The Hero With A Thousand Faces Movie Monomyth

1165 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Cause effect

After finishing the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I sat on the floor of my dorm room and cried for at least two hours. The movie had an immediate and profound affect on my emotional state, and has continued to do so despite repeated viewings. I am not an incredibly sensitive person and was thus curious as to what emotional fount the filmmakers had tapped. Such a powerful reaction to a generic and nonspecific work is a rare, but memorable occurrence, and can create a cult following, as seen in the Twilight saga, Harry Potter series, and Star Wars trilogy. These books and films amassed massive fan bases filled with loyal fans willing to fork over money and time to support their favorite stories. Such dedication and widespread …show more content…

The monomyth begins with a call to action, usually with an easily relatable main character, or hero. This is followed by a series of obstacles, or the road of trials, that can only be conquered with outside help, after which the hero returns home with wisdom and spreads it to the people. This is the hero’s journey that has been told over and over again in various forms. It has stood the test of time and is proven to work across genres and mediums. Campbell claims that the reason for the widespread success of mythology, specifically the hero’s journey, is due to its inclusion of the various conflicting human emotions and the organization of human chaos into order. Beneath each story is an underlying message that teaches the individual how to act in accordance to society. Kony 2012 tapped into that basic and human desire to help reduce chaos and provide order, and therefore people were willing to …show more content…

Only in retrospect is that reaction recognized as an emotion. Fear is not registered until you are physically shaking from fear, at which point the mind catches up to the instincts. The James-Lange theory removes any cultural impact on emotion, arguing that it is a purely physical reaction, interpreted by the brain. Wine, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and other mood altering substances are cited as proof that emotions are the result of chemical reactions. If this is the case, how can emotions be elicited? Crying at the end of a movie, or experiencing a sense of euphoria from a song, are not instinctual incidences as we are aware that the situations are crafted and in no way

Show More
Related

  • The Blind Side Hero's Journey Essay

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    The mold of the heroic template is evident throughout various types of media. Within movies, novels, and poems the hero’s journey is present. Of course, not every piece of literature or movie follows the cycle. However, the idea of the monomyth arose from Joseph Campbell. He wrote his own book, The Hero of a Thousand Faces, within his writing he describes that heroes’ follow the same basic procedure throughout their quest(s). This is where the idea of the hero monomyth arose. In Michael Lewis’s novel, The Blind Side, he portrays “The heroic monomyth.” The Blind Side consists of the basic characters and archetypes that accurately reflect the heroic template.

    Read More

  • Empathy and (Film) Fiction, by Alex Neill

    1015 Words  | 3 Pages

    Relations between sympathy-empathy expressiveness and fiction have become a significant issue in the debate on the emotional responses to the film fiction. Due to their complexity many scholars found it useful to diagram them. With his essay, “Empathy and (Film) Fiction”, Alex Neill tries to develop new theory for analyzing the fiction and, especially, the emotional responses from the audience on it. The project of this essay is represented with an aim to show the audience the significant value of the emotional responses to the film fiction. From my point of view in the thesis of his project he asks a simple question: “Why does the (film) fiction evoke any emotions in the audience?”, further building the project in a very plain and clever way. Tracing the origins of this issue, he distinguishes between two types of emotional responses, sympathy and empathy, as separate concepts in order to understand the influence of both types of emotional responses to fiction. However, relying mostly on this unsupported discrepancy between two concepts and the influence of the “identification” concept, Neill finds himself unable to trace sympathy as a valuable response to fiction. This difficulty makes Neill argue throughout the better part of the text that empathy is the key emotional factor in the reaction to (film) fiction and that it is a more valuable type of emotional response for the audience.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Joseph Campbell's Monomyth

