Wednesday, February 4, 2015
The ideal Journey of a hero
Joseph Campbell seems to be an expert in the analysis of heroes. The system he uses to identify a hero seems foolproof. But why is it people go see these types of movies even though they follow the same plot line. A billion dollar industry is created off the diagram that Joseph Campbell made. It is extremely challenging to create a movie about a hero that doesn't follow this line. But when the story takes a turn from the ideal journey that Campbell created, the plot twist gives viewers a shock and awe.
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This is really interesting, because watching movies which we think indirectly follow this mono myth. It seems so natural to us we can't even realize it sometimes. So much so, that when viewing a movie that does not follow these guidelines, we tend to not like it, leaving the movie confused, and frustrated. For example, Memento does not follow Campbell's system at all. The movie is chronologically backwards, and it's plot is told through short/passive memories. This movie really frustrated me, and made me even not want to figure it out after watching it. Which is interesting that subconsciously when we experience something that is not of our norm, we turn it away as if something is wrong with it. It's strange that we a a culture even name the category "Independent Films" which in my opinion could be just the films that don't follow Campbell's guidelines.
ReplyDeleteI think people continue to go watch these movies due to every story being a little different. Yes they all seem to follow a certain plot line however the different characters, settings, as well as experiences causes the films to still be appealing and different enough to be entertaining.
ReplyDeleteI think Joseph Campbell's theory is so broad that almost all movies follow this. Even romances follow this broad theory. I think people go to see these movies for the story and for the excitement because although so broad each ending of a movie is different. I personally find these movies enjoying because even though you know what is going to happen you still find it exciting to see how the movie ends
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