After learning about the mono-myth I started to look at our modern films in a different light. Almost every one of our "modern" (last 50 years) films can be placed into the mold of the mono myth. However some stories only fit if you look at the whole series of movies instead of and individual film. An example of this would be the Dark Knight trilogy, when looked at through the lens of the whole trilogy it easily fits into the mono myth template but, as we found out, if you try to make the mono myth fit for a single part of the trilogy you have to resort to stretching meanings of scenes to fit.
I agree with the group who did "The Interview". There analysis was, in my opinion very good although I do disagree with some of their choices. When they say the road of trials is their training with the CIA, I always thought the road of trials was when they need another strip of poison to be airdropped to them by the CIA and they have to retrieve it. I do agree strongly with the idea that when Kim mentions his relationship with his father he is undergoing the atonement. Similarly to that, in the group that analyzed guardians of the galaxy, I strongly agree with the idea that of the characters not reverting back to the criminals or outcasts they were at the start is the refusal of return. One thought I had was; is could the call to adventure when Peter Quill is abducted by aliens in the early stages of his childhood or when he initially steals the orb as a grown man?
When analyzing James Bond movies and placing them into the mono myth I found that they are all uniform in the sense of sequence of events. If you watch the earlier movie in the James Bond series the format for the plot is always the same you will just have different bad guys. Did Ian Fleming write the James Bond books with the knowledge of the mono myth structure for each story?
As can be seen by our work many if not all films that we see in the modern time can be conformed to the mono myth.
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Sam,
ReplyDeleteI discussed this in my blog post and I see where you're coming from with the road of trials. I was in The Interview group and I thought the road of trials was the training with the poison strip because I thought this aspect was more about training to become the hero. When Ravaport and Skylark have to get the new poison strip, they are thrust into action and have something at stake. During training, the hero usually doesn't have anything at stake. This is the way I approached this aspect of the monomyth.
Sam, I agree with many of the points which you brought forth here. You really analyzed a lot of the different films which people watched which was nice. However, when you say that almost every modern film has the monomyth engrained into it, I think it is essential to say that the monomyth only tends to work with hero films or films which there is an adventure. And those hero/adventure films are not what encompasses "Modern" film. Overall, good thoughts and analysis!
ReplyDeleteBuilding off of what Emre said. Movies such as "Maleficent" or Broadway shows such as "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder" are stories following villains but portraying them in a more pleasant light. These stories don't follow the myth very well. Historically accurate films do not either to some degree.
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