    357 Words  | 1 Pages

    Joseph Campbell was an American mythologist and philosopher. He wrote works such as “The Hero With a Thousand Faces”, “The Hero’s Journey”, and “The Power of the Myth”. Also, because this is interesting, he was one of the fastest half mile runners in the world at one point (The Hero's Journey Summary.). Campbell focused on comparative mythology which is when you compare mythology from different cultures and find common themes and ideas (Joseph Campbell Foundation). Joseph created a monomyth that contained seventeen stages (INTRODUCTIONS). These seventeen stages can be simplified even more to nine which are birth, departure, crossing the threshold, special weapon, mentor/help, proving themselves, facing death/lowest point, final ordeal, and

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Hero's Journey Or The Monomyth

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    In every culture, there are stories that get past down from generation to generation (Campbell 1). Tales of knights who slay dragons and princesses who kissed frogs are a part of every culture. All over the world, stories share comment characteristic. Joseph Campbell introduces a theory based on this idea called the monomyth, the idea that stories all share the same narrative pattern, in the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Overall, this theory shows the same narrative pattern in stories throughout the world, which symbolically reveals all humans must tackle difficulties and overcome them many times throughout life (5). Specifically, Campbell’s hero’s journey is comprised of six steps, which, collectively

    Read More

  • Elyn Saks: Heroic Triumph Over Schizophrenia

    1366 Words  | 3 Pages

    “At much earlier times, people suffering from schizophrenia were viewed as either cursed by the gods or blessed by them” (Saks 169). Nobody can deny that Elyn Saks lived an amazing life. She grew up with a very misunderstood mental illness, schizophrenia, and overcame it to become a very well known and respected professor and mentor to others. Although Saks triumphed over her mental illness, does her life story fit the mold of Joseph John Campbell’s archetypal hero in his book, The Hero With A Thousand Faces? Campbell was an American mythologist, writer, and teacher whose work covers many different parts of the complex human experience. Campbell’s magnum opus, or finest work, was a book known as The Hero With A Thousand Faces. In this book,

    Read More

  • The Tragedy of Seabiscuit

    514 Words  | 2 Pages

    The crowd-pleaser walks a fine, inescapable line between uplift and shameless maudlinism. Cynicism is pervasive, yet unapologetically sentimental films such as Rocky and Forrest Gump periodically magnetize the multitudes. The story of the underdog who defies the odds is as timeless as it is transparent. Rudimentary emotions, despite their apparent simplicity, can be ineffably potent.

    Read More

  • Audience's Emotional Response in The Triumph Of The Will, Cabaret, Schindler’s List and The Lion King

    1164 Words  | 3 Pages

    Audience's Emotional Response in The Triumph Of The Will, Cabaret, Schindler’s List and The Lion King

    Read More

  • Heros Journey: Osmosis Jones: A Hero's Journey

    971 Words  | 2 Pages

    The monomyth, or Hero’s Journey, is an outline or pattern of events that a hero may follow in a story or movie. This so called pattern takes place in two locations: the ordinary world and the supernatural world. Joseph Campbell was the first person to notice this outline and actually research it. Osmosis Jones is just one example of a movie which follows the monomyth. This movie also serves as a great lesson of perseverance because even throughout the trials and tribulations, Jones never gives up and in the end is rewarded.

    Read More

  • The Unexpected Hero: Forrest Gump

    837 Words  | 2 Pages

    On June 6, 1943, in Greenbow, Alabama, an unexpected hero was born with a crooked spine and strong legs. Forrest Gump is not an expected conventional hero, however his accolades and accomplishments suggest otherwise. A hero is someone who inspires and instills good morals upon others by their courageous and outstanding acts. Forrest demonstrates these characteristics multiple times during his heroic journey. Whether it be diplomatic pingpong, fighting in the Vietnam War, becoming a local football legend at the University of Alabama or donating money to a deceased friend’s family, Forrest influenced many people with his unselfish and charitable acts. Joseph Campbell’s monomyth consists of the following stages: taking place in an ordinary world, a call to adventure, refusal of said call, meeting with a mentor, crossing the threshold, trials and tribulations, an approach to the final challenge, an ordeal, a reward, the journey back, a purification or resurrection into the normal world and a return home with the capabilities to alter the world in which he lives. Many heroes follow this journey and Forrest Gump is no exception.

