Myth In Film - Blogs at Volunteer State

Myth In Film

by Daniel C. Moore
07 Sept 2010

Myth in Film

Myth is defined as “a popular belief or tradition that has grown up around something or
someone; especially: one embodying the ideals and institutions of a society or segment of
society” (Merriam Webster Online). Whether it is the story of Prometheus stealing fire from the
gods and giving it to mankind, or a story of the lone cowboy riding through the Southwestern
States in North America, myth represents the highest (and sometimes lowest) ideals and
aspirations of a culture. Through these stories, a culture is provided with the blueprint by which
the members of that society will interact with each other; and, with the natural environment.
Historically these myths were passed down orally. With the advent of the written word, these
stories were passed solely amongst the social and religious elite in their purer form, and then
disseminated amongst the lower classes through the visual arts. To give life, and therefore
substance to the myths, the religious elite would develop and perform ceremonies and rituals to
act out these stories visually, thus passing them on to a primarily illiterate society. From these
rituals the theater developed, carrying those mythic stories from the sacred halls of religious
observance, and depositing them into the shows of the carnivals and fairs, the amphitheaters, and
the opera houses. This general condition remained unchanged for thousands of years; until the
late 19th century. With the creation of the Motion Picture Camera myth moved once again, this
time to other venues of theatrical expression, and to a much larger audience. With the ability of
the Film Industry to once again breathe life into those ancient stories, recreate and recycle those
mythic themes, and to make them available to a larger audience, the Film Industry has become
the modern purveyors of mythic imagery.

The importance of myth within a society cannot be overstated. Just as the psychology of
the individual manifests itself in every aspect of the individual’s life, cultures and societies have
a collective psychology that manifests itself in the health and functioning of that culture.
Nothing determines the health of a culture more than the myths that inform, and influence, the
interactions between the individuals of that society, and with their relationship to the greater
construct of creation. Therefore, the import given to a prescribed system of mythological
imagery cannot be overstated as well. Where then are we to turn for the source of these myths?

Anthropologists, psychologists and Mythologists seem to agree that there is an uncanny
correspondence between the myths of otherwise disparate cultures. Carl Jung justifies this
correspondence by claiming that myths are created from a matrix of “primordial images” which
bubble up through the Collective Unconscious and are activated through life experience or divine
revelation (Jung 70). These primordial images constitute a symbolic language which is the “…
ancestral heritage of all possible representation, it is not individual but common to all men, ...and
is the true basis of the human psyche” (Jung 67). He later went on to call these primordial
images archetypes, and it is through the activation of these archetypes that humanity is instructed
in the ways that they should live. It is these archetypes that account for the similitude of imagery

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Myth in Film

in many religions and cultures that otherwise have no significant or visible form of mutual
influence.

In a highly diverse and secular society like that represented by the United States of
America, the influence of a specific religious or philosophical belief structure on the continued
development of that society becomes extremely weak. With no cohesive ideology to inform the
interactions amongst the populace, it often seems that the society must tear itself apart (or at least
drift in many different directions). The fact that this does not happen to a fatal degree cannot be
easily explained. However, if we take a look at the film industry, we begin to see that we are
regularly influenced by, not a cohesive ideology, but a cohesive symbolic use of images that
define how we as a culture are to act relative to ourselves, and with the natural world. It is this
cohesive use of imagery and themes that have become the myths that preserve and maintain our
otherwise non-unified culture. For a culture that prizes the rights and sanctity of the individual,
like the United States of America, these myths usually manifest themselves as hero myths.

Every film represents a quest or journey of a main character, or protagonist, in pursuit of
a goal. It is this goal that carries us along with the protagonist, but it is not the goal itself that
makes for a good movie. Rather, it is the person performing the deeds that lead to the hoped for
conclusion that keeps us engrossed and entertained. Alfred Hitchcock understood and used this
to great effect by developing a device he called the McGuffin in each of his thrillers. This
McGuffin changed from movie to movie, and was the thread or object which tied the story
together. Rather than making the goal the object of the film, Hitchcock used the McGuffin to
create the framework wherein his characters could be developed. Hitchcock understood that an
audiences primary preoccupation is with humanity, which is to say: itself. The primary symbolic
form, or archetype, which represents humanity through Film is that of the hero.

Joseph Campbell defines a hero as “…someone who has given his life to something
bigger than himself, or other than himself” and “[s]omeone who has found, or achieved, or done
something beyond the normal range of achievement or experience” (Campbell). Most of the
films we watch will fall into this hero category of mythic symbolism. Though this is easy to see
within the action/adventure dramas such as Indiana Jones or Star Wars (both films by George
Lucas who was heavily influenced by the writings of Joseph Campbell’s, The Hero With a
Thousand Faces), it is not so easy to see in the modern love story, or the melodrama (where it is
not uncommon for the protagonist to fail in the quest), unless we know the common pattern of
hero development.

