did what she needed to do to achieve her dream of leaving her jail of a house and going off to college and be a professional dancer like her mom. In every Cinderella story ever told the step mother is always the evil one. The step mother, Dominique was evil but somewhat nice. Mary’s mother died, which was Dominique’s back up dancer, so she took her in. But made Mary their personal unpaid maid and almost got away with jeopardizing her chance to go to college. She lied to the principal who called her to try to set up an audition for her and said she had broken both her legs so she wouldn’t have a chance to leave them. But don’t worry, Mary was never alone. She had her best friend Tami, her “mentor” She helped arrange someone to help clean the house while the two of them went to the ball. It was a mascara ball. She had allies too. A rock star named Joey Parker, who she loved ever since she was a little girl and who fell in love with her and her moves at the ball. But he didn’t know it was her and she dropped her mp3 player and he was having search for her. Once she relieved herself, they started dating. Oh yah another ally Mary had was Joey’s best friend and manager Dustin, who liked Tami. The Herald in this movie was the Joey Parker dance Competition that Mary went too. She was initially going to participate in it, but things got messed up between Joey and her so she didn’t want to go because she was led to think that he cheated on her so she didn’t want to see him at ll. And there were a lot of threshold guardians in this movie, like when Dominique wouldn’t let Mary go to the ball, she wanted her to stay home and clean a perfectly clean house, she also lied to the college principal about her legs being broken. Her two evil/jealous step sisters, Bree and Britt tricked Mary into thinking that Natalia, Joey’s ex girlfriend, got back with him, “cheated on her”. Natalia was Joey’s ex girlfriend, also one of the most popular girl in the whole school. And Mary was an ordinary girl. Natalia was jealous that Joey picked Mary over her so she made up a plan to try to end them. And dragged her two dumb step sisters into helping her. But once she goes to the competition and Joey finally has a chance to talk to her, he smooths things out with her and got the principal from the college to see her dance and they accepted her into their collage.
HOPES Academy
Ariel Cummings
Dear Ariel,
DeleteGreat movie choice. I never would have thought about the excellent claims and examples you got out of this movie. I can see now how these archetypes go to this movie and I can say I'm honestly surprised. Great job!
---John
The Hero’s Journey
ReplyDeleteYou know when someone mentions a term and on thing comes to mind? The mere mention of “The Hero’s Journey” gave me this exact reaction. I could only think of one “hero”, per se. And that hero is Percy Jackson. The information presented in this article only reinforced my initial belief that this would fit perfectly. Each phase of a Hero’s Journey takes place in the movie adaptation of the book “The Lightning Thief”.
Initially, Percy is an ignorant teenager who is really unappreciative of what he has, however little it may seem. He constantly gets kicked out of schools, and he really has no idea why. He is a well-intentioned kid, but none of that really matters. For all intents and purposes, he is just a normal, troubled kid who can’t stay out of trouble. His “ordinary world” is fairly normal, with the occasional wacky thing occurring that hints to his later adventure. He doesn't realize the signs for a while. His call of adventure is what forces him to realize what world he is really living in. His father is one of the Greek gods, and that makes him very dangerous. Monsters constantly chase after Percy trying to kill him. One fateful night he, his mom, and his best friend Grover (who happens to be half goat) try to make it to this summer camp for children of the gods. Percy’s mother is (seemingly) killed right in front of him, which spurs him on his adventure.
He arrives at the camp and is constantly ignored, mainly because his dad has still not claimed him. When he is finally claimed as a son of Poseidon, he is immediately rejected by everyone. His “Herald” turns out to be his former in-disguise teacher, and the camp’s counselor, Chiron. Chiron also fits the role of “Mentor” His journey is actually for two purposes; to get his mother back from the Underworld, and to find Zeus’ master lightning bolt and return it to him. Not only that, he has just ten days to accomplish his task. His “Allies” are his friends that accompany him, Annabeth and the previously mentioned Grover. Without Annabeth’s intellect and vast array of knowledge about everything Greek, Percy surely would have perished. And without Grover’s bravery and intimate relationship with nature, they would not have found their way across the country. As the story unfolds, each archetype begins to show itself. The “Talisman” can be defined as Riptide, the form-shifting sword Chiron gives to Percy. Riptide was especially useful since it could be masked as a ball-point pen, and because it automatically returned to Percy’s pocket when he lost it.
The “Threshold Guardians” would probably be Ares and Hades (Gods of War and the Underworld, respectively), because they both stood in Percy’s way of attaining his goals. Ares even engaged him physically, and somehow was defeated by a twelve year old boy. They were villains, but only on the surface. The real “Shadows” were Kronos (The father of all the gods) and Luke (Percy’s “friend” and son of Hermes, god of thieves and travelers). They ran into various tricksters along the way.
Similar to other heroic adventures, Percy comes out on top. Through all of his trials and tribulations, Percy embarked on a true hero’s journey.
(550 Words)
Paul Oyama
HOPES Academy
After reading Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey discussion I instantly thought of one of my favorite movies, The Little Mermaid (1989). At first you may think, why would she pick this? But thinking about the plot of the movie in depth, I came to realize that it had all of the archetypes that Joseph Campbell mentioned. This film is about a sixteen-year-old mermaid princess named Ariel who is dissatisfied with her life under the sea, and is curious about the human world. Ariel loves to find and collect human artifacts, which once she finds she brings to her friend Scuttle on the surface. One night Ariel and her best friend flounder went to the ocean surface to watch the celebration for the birthday of Prince Eric on a ship. Instantly she falls in love with Prince Eric. During the celebration Prince Eric falls off the ship. Ariel goes to save him from almost drowning, and to make him feel better she sings to him. Once Eric is well again he sets out to find the girl with the beautiful voice.