    Read More

  • 's Journey In Joseph Campbell's The Hero With A Thousand Faces

    1593 Words  | 4 Pages

    (200)This mythic study will define the first ten stages of the hero’s journey as defined by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell defines the various stages of the hero’s journey within the context of a universal mythic "cycle” found in world ligature. These similar events define the universal stages of the hero’s journey in (1) the call to adventure, (2) refusal of the call, (3) supernatural aid, (4) the first threshold, (5) challenges, (6)revelation (7) abyss (rebirth), (8) transformation, (9) atonement, and (10) the return in the gift of the goddess. These ten stages define the cycle of the heroic journey, which

    Read More

  • The Heros Journey: A Hero's Journey

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    Joseph Campbell defines a hero as “someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself ” (Moyers 1). The Hero’s Journey consists of three major parts: the separation, the initiation and the return. Throughout a character’s journey, they must complete a physical or spiritual deed. A physical deed involves performing a daunting and courageous act that preserves the well-being of another person. A spiritual deed calls for action that improves another individual’s state of mind. While fulfilling their journey, a hero must undergo a psychological change that involves experiencing a transformation from immaturity into independence and sophistication.Campbell states that these events are what ultimately guides a hero into completing

    Read More

  • Hercules: The Hero's Journey In The Hunger Games

    1802 Words  | 4 Pages

    The monomyth or also known as the hero 's journey, is found in many different types of stories/myths/movies from around the world, no matter what the culture or setting it is a part of. There are twelve stages in which the hero participates in, where the hero goes on an adventure, is in a decisive crisis, wins a reward and comes out of it a changed or transformed person. Hercules, is a Greek myth and is an American animated film loosely based on Ancient Greco-Roman mythology, Heracles. The story is modernised in the 1997 to a Disney film and follows the hero 's journey structure. The Hunger Games is a Dystopian fiction set in American, is written by Suzanne Collins and also follows the same structure of the hero 's journey. Regardless of the

    Read More

  • Gilgamesh: A Mythical Hero

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    From the beginning of time, mythology has appeared to be one key method of understanding life’s confusions and battles. Within these myths lies a hero. From myth to myth and story to story, heroes experience what may be called a struggle or a journey, which lays down their plot line. Bearing tremendous strength, talent, and significant admiration, a hero holds what is precious to their audience, heroism. Over time however, no matter the hero, the hero’s role remains indistinguishable and identical to the position of every other hero.

    Read More

  • The Hero Of Gilgamesh And Joseph Campbell's Hero

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    Joseph Campbell was a well known mythology teacher who spent his whole life trying to understand the different types of stories that are told. To Campbell “all humans are involved in a struggle to accomplish the adventure of the hero in their own lives.” He made a list of stages that every hero goes through, and sums it up to three sections: separation (the departure), the initiation, and the return.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Motivation And Emotion

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    Emotion is the “feeling” aspect of consciousness that includes physical, behavioral, and subjective (cognitive) elements. Emotion also contains three elements which are physical arousal, a certain behavior that can reveal outer feelings and inner feelings. One key part in the brain, the amygdala which is located within the limbic system on each side of the brain, plays a key role in emotional processing which causes emotions such as fear and pleasure to be involved with the human facial expressions.The common-sense theory of emotion states that an emotion is experienced first, leading to a physical reaction and then to a behavioral reaction.The James-Lange theory states that a stimulus creates a physiological response that then leads to the labeling of the emotion. The Cannon-Bard theory states that the physiological reaction and the emotion both use the thalamus to send sensory information to both the cortex of the brain and the organs of the sympathetic nervous system. The facial feedback hypothesis states that facial expressions provide feedback to the brain about the emotion being expressed on the face, increasing all the emotions. In Schachter and Singer’s cognitive arousal theory, also known as the two-factor theory, states both the physiological arousal and the actual arousal must occur before the emotion itself is experienced, based on cues from the environment. Lastly, in the cognitive-mediational theory

    Read More

More about The Hero With A Thousand Faces Movie Monomyth

Open Document