Monday, September 29, 2008
Favorite Myth or Fairy Tale
I found it difficult to think back at my favorite myth or fairy tale. My favorite stories as a kid where always more modern. In terms of more classic fare, I loved the Disney movies of Robin Hood and Sword in the Stone, and I also liked the Sam Neil miniseries, 'Merlin', and the Mel Brooks Robin Hood. I always found Merlin to be interesting, not so much Arthur. Merlin shaped Arthur into who he was to be. In the Disney version he turned him into animals and let him examine life from a different perspective. For Robin Hood, I liked the characters. Robin Hood was a soldier that returned home to find it under oppressive rule and did something to change it. I am always struck by any story where there are annoying tyrants or fascists that need to be taken down, but Robin Hood had two and they were both intriguing characters. Besides those two I have also had an interest in the more darker underworld side of Greek mythology, looking up lesser known gods like Moros the god of doom, and Thanatos the god of Death. Now that I ahve written this out I think Merlin is my favorite myth. I think i was that he aged slow and saw how everyone around him failed and saw so much.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
"Myths provide seeds of recognition to our collective DNA"
Myths provide humanity with stories that all can understand and relate to. No matter the story as long as it relates to a human experience, all cultures can find something in there that is relevant to their life and culture.
This brings up one of the finest episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Darmok." Written by Joe Menosky and guest starring the late actor Paul Winfield, Darmok follows Captain Picard interacting with Dathon (Winfield), an ambassador of an alien race known as Tamarians. The Tamarians speak only in a metaphorical language, relating events of their legends and history.
Dathon takes Picard to a planet where they face grave dangers and in the end connect and finally understand each other. Picard tells a dying Dathon a simplified story of Gilgamesh, relating the phrase Dathon continued to say (Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra) with Gilgamesh and Enkidu at Uruk.
The statement at the top seems very much to be a theme of the episode, except that this breaks that down and says that all sentient life can find connection through myths, not just humanity.
Myths provide humanity with stories that all can understand and relate to. No matter the story as long as it relates to a human experience, all cultures can find something in there that is relevant to their life and culture.
This brings up one of the finest episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Darmok." Written by Joe Menosky and guest starring the late actor Paul Winfield, Darmok follows Captain Picard interacting with Dathon (Winfield), an ambassador of an alien race known as Tamarians. The Tamarians speak only in a metaphorical language, relating events of their legends and history.
Dathon takes Picard to a planet where they face grave dangers and in the end connect and finally understand each other. Picard tells a dying Dathon a simplified story of Gilgamesh, relating the phrase Dathon continued to say (Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra) with Gilgamesh and Enkidu at Uruk.
The statement at the top seems very much to be a theme of the episode, except that this breaks that down and says that all sentient life can find connection through myths, not just humanity.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The Adventure of the Hero: Chapter I
Departure
The first steps in practically any hero's journey are receiving the call, refusing it and then accepting that call. If I think back on my favorite heroes there is almost always a moment where the hero is reluctant. In Christopher Nolan's Batman movies, Bruce Wayne always takes out his revenge through assassinating Joe Chill, before accepting that he needs to become a greater hero and get revenge for his parents in a greater way. His call was when Chill kills his parents, he refuses it for years until he finally goes on his journey and trains across the globe. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy Summers' refusal is clearly states in the pilot when she tells Giles how she just wants to be a normal teenage girl. We don't see Buffy's initial call in the series until very briefly in a flashback, but it is clearly established in series canon and dialogue that she was called by her first Watcher, Merrick , when she lived in LA. In Eric Kripke's Supernatural there are many calls to adventure. John Winchester is called to adventure when his wife and mother of his two son's Sam and Dean is killed over Sam's crib. Sam and Dean follow in his footsteps until Sam goes off to go to college and attempt a "normal life." Sam is brought back in in the series pilot when his father is missing, and then permanently locked in after wanting to refuse the call when he returns to college to find his girlfriend dead in the same manner as his mother, and thus his journey begins. Eric Kripke had stated in interviews that Campbell was an influence on him when creating the series, and it is interesting not note this. Nearly anything you look at involving heroes will follow the basic structure laid out by Campbell, whether conscious of it or not.