ReplyDeleteBound and determined, Ariel wants to find a way to walk upon the surface. She goes to Ursula and makes a deal with Ariel to transform her into a human in exchange for her voice for three days’ time, and she puts Ariel’s voice in nautilus shell. The only way to break it is Ariel must receive the “kiss of true love” and if she doesn’t she will go back to being a mermaid and belong to Ursula. Now human Ariel comes upon shore, and Prince Eric sees her and considers her a mute ship-wreck survivor, and takes her to his castle, unaware that she saved his life previously. Ariel spends time with Eric, and at the end of the second day they almost kiss. Angered of their almost kissing Ursula disguises herself as a beautiful young woman named Vanessa and appears onshore singing with Ariel’s voice. The next day comes and Prince Eric is planned to wed the disguised Ursula. Once King Triton finds out he goes to help, along with the help of various animals. In the chaos that takes place, Ursula’s necklace with the shell on it breaks. Thus returning Ariel’s voice and breaking the enchantment that Ursula held over Prince Eric. Realizing that Ariel saved his life he rushes over and kisses her, but the sunsets and Ariel transforms back into a mermaid.
A deal is a deal so Ariel has to become Ursula’s, but instead King Triton agrees to take her place. Ariel is released as Triton transforms into a fish and loses his authority over Atlantica. Ursula then declares herself Queen. In her rage, Ursula uses the trident to grow into monstrous proportions. Ariel and Eric reunite on the surface just before Ursula grows past and towers over the two. She then gains full control of the entire ocean, creating a storm that causes shipwrecks, one of which Eric commandeers. With Ariel almost dead, Eric runs Ursula through the abdomen with wood. Ursula's power breaks, causing Triton to revert into their original forms. Realizing that Ariel truly loves Eric, Triton willingly changes her from a mermaid into a human. Ariel and Eric marry on a ship and depart.
Myah Post
HOPES Academy
(549 words)
The Hero's Journey
ReplyDeleteI have chosen the movie “Forever Strong” to compare Rick Penning’s life changing experiences to the stages of the hero’s journey.
Rick Penning is a very talented high school rugby player, playing on his father’s team, but like some high school athletes Rick is troubled with problems, alcohol and partying problems.
One night after a party, Rick is drinking and driving and gets into a car accident. With his father disgraced he then ends up getting is sent to a boy’s juvenile detention center in Salt Lake City. While he is staying in the detention center, he is asked to play on the notable Highland rugby team, coached by Larry Gelwix. At first Rick doesn’t want to have anything to do with the Highland team because he has played this team before, and there isn’t much good blood between the two. Rick rejects the invite to play rugby.
While Rick is serving in the detention center, he see’s other inmates playing football. He ends up teach other inmates how to play rugby because he can’t stand the sight of American football. During this time he finally decides that he’ll play for this highland rugby team.
His first few days of practice wasn’t a very great one, he didn’t really know anybody, the style of play was different, the things they did as a team (give service, help out at the hospital, and run every single morning) were very different from what he was used to. Rick has many allies and helpers, his coach, Coach Gelwix, his mom, his new best friend/teammate, Kurt, the rest of his teammates, his mom and his love interest Emily. All of these people helped him get through the very trying and troubled time of his life. One night they are out driving around and they see a mother whose tire has run flat. The lady needed help removing the tire, so Rick, Kurt and a couple other teammates help her take off the tire. As Kurt is taking off the tire, a drunk driver ends up hitting Kurt and he ends up dying. The whole team is in sorrow, especially Rick. Since Kurt was a captain of the team, the team needed to have a new one. To our surprise, Rick is called to be the new captain. Rick is released from the detention center and goes back home. He plans on still playing for the highland team but his dad forces him to play for his old Arizona team. To his good fortune his father lets him go play for highland but there is a bitter taste still between the two.
Rick is now the new team captain and he must lead his team to the rugby national championships. He ends up playing his old team, his father’s team, in the national championship game. Rick scores the winning points to make his team the champions. After the match Rick realizes that his family is what is important and his relationships with other people have increased very tremendously.
Word count: 503
Sincerely,
Amanda Thayer
Hopes Academy
An example of a film that uses the archetypes in Carl Jung’s discussion about the Hero’s Journey would be the movie “The Hunger Games”. I understand you all may have some objection to this because it isn’t exactly like the Hero’s Journeys in The Lord of the Rings or in Harry Potter, but bear with me on this. This movie is about a girl named Katniss being selected in a yearly “reaping” to take place in a showdown of twenty-four children to the death. The winner is promised wealth and riches if they successfully complete the challenge.
ReplyDeleteBy Carl Jung’s mention of the archetype, the call to adventure, the moment Katniss is selected out of her district to the annual Hunger Games. She, as Jung puts it, stumbles upon the adventure by taking her sister’s place in the reaping. The adventure brings her to a mystic new land known as the Capitol of Panemis, which is the capitol of their futuristic country. To add a note, she doesn’t exactly have the option to refuse this “quest” because she would be hung in a public trial. Yes, that’s how brutal the country’s government is (disregard my preposition). By this knowledge, she is forced to play by the archetype: Accepting the call.
Upon arriving at the capitol, Katniss and another selected boy named Peeta discover a vast unknown species; it seems, of people who are crazy with hairstyles and make-up. This plays along the lines of Carl Jung’s chat about the “entering the unknown” archetype.
While in the actual fight to the death, Katniss finds herself stuck in a tree with a horrible burn wound. She receives theoretical supernatural aid from an outside friend, which grants her a small parcel of burn cream via parachute. This aid later gets her warm soup for an ally she made on the battlefield.
For a talisman, she acquired a small pin of a mockingjay, which is a symbolic bird to her district. It did not help her physically in combat, but it drove her morally to get the job done in the emotional heat of battle.
Back to the ally subject, she befriends the boy from her district and they work together to fight off the other competitors. This is relating to Jung’s point about allies and helpers. The supernatural aid I mentioned earlier also tells about a friend or ally who helps Katniss along her journey in the Hunger Games.
The hardcore supreme ideal would obviously be the fight to the death between Katniss and the other twenty-two kids. The main test about this movie, however, is at the end when Katniss is nearly forced to kill Peeta. They end up nearly killing themselves with suicide berries to hack the system, starting a huge war in the following books. But… I wont go into that. The final reward is obvious as well: life; the fact that they get to live to tell about it.
To further clarify…
Heroes: Katniss and Peeta
Shadows, Threshold Guardians: Enemy competitors
Mentors: Katniss’s friend was also her strategic mentor
Herald: The lady who drew Katniss’s sister’s name at the reaping
Shapeshifter: The final event where Katniss and Peeta are allowed to live
Allies: Peeta and Katniss’s other friend
(539 words)
The Hero’s Journey
ReplyDeleteAfter reading The Hero’s Journey, the movie I chose to compare Jospeh Campbell’s passage to was The Karate Kid (2010). This movie tells a story about a boy who transfers to China from Detroit, and gets a mean welcoming from a class bully. To redeem himself, he seeks help for Karate training from the only friend he has, the maintenance man. Conquering his fear of bullies and standing up for himself was one of the biggest challenges of his life.