Heroes develop along a common path known generally as: The Hero's Path. The hero is
usually born into poverty, or becomes orphaned at a young age; the hero is different than his/her
peers; the hero is faced with an inevitable calamity which it cannot avoid, or is destined to face;
the hero succeeds or fails in achieving his/her goal; the hero returns to the mundane world
changed, and thus changes the world. According to Joseph Campbell, the hero goes out, is

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Myth in Film

transformed (in a positive way), and returns. In its most basic incarnation, the heroic act can be
any act that follows this pattern. This hero’s path also follows the common pattern established
by Gustaf Fretag for the theater and borrowed by the cinema. Coined the Dramatic Pyramid,
Fretag said that drama begins with Exposition, develops a Rising Action, Climaxes, develops a
Falling Action, and ends with a Denouement or Resolution. Juxtaposed on each other, the hero’s
path and the dramatic pyramid are almost identical. So, when we apply the dramatic pyramid to
the Love story, we find that the pursuit of love often is a heroic journey. We’ve all seen the
romantic comedy where the protagonist is in conflict with the desired other over his/her inability
to grow out of outdated patterns. The journey that protagonist must embark on is the hero’s
journey. In the more dramatic love stories, it is not uncommon for both lovers to step out, or be
forced out, on the journey through some mutual tragedy, and for the relationship itself (that union
between the two individuals) to become heroic. Once we know the most common development
of the hero archetype, we can apply the pattern to most human interest stories, and especially
those in the cinema. To clarify this point, we can even break down the hero archetype into
different manifestations of the hero's journey.

Carol Pearson in her book, The Hero Within, does just this. She separates the
mythological hero into six individual manifestations of the hero archetype (the Innocent, the
Orphan, the Martyr, the Wanderer, the Warrior and the Magician), each of which is representative
of an aspect of the heroes journey. In the Cinema, each (but not necessarily all) of these six
archetypes are used either to move the main protagonist along in his/her quest, or as a stage in
the protagonists development throughout the film. The Innocent and the Orphan are often used
to catalyze the hero into taking the journey, providing a reason for facing a preconceived notion
or a physical threat (Mercury Rising comes to mind). Or, the hero may well be the Innocent or
the Orphan themselves, and seeking to preserve that innocence for others, becomes a Martyr
and/or a Warrior such as Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of The Rings. The
Wanderer and the Warrior are often closely associated in Westerns and Action films. Clint
Eastwood playing the “Man With No Name” in those old Spaghetti Westerns, exemplifies the
archetype (and has even become iconic for the role). We see the same dynamic when John
Rambo comes to the screen in First Blood. Most melodramas are often dependent on the Martyr
come Warrior to emotionally involve us in the story such as in Lorenzo’s Oil. The list of
examples is staggering, and one need look no further than their DVD collection to find their own
examples. Through understanding these archetypal images, and how they are applied to the
various film genres, we can see that myth is pervasive on the movie screen. Every time we
watch a movie we are immersed in mythic imagery created from the archetypal matrix which
exists in the Collective Unconscious. And, no myth captures our attention quite like the hero
myth.

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Myth in Film

Other mythic motifs are represented in Film, however, most of them remain mainly as
backdrops (or McGuffins) to the hero’s journey. Clash Of The Titans, Percy Jackson and The
Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and Troy deal almost directly with ancient mythological
images. 2012, The Day After, Armageddon and Deep Impact all deal with Natural Apocalyptic
themes and archetypes. Zombie movies remind us of Voodoo witch doctors or foolish scientists
(I Am Legend, Dawn Of The Dead, Zombieland). Movies in which a technology takes over and
destroys its master (The Matrix, Frankenstein, The Terminator, Surrogates) ring of the Jewish
stories of the Golem (a soulless entity created from inanimate material). Movies have been made
about Biblical figures, Norse Gods, and Messiahs. (Who could deny the similarity between Neo
in The Matrix Trilogy and Jesus, as well as its allusions to Eastern philosophies). Even Creation
myths have found a home in Film (The end of 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Celestine Prophesy,
Mission To Mars). All of these mythic motifs, are represented in Film, however, most films are
actually representative manifestations of the hero archetype and the myths that archetype
engenders.

Myth has moved through varying disseminating mediums throughout time, and now, has
found a home in Film. Through the creative process of developing a movie, those mythic, and
archetypal images, that at one time developed in the minds of our ancestors, re-affirm and re-
assert themselves in the modern human psyche, and are played out for our edification and
enjoyment on the silver screen. Often it has been speculated that the Film Industry may not be
up to the task of holding such a sacred role in the development of a society (because of the lack
of responsibility it has toward that society). I, however, believe that the archetypes, and their
associated myths, have been here far longer than human culture, and that they are hard wired into
both the Individual and Collective Unconscious. Any major deviations from these archetypal
themes will tend to ring false when altered beyond a certain point, and those deviations will fade
into obscurity. Just as any good writer will tell you, “I didn’t so much write the story, as just
being available for the story to write itself through me”. We do not create the myths, we must
just be available for the myths to write themselves. As long as we allow the archetypes to assert
themselves through us, we will have stories to read and movies to make. Film is a fitting place
for mythic themes to be presented; and, as long as the Artists remain present in Hollywood, those
myths will be in safe hands.

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Myth in Film

Works Cited

Campbell, Joseph. Interview by Bill Moyers. The Power of Myth. Natl. PBS. WNET, New York.
WTTW, Chicago. 1988. Television

Jung, Carl. The Essential Jung. Ed. Anthony Storr. Princeton, New Jersy: Princeton University
Press. 1983. Print

Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online. Merriam-Webster. 2010. Web. 16 Sep. 2010

Pearson, Carol S. The Hero Within:Six Archetypes We Live By. San Francisco: Harper &
Row.1989. Print

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