The first steps in practically any hero's journey are receiving the call, refusing it and then accepting that call. If I think back on my favorite heroes there is almost always a moment where the hero is reluctant. In Christopher Nolan's Batman movies, Bruce Wayne always takes out his revenge through assassinating Joe Chill, before accepting that he needs to become a greater hero and get revenge for his parents in a greater way. His call was when Chill kills his parents, he refuses it for years until he finally goes on his journey and trains across the globe. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy Summers' refusal is clearly states in the pilot when she tells Giles how she just wants to be a normal teenage girl. We don't see Buffy's initial call in the series until very briefly in a flashback, but it is clearly established in series canon and dialogue that she was called by her first Watcher, Merrick , when she lived in LA. In Eric Kripke's Supernatural there are many calls to adventure. John Winchester is called to adventure when his wife and mother of his two son's Sam and Dean is killed over Sam's crib. Sam and Dean follow in his footsteps until Sam goes off to go to college and attempt a "normal life." Sam is brought back in in the series pilot when his father is missing, and then permanently locked in after wanting to refuse the call when he returns to college to find his girlfriend dead in the same manner as his mother, and thus his journey begins. Eric Kripke had stated in interviews that Campbell was an influence on him when creating the series, and it is interesting not note this. Nearly anything you look at involving heroes will follow the basic structure laid out by Campbell, whether conscious of it or not.
The Hero With A Thousand Faces: Prologue
In his prologue, Joseph Campbell set's up various classic stories from many different cultures. He tells of King Minos of Crete, Theseus, and the Minotaur. He goes into the stories of Moses, Jesus, and Buddha. Campbell tells that all these classic stories of heroes are all practically the same. they got through the same trials and events, albeit with different faces and situations.
It is remarkable that such similarly structured stories exists in all cultures of Earth and these stories continue to manifest themselves into the 20th century when Campbell wrote his book and into modern times. These stories continue to be relevant and find new audiences through modern mediums such a film, television, and comics. The hero that Campbell writes about is more and more prevalent in the modern consciousness these days with the public looking for real heroes to look up to in a time when there is no faith in the powerful. Screenwriters and TV creators even cite Campbell's work as inspiration for their works. From George Lucas and Star Wars to modern television and Eric Kripke's series Supernatural, writers have read Campbell and model the journey of their characters specifically on the journey he outlined. In a time when actual heroes are hard to come by, the fictional hero is more and more important.
Campbell goes on to set up what the rest of the book is to be about, how each part and chapter will chronicle another part of the hero's journey. It is interesting how he even brings in classic philosophers and psychologists into his discussion of the hero, and points out that even Freud and Nietzsche saw the impact of the hero on the human consciousness.
It is remarkable that such similarly structured stories exists in all cultures of Earth and these stories continue to manifest themselves into the 20th century when Campbell wrote his book and into modern times. These stories continue to be relevant and find new audiences through modern mediums such a film, television, and comics. The hero that Campbell writes about is more and more prevalent in the modern consciousness these days with the public looking for real heroes to look up to in a time when there is no faith in the powerful. Screenwriters and TV creators even cite Campbell's work as inspiration for their works. From George Lucas and Star Wars to modern television and Eric Kripke's series Supernatural, writers have read Campbell and model the journey of their characters specifically on the journey he outlined. In a time when actual heroes are hard to come by, the fictional hero is more and more important.
Campbell goes on to set up what the rest of the book is to be about, how each part and chapter will chronicle another part of the hero's journey. It is interesting how he even brings in classic philosophers and psychologists into his discussion of the hero, and points out that even Freud and Nietzsche saw the impact of the hero on the human consciousness.
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