Not all heroes hide their identity with capes and masks to save the city from evil. In this movie, the main character, Dre, was his own hero. He journeys through a life-changing obstacle of learning defensive skill and bravery. It started off when his mom got a new job location in China and had to leave his friends and family in Detroit. While playing basketball at the park, he is distracted by a talented violinist, Mei Ying, who he catches feelings for. Unfortunately, his feelings got himself into trouble as Cheng, the school bully and a close family friend of Mei Ying’s, beats him up. Just as he’s getting jumped for the thousandth time, the maintenance man, Mr. Han (the mentor), stands up for Dre, fights the kids, and heals him at his house. After this, the two have gotten closer.
As they walked around town, Dre spots a Kung Fu center, where he unknowingly comes across his enemy. This is where the herald is put to play. Instead of accepting Dre and Mr. Han’s peace offering, Mr. Li, Cheng’s instructor or the trickster, has a first idea of putting Dre and Cheng to a fight right at the scene. As Mr. Han refuses and pulls Dre to walk out with him, Mr. Li challenges Dre to fight his enemy at the Kung Fu Tournament. Mr. Han agrees to do so, without Dre’s say. When Dre explains that he knows nothing about Kung Fu, Mr. Han willingly trains him not with kicks and punches, but with movements of a daily life routine.
At the day of the tournament, Dre starts off being nervous, but then develops his confidence and makes his way up to the semifinals with Cheng and another boy. As he comes up against the third component, he gets badly injured. Trying to convince Mr. Han to heal him like he did the first time, Dre comes out with his threshold of losing the tournament and leaving with the unchanged fear of being picked on. Mr. Han then heals Dre. Coming back to the stage, Dre faces Cheng with great hits and blocks, until a time out is called. At the time out, the trickster demands Cheng to break Dre’s hurt leg. Remembering that his teacher taught him to have no mercy, Cheng follows through with the coach and Dre drops to the ground. Not backing down, Dre surprises the audience by getting back up. Cheng charges for Dre and Dre does a flip, only to kick Cheng right in the face, winning the tournament. As the shape thrifters of the movie, Cheng and the rest of his classmates end up bowing down to Mr. Han, and Dre gains the respect of many.
This movie shares many similarities with the stages of a hero’s journey.
(550 words)
Hazel Jarquio
HOPES
After reading "The Hero's journey" inspired by Joseph Campbell's research on mythology, the film I thought about is Man of Steel. Man of Steel is a movie that was released on June 14, 2013. The plot of the movie is that due to unstable core the planet Krypton gets destroyed. The ruling council deposed by the planet military commander, Zod. After filling the newborn's cell with a codex of the entire kyptonian race. A scientist, Jor-El and his wife send their newborn son, Kal-El, on a space craft to earth before Jor-El gets murdered by Zod. Zod and his follower want to restore their planet but to do so they must locate Kal to get the codex of Krypton.
ReplyDeleteThe hero in the movie is Kal-El. He was sent to earth and there he was adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent, who names him Clark Kent. Clark learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not from earth. Growing up he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. As he learns about his powers, Clark tries to save people from accidents. Mr. Kent tells Clark he has to hide his special powers from people because it will change everything, but Clark is torn in helping others. He feared that if his adoptive son’s power is exposed he will be hunted. One day a tornado hit Kansas and Clark was left with no choice. He had to let his dad die; Mr. Kent didn’t want Clark to save him because he felt that the world wasn’t ready for him. Growing up to an adult Clark spends several years working many different jobs under fake identities.
In the movie Clark has three main mentors his adoptive parents and his biological dad. When Clark works for a U.S military investigation in the Arctic , he enters an alien ship that allows him to talk to the remains of Jor-El through a hologram. Jor-El teaches Clark his heritage and tells him the reason he was sent to earth. Jonathan and Martha taught Clark as he grew up. They taught him what kind of man Clark wanted to be.
The enemy in the movie is General Zod and his followers. Zod and the others eventually pick up the distress signal of the kryptonian, which was sent from the ship Clark finds. Zod demanded the humans to surrender Kal-El, who has the codex of Krypton, or else he will destroy Earth. Clark turned himself in. General Zod wants to use the codex to transform Earth to Krypton. This transformation will destroy and kill all mankind. Clark must decide whether he wants the planet his from or planet he was born.
In the end, Clark saves Earth before it was too late. This movie portrays “The Hero’s Adventure” because it has most of the archetypes. The call for adventure is when Clark goes on a journey to find himself. Accepting the call is when Clark turns himself in and saving earth. Entering the unknown is when Clark discovers his special powers. Threshold guardian is Mr. Kent. Helpers and allies is the military.
523 words
Sincerely,
Zhaira Agrade
HOPES
Dear Zhaira,
DeleteWhile this highlights some of the events that occurred in the movie, I don't believe that it was analyzed enough to convey the hero's journey process. Although you told parts of the story, the ending of your essay became too vague and abrupt and the rest of archetypes weren't mentioned. However, when I read the heroes journey, this was the movie that I was originally going to portray in my essay because it had all the aspects of "a hero's journey." Too bad you beat me to it.
“The Hero’s Journey” was actually an interesting read because it’s so true. Any movie or story that becomes famous does so because it has not only the archetypes listed in “The Hero’s Journey,” but also the stages of the monomyth.
ReplyDeleteI thought it’d be a bit interesting to use an anime movie to show examples of the monomyth. Howl’s Moving Castle is a movie about an ordinary girl who meets a man of magic, gets turned into an elderly woman, and has to put up with a smelly witch. Maybe if you knew the entire story, it’d sound a bit more appealing. A girl named Sophie acts as our hero in this story. She starts off as an ordinary hat maker with no self-confidence whatsoever, but then she meets the shadow, the Wicked Witch of the Waste. She is a shadow because, well, she’s gotten the title of witch and she is the reason Sophie gets cursed into being an old woman. Anyway, as Sophie looks for help, she wanders into Howl’s moving castle and asks for a job from his assistant, Michael Fisher, who turns later ends up being an ally. Michael lets her stay and as Sophie cleans around the castle, she meets Calcifer, a magical talking flame that says he’s a terrifying demon who later becomes an ally. Calcifer play quite an important part in this story, but let’s get to that later. Once everyone is well acquainted, Sophie wanders around and finds a magic hopping scarecrow that wouldn’t leave her alone. Once everyone’s well acquainted, Howl comes home and meets Sophie without even realizing that she’s Sophie because she uses a different name.
As the story progresses, we find out that that Howl’s been running off to battle and he’s been getting weaker and weaker because he’s LITERALLY lost his heart. It’s said that a “scary demon” swallowed his heart and that he won’t give it back because of some curse that a witch. Now, who was mentioned earlier who was a witch? The Wicked Witch of the Waste of course. And the demon? Calcifer.
Sophie is the one who figures out that Calcifer is the demon that has Howl’s heart because one of the exits that the front door of the castle that brings her back in time and she sees that Howl gave his heart to Calcifer. As the hero she is, Sophie gives everyone what they truly need: love. She gives a simple kiss to everyone. One to the Witch who smiles and is glad that for once she’s getting some love. Sophie gives a kiss to the scarecrow that then turns into a prince and then hops away back to his land on his magic hopping stick. And last but not least, Sophie gives a kiss to Howl and also gives him his heart back. Calcifer is set free from his bonds to Howl and he’s able to roam wherever he pleases as the spark that he is. Once Howl gets his kiss, Sophie curse is broken. Howl and Sophie then get married and live happily ever after with their new family with a witch and a spark floating around.
528 words
Erica Cabalona
IDEAS Academy
Hero Plot Line Blog
ReplyDeleteThe movie Avatar contains a plot line like that of a common hero story. You can identify all of the main parts by just looking at the plot line. The first element that you can identify is the “Call to Adventure”. In Avatar this is the point in the movie where he is asked to take his twin brothers place on a mission to a different planet to occupy an Avatar body. the next element which ties into the first one is “The Ordinary World”. He is an ex marine who lives on earth and isn’t a guy that is very different from any other. The mix of call to adventure and the ordinary world make the setting change within the first part of the movie to start the heros journey. The next two elements are also intertwined, they are ‘refusal of the quest” and “accepting the call”. In avatar you actually don’t really see a refusal of the quest but more on an accepting of a call. This element is shown when he decides that he will go to an outpost and get to know the native culture of the alien planet. This segment of the movie is also where the element of “entering the unknown”. He leaves the safety of human society and spends a majority of time being an avatar. He enters the unknown of the alien society and becomes emest in their culture and way of life. Two main elements that can be found in every hero story are “tailsman” and “allies” these are his avatar body, his fellow scientist in avatar bodies and Neytiri. They help him learn about the ways of this new planet and how he can survive in it and be able to relate to the native people. The most memorable elements in the hero plot line are the last two. They are the ones that you take away with yourself after you see the movie. The ones that you really remember the movie by. They are the defining moments of the movie that can make or break it. The first of the two is the “test and supreme ordeal”. In Avatar this “supreme ordeal” comes when he must chose to fight against the humans in order to save the Home tree and the future of the planet Pandora and the people that live there. He must choose to fight against everything he was raised with in order to defend a place that he now feels connected to. The last element is the “Reward” this is when the battle against the humans is won and he saved the home tree and the planet of Pandora. This is intertwined with “restoring the world” he saves the civilization on Pandora and starts to make a new life for himself on Pandora.
Wylie Barker
IDEAS
While reading “The Hero’s Journey” by Carl Jung, the movie that immediately came into mind was Prince Of Persia.
ReplyDeleteThe plot of the show is basically this Prince Dastan is framed for murdering his adoptive father the king by his adoptive power thirsty uncle. The uncle wanted to take his brothers place as king, to do that he wanted to go back in time using a magical sand that can turn back time called “the sands of time”. This introduces Princess Tamina. She is the guardian of the dagger, that is the only way the sands of time will work. Princess Tamina and Prince Dastan go on a journey to destroy the dagger and keep the sands of time safe from Prince Dastans Uncle (Nizam).
Jungs storyline of a “heros journey” is demonstrated in this movie. The hero is Prince Dastan. He is the most central to the story, it is through him that the sands of time can be saved. The “call to adventure” was when Prince Dastan was framed for murdering the king after he gave the king a coat that way poisoned. The two older brothers (Tus and Garsiv) then try to kill Dastan forcing him on this journey. Much like Lord of the Rings, Dastan and Tamina enter the unknown to destroy the talisman of the story to the birthplace of it and destroy the talisman. In Lord of the Rings they bring the ring to mordor and destroy it. Then in Prince of Persia they bring the dagger to where it was created, the only way it can be destroyed. The supreme ordeal was when Dastan showed his brother Tus, the new king, the power of the dagger and Nizam was finally caught in his lie. However, that was not the end of the battle because that still did not stop Nizam. Nizam broke out and Tus killed him. Then as every hero gets a reward, Tus suggests Dastan and Tamina get married as a goodwill pact.
The archetypes are clearly painted in Prince of Persia. The hero is Prince Dastan. The shadows is his Uncle Nizam and Nizams followers, the hassansins. I would say Dastans mentors are memories of advice he received from his father. The herald in the story was when Dastan was framed for murdering his father. This forced him on the run from his brothers that wanted to kill him. The shapeshifters would be the Nizam again because at first he is the trustworthy uncle that Dastan goes to for help, but then in the end he is really the enemy. The tricksters, i think, are the hassansins. They have these weird powers that can find people where they are and have a snake attack while not even being there. Allies of Dastan and Tamina are Sheik Amar, his bodyguard, and his people. They help Dastan and Tamina get to the birthplace of the dagger, as well back to Alamut, where Nizam took the dagger after stealing it. Then finally the woman temptress is Tamina. While on the journey Dastan starts to fall for Tamina and she fell for Dastan as well.
Prince of Persia has all of the characteristics Jung described as a heros journey.
Naea Oda
HOPES
(535 words)
A Hero’s Journey
ReplyDeleteLooking back to all the movies and books that I read, I realized that Joseph Campbell hit the nail on the head when getting to the point about what makes a hero a hero in a situation. There was movies racing through my thoughts but the one that stood out the most was “Fireproof”.
In this movie the hero is a young husband named Caleb Holt. He is a firefighter that saves a bunch of people he does not personally know but he lets his marriage fall through the cracks. The marriage shifts into wanting to get divorced. But the father of Caleb asks him to put the divorce on hold for forty days. Caleb accepts and later gets a book consisting of things he needs to go by everyday. For example, make her coffee, call her to just see how she is doing, etc. At first he slowly starts to doubt that the things he is doing is worthless and has no meaning to it because it wasn’t working. The father urges him on and says “take it one day at a time”. Caleb does what he is told while also turning to God. Even though the first week was a fail all his buddies at the fire station had his back and also pushed him to go forward with what his dad told him to do. The wife, Catherine, becomes a little more distant and interested in a doctor that is taking care of her father in the hospital. Her father falls more ill and she decides she wants to buy a comfortable bed for her dad. The bed ends up costing more than what she expected and couldn’t afford it. The next week or so she went to visit her dad and the exact bed that she was looking at was under her father. She started to weep and asked the doctor who bought it. The doctor said that there was no need to thank him because he put in a little money. But later that day she was thanking the doctor in front of the front desk person and once the doctor left the front desk person said “He only paid $100, your husband is the one that you should be really thanking.” Catherine ran off and drove to the fire station where she leaped into Caleb’s arms and said “If I haven’t told you I love you often enough I do”. They restarted their marriage happily. After a week Caleb went to return the book to his father. His father then shared to Caleb that his mother was the one that used those steps on their marriage when they were going through a rough time in their marriage.
This movie was very moving and brought my mother to tears. I recommend this to any marriage or relationship that are at their breaking point!
Keisha Aki
HOPES
Carl Jung’s nine archetypes are key outlines to almost every heroic story. I do believe how ever that not all heroic stories require all nine, and in some cases a character may act as more than one archetype. For example, In the Hunger Games the shadows and the heralds are the same person. There is also no female temptress.
ReplyDeleteThe Hunger games basically starts off as any heroic story would, with a hero (Katnis Everdeen). She lives in district 12, the worst district in all of Panem. Katnis Everdeen always had a heroic personality; she helped people as often as she could and put her life on the line to keep her family together. However her true start to becoming a hero happens when she takes her little sisters place in the 74th annual Hunger Games. The Herald in this case, would be the capital leader President Snow inventor of the games, requiring one boy and girl from every district to be tributes and fight to the death; with only on winner.
Katnis then meets her mentor, Haymitch. Over time he teaches her; how to get people to like her, and how to create a good show for the audience; because over all that’s all they want, and that’s how you win.
It is important to find allies in this game and that’s exactly what the boy Petta from her district did. He partners with the the strong competitors from districts one and two. However the only reason he does this is because he loves Katnis and wants to keep her safe. After many tributes have died, Petta and Katnis finally become allies and form a romance that may just help them win.
Now there are many threshold guardians that Katnis faces in the games. Obviously the other tributes who are viciously trying to kill her. Also there is the guilt she feels, the guilt she feels because she is torn between who she really cares for, Petta or her best friend from back home, Gale. This is a crisis because if she doesn’t pretend or fully devote herself to Petta, the audience will not be interested and they will not receive sponsors who help them in times of need. She is also continually reminded that eventually she or Petta must die. This gets to her because a part of her has grown to love Petta.
The trickster is the new games maker. He tells the tributes if the last two tributes are from the same district, they both can win. This gives the audience and the two of them hope because district two is the only other district where both boy and girl tributes remain.
ReplyDeleteThe girl tribute from two is killed. The games are near ending and they still need to face Kato, the strong and trained to kill tribute from district two. The games maker brings in the shape shifters as a rouse to make all three tributes face each other. He sends massive dogs after Katnis and Petta, the thing about these dogs that is terrifying however is that they all represent the deceased tributes. These monstrous dogs are haunting because they have the eyes of the former tributes. The dogs end the game when they begin to mangle Kato. But Katnis is the one who officially kills him, only to put him out of the misery of being eaten alive. They are the last two tributes and both from district twelve; they should both be crowned victors now. Nothing’s happens, they become suspicious. Right then the tricky games maker announces that there will only be one victor and that the game is still on. Katnis shows her true inner hero now and reaches for some poisoness berries she found. She tells Petta they will eat it at the same time. She can’t stand to see the authorities win this. However she makes it look like an act of passion and love.
There must be a victor, the games maker takes back his announcement and crowns them both as the 74th annual winners of the Hunger Games. Katnis is a hero because she has just given all of Panem hope. If she can go against the rules so can every other Panem citizen who has been treated unfairly for the past 74 years. With Katnis now as the sign of hope, she has one major shadow hanging over her shoulder. President Snow. He is out to get her because she is defiance, trouble, and the cause to a future uprising.
HOPES
Mo'orea Rohlfs
For me, the film that came to mind for me while reading The Hero’s Journey was the movie The Host. It displays the archetypes discussed by Carl Jung, and follows the hero’s journey according to Joseph Cambell, but in a slightly unorthodox manner.
ReplyDeleteTechnically there are two heroines in the story. The first, Melanie, is introduced in her ordinary world, protecting her family and running away from alien parasites, the shadows, called “souls”. Melanie’s call to adventure, her Herald, ensues when she is captured by the souls while running and trying to save her brother and boyfriend. Once the soul parasite took over her body Melanie enters the unknown and she was given a choice: fight and take her body back, or die off. She accepts this call, and convinces the soul, named Wanderer (the second hero), through thoughts and feelings that the Souls are wrong to take over her planet and convinced her to take her body back to her family and help the surviving humans. The soul does have a mind of her own, and is also given a call of destiny- help the human find her loved ones, or help her alien race continue to take over the planet. At first, Wanderer refuses the request and chooses to help her race. Through shared thoughts and emotions, Melanie convinces her to run away and enter the unknown. The two heroines act as mentors towards each other, arguing morals and using past knowledge and advantages of their race to help the other. When Melanie and Wanderer finally meet Melanie’s family once again, they begin to be tested. They are assisted by allies in the family such as Melanie’s brother, and are tested by the people who distrust Wanderer, such as Melanie’s boyfriend Jared. Wanderer must gain the family’s trust and show that she is not going to give away their whereabouts, while being abused because she is an Alien. Melanie’s self-control is tested, she must not take too much control of Wanderer but she cannot lose her own voice. She must take care of her brother through Wanderer while assisting Wanderer in gaining her family’s trust. The supreme ordeal event is when the soul police- the tricksters, track the whereabouts of the hidden family. Melanie and Wanderer fought off the souls and saved their family, using the soul body and the fighter in the heart of Melanie. The reward and journey home is an emotional one. After falling in love with a human named Ian, Wanderer the soul removes herself from Melanie’s body. This is a reward for Melanie as she regains her body, but a sad plot twist. Fortunately the human doctor is able to put Wanderer into another girl’s body of whom they could not revive after the soul was taken out, and Wanderer is able to live among the humans. This leads to Restoring their World. It is restored when Melanie and Wanderer, with other humans, continue to fight off souls and regain the human world back. They then join another group of good souls and humans and continue to make their planet thrive.
Noelani Cassidy
HOPES academy
518 words
The Harry Potter series was the first movie franchise I thought of that displayed the archetypes mentioned in the passage, “The Hero’s Journey”. All of the movies in the Harry Potter series portray the archetypes, but only the first movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is going to be explained.
ReplyDeleteThe main character of the movie, a young orphaned boy named Harry Potter, is considered the “hero”. In the beginning of the movie, he lives in “the ordinary world” as the author of “The Hero’s Journey”, Carl Jung, described. Harry is considered odd by his relatives because he can do strange things such as speak to snakes. This fits the description as it says that the hero often possesses something that makes them feel out of place, which Harry Potter does.
The story then starts the “call to action”, in when the story’s “herald”, Hagrid the giant, finds Harry to tell him that he is a wizard and that Harry is to come with him to the magical wizard world. During the “refusal of the quest” Harry does not have much in the family and friends department, so his choice to leave did not take as long as perhaps other stories “refusal of quest”. However, he does have to leave behind everything he has ever known to go with someone he doesn’t know.
So Harry “accepts the call” and “enters the unknown” with Hagrid. They go to the wizard world, which is the unknown world for Harry. When they get to the wizard world, Harry acquires his “talisman”, his magic wand, which his object that he cares about that holds value. After Harry has purchased all of his necessary things, he boards a train where he meets his “allies”, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.
He goes to Hogwarts, a wizarding school where he meets his “mentor” Dumbledore, who is the school’s headmaster. Harry finds out that there is a secret hidden somewhere in the school, and that a bad wizard is trying to get it and that it is not safe. This is when it comes time for the “tests” of the movie. This involves a series of obstacles Harry and his friends must pass to get to the end where the bad wizard is. His allies help him get through the obstacles and only Harry is allowed to make it to the end. “The supreme ordeal” involves Harry meeting his “shadow”, Lord Voldemort. He has a duel with him in which Harry wins, and Voldemort flees.
Finally, the “reward and journey home” is when Harry is in the hospital and is given all these gifts by his friends, and this is significant because he doesn’t usually have friends like that before. And he takes the journey home to his aunt and uncle. Harry has “restored the world” because he has gotten rid of the evil wizard, Lord Voldemort, for the time being.
This is how I believe the archetypes in the passage are reflected in the movie, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”. Most of the archetypes mentioned in the “Hero’s Journey”
Jenna Stone
IDEAS Academy
(514 words)
Dear Jenna,
DeleteI totally agree that Harry Potter displays the archetypes in "The Hero's Journey". I too thought of the Harry Potter series while reading "The Hero's Journey". I really enjoyed reading your response about Harry Potter and his life changing journey. I thought that your response was easily understandable and you explained all the key points well. Good Job!
Sincerely,
Aaryn
After reading Joseph Campbells “The Heros Journey” I immediately thought of the movie “Finding Nemo.” Although this is a childrens cartoon I believe it is a clear example of a monomyth.
ReplyDeleteThe movie begins with the story of two clownfish, one being the father and one the son. In result of the tragic death of Nemos (son) mother and the rest of his brothers and sisters, Nemos father (marlin) is very overprotective of nemo. Nemo is eager and excited to start his first day of school. Fearing for Nemo to venture away from home Marlin is much more hesitant about it. Because of this Nemo and Marlin soon get into an argument resulting in Nemo challenging his father by swimming way out to sea over the dropoff of the reef. Nemo is captured by humans and taken away which is the herald of the story. The divers are also the main shadow of the story. Marlin tries to swim after him but cannot keep up with the boat, thus the “call to adventure.” He immediately accepts the call and swims below to ask for help. He happens upon a quirky and optimistic fish with short-term memory loss named Dory. She become his ally and accompanies him throughout his journey. The talisman of the movie is a divers mask that was left behind by the humans that took nemo. On the back of the mask was an address. With the mask in hand they enter the unknown and venture far beyond their reef, or the known world, into the open ocean. Along the way they go through many tests, or threshold guardians such as barely escaping with their lives from a group of sharks, and being swallowed by a whale. These things are also shadows in the story. Finally they reach the dentists office where Nemo is being held in a fish tank. A seagull recognizes Marlin from stories he has heard of their journey. It scoops Marlin and Dory up in its mouth and brings them to the window of the dentist office. In an attempt to be flushed down the drain into the ocean Nemo plays dead. Marlin sees this and mistakenly assumes he is really dead. Completely defeated Marlin enters the ocean and begins the journey home. Now Nemo has made it down the drain and enters the ocean through an underwater drainpipe. Dory recognizes him and reunite the two together. Then Dory is caught in a fish net. Nemo enters the fish net to help dory, thus inspiring the fish around to help. They then succeed in rescuing Dory. Once home Marlin is no longer overprotective or doubtful of his sons survival skills. He has faith that he will be okay and that he can let go and not worry about him. Marlin is the hero in this story. He traveled the entire ocean, overcoming multiple life-threatening obstacles in order to save his son, and then succeeded. As you can see this movie is a perfect example of the “Heros Journey.” It demonstrates every step of it and all of the archetypes.
Megan Devin
IDEAS
Dear Megan,
DeleteI think it is interesting that you chose a children's movie for this assignment. You analyzed the archetypes in the movie well, each archetype is thoroughly explained. I think that is impressive that even children's cartoons apply the same process to the story plot. Good choice!
Sincerely,
Jenna Stone
Hercules
ReplyDeleteThe Disney Animated movie Hercules is an ideal example of the research and discussion on mythology presented by Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung. Not to mention, it is one of my all-time favorite childhood movies.
As the title implies, the legendary hero is none other than Hercules, son of Zeus and Hera. Hercules was born amongst the gods in Olympus, but his stay there did not last long. His Villainous Uncle Hades whose sole desire was to overthrow Zeus, appointed his minions Pain and Panic too kidnap Hercules and bring him to the mortal world. Once there, they were supposed to give him an elixir that would turn him completely mortal, but they failed to give him one drop. Therefore Hercules became human, but he still had his god-like strength.
Hercules, who was now living among normal people, “entering the unknown”, was always the odd one out. His strength set him apart from everyone else and often times resulted in accidental chaos and destruction. Inevitably he becomes rather depressed, and decides to set off on a journey to visit a statue of his father Zeus, in hopes of discovering his purpose. While visiting his father, who turns out to be one of the “heralds” alongside Hades, Hercules is presented with his trusty steed and “ally” Pegasus. Pegasus stays loyal to him throughout everything, aside from some jealousy over Hercules relationship with the “woman temptress” and also “reward” Meg.
Like most heroes, Hercules was not able to accomplish his mission by himself. He enlisted the help of a satyr named Phil for the role of his “mentor” and trainer. Phil taught Hercules how to be a true hero, and coached him through most of his major battles or “tests” as Joseph Campbell would say. Despite what you may think, becoming a hero was not the hard part of Hercules journey, becoming a god was. The “supreme ordeal” that ultimately aided him in accomplishing this goal was to come much later in the future.
The road to victory was not a smooth one, and the “tricksters” Pain and Panic made sure of this. Following the orders of Hades, they were always around Hercules in one form or another, causing havoc. Sometimes they were disguised as birds, statues, and most infamously as two children in distress under an impending boulder. In that particular instance the two minions tricked Hercules into saving them, and at the same time lured him into a bigger unknown trap setup by Hades, which he would come out of victorious. One obstacle not quite as obvious was the beautiful woman temptress Meg. By no choice of her own, Hades used Meg to convince Hercules to give up his strength for one day in exchange for her safety, which wasn’t in danger in the first place. That one day would prove to be the most important day for all of them.
Finally we come to the “Supreme ordeal”. In yet another attempt to overthrow his brother, Hades released the Titans and commanded them to take over Mount Olympus. They had nearly succeeded until Hercules finally proved himself worthy to be a god again and restored everything to normal. But in his final act Hercules declined his place on the throne, to be with his one true love Meg. The End.
(550 words)
Autumn Begley
Hopes Academy
Constantine
ReplyDeleteUpon reading “The Heroes Journey” I instantly pictured Man of Steel, but, someone had already done it. So I convinced myself to do the next best movie for this essay which was Constantine. This featured film focuses on religion, exorcism, and the rise of angels and demons. This movie concentrates on how John Constantine essentially stops the apocalypse from occurring.
John Constantine was born with the gift of seeing angels and demons. As a young kid, he was unlike any of his peers. He was not accepted socially and his parents found him peculiar. At the age of 15, he attempted to commit suicide and was brought to hell. Constantine was revived back to life by the paramedics but because of his action to commit suicide, he was condemned to a lifetime worth of suffering in hell. Which entails his life to an adventure seeking to eliminate escaped demons from hell that has been wandering the planet and hoping that by doing this; he can bargain his way through heaven. He’s aided by his disciple Chas and essentially his talisman (the bible).
One night, Constantine dreamt of a lady standing on a cliff that leads to a portal of eternal damnation. As he tries to save her, she jumps and he awakens. He later finds out who this woman is and was astonished to discover another woman with identical features with her. That woman was Angela Dodson, twin sister of Isabel Dodson; the one who committed suicide. He then pursues Angela and incessantly tries to warn her about her sister being damned for an eternity. He then informs her about God and Lucifer’s proxy war. She was later on convinced to join his journey as he saves her from a swarm of demons. She later confesses that when she was younger, she could also see angels and demons and that she ignored it until that part of her vision vanished. Her psychic power is later recovered when she underwent a near death experience.
It was then revealed that Mammon, the son of Lucifer was trying to summon demons on Earth where he can freely rule. Mammon is the Shadow of the story. But in order to accomplish this mission, Mammon must receive assistance from Heaven. More importantly, they need a strong female psychic for Mammon to possess where he can come out of. That woman happened to be Angela. Angela is later revealed to be John’s temptress and he develops feelings for her. In a weird twist of events, the angel Gabriel was exposed to be the help of Mammon. John Battles Gabriel and loses. So he commits suicide to stop time and Lucifer appears. Constantine conversed with Lucifer about Mammon’s plan and he was shocked so he sends Mammon back to hell. God then found out Gabriel’s devious plot and incinerates his wings. As Lucifer was about to collect John’s soul, God started to absorb his soul to heaven because he performed self sacrifice in order to save someone (the reward). Lucifer was infuriated and healed Constantine back to life promising to take his soul when the time comes.
John Ortega
HOPES
(521 words)
Dear John,
DeleteI really like the way you write essays! This essay that you wrote was pretty entertaining. Although I didn't watch, or even hear of, this movie, the way you described it, you made it seem like a good one. It was also good the way you described the archetypes. I thought it was great how you somewhat incorporated them without using a list. In other words, keep up the great work!
Sincerely,
Hazel
Tangled.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Joseph Campbell’s “ The Heros Journey” the movie that came to my mind was Tangled. This movie shared the same archetypes as discussed by Carl Jung.
In this film the hero, Flynn Ryder a well known thief who is on the run from the crown, stumbles upon Rapunzel locked inside her high tower. Flynn helps Rapunzel to leave her tower to pursue her dream of seeing the floating lanterns for her birthday. However, Flynn had a “shadow”. He was only going to take Rapunzel to see the lanterns in return for his satchel back. His intentions were not pure and if she had not taken his bag he would have never gone on his quest to become the hero oh the story, thus being his call to adventure, and accepting the call of the quest.
Rapunzel and Flynn set off on their quest, this was a first for the two of them. The first time being outside for Rapunzel and Flynn’s first time leading a partially horrified partially over joyed girl through the woods toward what he was running from. The talisman referred to in this movie was Rapunzel’s hair, there for Rapunzel, which had a special power to restore young age and heal injuries. Along the journey Rapunzel and Flynn are helped by many odd characters many of whom were met at an old inn. Who seemed to be the shadiest of all characters ended up being the sweetest most helpful allies two run aways could have.
To get to see the floating lanterns the main characters had to battle Rapunzel’s crazy evil “mother”, who was the reason why she was locked up in the first place, and two other thieves who Flynn has swindled. They also battled a royal horse who really like to go at it with Flynn. In the end Flynn and Rapunzel fall in love, the old witch, Rapunzel’s “mother”, was killed because in order to save both Rapunzel and Flynn’s life, her hair had to be cut therefore no longer providing the de aging process to the witch. Rapunzel was also returned to her family, the king and queen. Flynn’s charges were dropped for his nobel deeds through out the story and everyone lived happily ever after.
The movie Tangled holds all of the archetypes discussed, such as the heros ordinary world, as a thief, to becoming a guide on the way to help make a girls wishes come true. The hero had a call to adventure, needing to get his bag back, and accepting the call of the quest because he knew that there was no other way to get his bag back. Together Rapunzel and Flynn entered the unknown starting their quest by leaving the castle Rapunzel knew as her home. The talisman was Rapunzle’s special hair that had the gift of healing. Along the way many allies presented them selves offering protection. The tests battles were emotional as well as physical, Rapunzel defied her mother for the first time and both were on the run from two men after Flynn. In the end the reward was happiness and everything was set to the way it should've been.
Sincerely,
Kai Chase
IDEAS
532 words
Dear Kai, you're right that Tangled is a perfect example of the hero's journey. The only part that seems to be missing from some movies is the hero's transformation(its generally there but not so obvious) which was extremely apparent in the movie tangled. I also remember how each of the archetypes could be found in the movie and as I think about when i saw tangled it almost seems like the director must have read the exact "hero's jorney" article we did.
DeleteSincerely,
Mason Schwarze
IDEAS
When I began reading “The Hero’s Journey” a movie instantly came to mind, not only for its abundance of archetypes and tropes associated with the characters and their journey, but also for how it manages to apply them to a modern day scenario and subvert the archetypes throughout the movie, while also managing to stay true to the formula by the end of it. This movie, is called “Chronicle”.
ReplyDeleteChronicle is a 2012 science fiction movie set in modern day Seattle, where our three “heroes” attend senior year in high school. Our central protagonist is the unpopular and frequently bullied Andrew Detmer, who begins the story when he begins videotaping his life, which allows a way for us to view his life through the “found footage” of the cameras he uses throughout the movie, Andrews mother is presented to the audience as slowly dying from cancer for which his alcoholic father can not afford to pay, who also verbally and physically abuses Andrew. This sets Andrew up as the protagonist, making the audience feel sympathy for him as the story is told from his, quite literally, point of view. We are then introduced to his cousin, Matt, who is established as a pseudo-philosopher in his first few minutes on camera, and invites him to a party to help his cousin to make friends. At the party we are introduced to the final member of the trio, Steve, who is introduced to us as the most popular kid in school, who is also running for school president. After a few hours at the party, Andrew quickly finds himself following Steve out into the nearby forest, Steve telling Andrew how he and Matt found something in the woods that they need on tape. This is “the ordinary world”, which quickly changes when they arrive on scene.
“The call to adventure” takes its form as a meteorite (“The Herald”) located in a deep crater in a field. Steve and Matt having found it earlier, Andrew filming the crater as the other two debate over it. The choice to refuse or answer the call is apparent, and Matt and Steve take the opportunity and jump down the trench, Andrew following soon after. The trio finds the meteor at the bottom of the crater, and the camera quickly shorts out.
A new camera, which becomes “The Talisman” for the rest of the movie, shows Andrew catching a baseball telekinetically, the meteor having done something to the heroes that grants all of them telekinesis. The movie moves on to show a realistic show of the heroes “Entering the Unknown” as they use and begin to master their newfound powers, which quickly go from levitating the camera for filming, to crushing a car into scrap with little to no effort.
The heroes begin to be presented in the formula from the heroes journey, all three of them as the “hero”, with Andrews darker side demanding vengeance against the people who wronged him and save his mother no matter the cost being the “shadow” of the story, Steve serving as “the mentor” for the other two. “The Supreme Ordeal” occurring when Steve dies and Andrew and Matt begin to come to blows. No “Restoring the World” even being present at the end.
(544 words)
Ryemin Liddle
Hopes Academy
The Heros Journey
ReplyDeleteIn the article The Heros Journey Carl talked about the journey of well known films and the heros and what it takes for them to become who the are portrayed as. This article though, brought to mind the movie Avatar(the blue people one). This is the story of a parapoligic ex-marine armed Jack Sully who was chosen on the the tragity of his brothers death to take his place on the planet of Pandora. There he would have to over come the obstacles of his new technological arena of the humans and the wilderness of Pandora as one of the natives. He must gain the respect of the natives and become one of them; become part of the people. As Jung discussed in his article the steps to the hero, in this film it easily show Jack progressing and becoming better in the growth of his journey. The film has many similaritys with Joseph Campbell's work. An example would be of the first step, the call to adventure, in this case the adventure is when Jack accepts the job of a avatar driver on Pandora. Also in the fact that he never did it alone he always had people the to teach or help him along the way. Then when all was done he was gifted from the people to stay and live as one of the people. Therefore this movie/film uses the exact technques of Joseph Campbell.
Ideas
Noah LaMadrid
Dear Noah,
DeleteI agree with you that avatar does resemble the hero's journey. I liked how you explained what happened throughout jack's journey, but I feel you could have explained more on how the movie resembles the techniques of Joseph Campbell. Like tell us more on who his allies were who was his enemy, things like that. But other than that great job!
Respectfully,
Chaz Pacleb