aS THE HOLLYWOOD Siow 5, Rent oot ofthe Alia fly, and cus whether Sigourney Weaver fs tier of Rays wo eter of eo. 6, Gaon carci och a Bar Sirspeon end Ren of Rand Stingy dont Fenty Rays wo tperofera.lavent a hed spe feof sons ‘ode rch aren LINDA SEGER Creating the Myth “Tobe sucess venir, Linda Seger sages inthis eleon fon Making 3 Good Sexipt Great (1987), you've got know or ‘ocepes. Stger real the eet behind the zs of uh Flood (reams au Star Wate} Luke Skyway and tl ou how yo cit (eae sich bees youre Inti “how fo" appowh to the cx, tahoe: the more eden judgments of uth seins of fm 15 Uber Et>—the rad to popular sus in mas nr paved ‘ht taal myth ad lee A scien and ctor wh has irs precio eminem loaning eound the wo, Seger so {ties on dams, haar, and women’ sti [All of us have similar experiences. We share in the ife journey of ‘development, and tansformation. We live the same sori, ‘whether they involve the serch for a perfect mate, coming home, the teacch for filfllment, going ater an ideal, achieving the deeam, of Ranting fora precious ease, Whatever our cuore, cere ate universal sores that form the bails fr all ovr patcuarsoces. The tappings night be deene the twists and roms that ces saypense might change fom culture to culture the particular characters may take deren fom, bot underneath i all is the same sory, dawn fom the sme expei= "Many ofthe mos succes fle ae based on these univers ris, “They deal withthe baie Joumey we take in lie. We idem with che hetors because owe were once hero (desciptive) or because we wish ‘we could do what dhe hero does (prescptive). When Joan Wilder finds the jel and saver her ster, or James Bond saves the world, or Shane saves the fly Gom the evil ranchen, we ideafy with che charcten, Std” slouly recognize the story 2s having some connecion with ‘our, ve, Itk the same sory 3 the ry tales about geting the cree Sege / Creatng tery > om princes, And its not all chat diferent» story fom the caveman Killing the woolly beast or the Roman sve gaining his freedom through sil and courage, These are our storiee—personaly and cllecively—and the most siecetl fms contin thee univenal experiences. Some of chee stories are “earch” tons. They addres our deste to find tome kind of rare and wonderfl treaure, This ight inclode the search for outer value such s Job, relationship, o suceasy or for inner vale och at respec, cust, sel-expresion love, or home. Bt itbal wsindor seach none Some of thee stories are “hero” stories, They come fom our own experiences of overcoming jas wel ag our dese to do great, Sn special ac. We root forthe hero and celebrate when he of she ‘chieves the goal becnute we lzjowe thatthe heros journey & in many ‘ees inl ou own, We cal there woes mks Myre are the common sis a el soot of cu uivend eae hope fund ea ase dl entur, enging fom the Greek mys tory tale, legends, ag ‘ovr caw frm al othe word eioas "Smyth it ory tht more than eve” Many tors ae tie ‘ects one penon, Yoewheerataamie-ame, ved fs hued on fer Buta mph ie rnoredhan toc bees elie by all fs seve deve ib soy hat connec and pels 0 a Some ny fe tue sores tht sin myc significance becuse the pepe reed os a es et a wm re ‘more intenely than comnion folk. Maria Luther King, Je, Gandhi, Sit * Elinund Elly, and Lord Mountbsten penny the fjpes of journeys swe identify with, because we've taken sar journeys—even ifony is 1 very small way ‘Oder mays revolve around make-believe characters who might capeslze forte the som total of many of our journeys. Some of these ‘make-believe characters might seem similar tothe character We mest ‘nour dreams. Orthey might bes composite oftypes of characters we've a both cases, the myth ie the “aory beneath the story.” 105 the snivenal patter that shows os chat Gandhi journey toward indepen nce a Hillary journey to the top of Mount Everest ‘contsin many ofthe same dramaiie beat. And these beat ate the.sume ‘eas tha Rambo takes tose ee che MIAs that Indiana Jones takes 0 find the Lost Ark, and that Luke Skywalker takes to defeat the Evil Empire, "a Heo with « Thowud Fees Joseph Campbell races the elements {hat form the hero myth. "inthe own work with myth, weer Chis ‘Vogler and seminar lead Thomas Schlesinger have appt his ceria ‘Sur Wars The myth within the story helps explain wh, ions went282 THE WOLLYWooD sioN “The bro myth asset ory beta osetn lero re. ‘ism we hewn heb seo ow he ee tnd rey nts edt cet» tanomiton Th jure ted heron prose Thr evel proce oth pie fab the pre noi seh the Ser War logy. ‘The Hero Myth 1. In mest heto stoves, the hero is introduced in onary euround- ‘ng, in a niandane woed, doing mundane things. Generally, the hero begins a¢ 2 nonhere: innocent, young, inple, or humble, In Star Wer, the fist time we tee Luke Skywalker, het unhappy about having to do his chores, which consis of pling owt ome new droid for work. He ‘wants f9 go out and have fn, He wns to leave his planes and go to the Academy, but he's stuck. This isthe setup of mote mths. This how sie meet the hero before the eal to sdventare, 2. Then something new entes the hero’ if. Teb a extalyet thet sets the sory into motion. It might be a telephone eal, a in Romancing the ‘ton, oF the German attic in Tie Afi Quen, oF the Balograph of Princess Lea in Star Wars Whatever form i takes 2 new ingredient that pushes the ero into an extraoednary advent. With thi el the sakes re eased and 2 pote i ntoduced har demand 0: ‘3 Many times, however, dhe hero dosent want to leave, He or she {sa reluctant her, afd Of the unknown, uncertain, perhap, ihe of she up to the challenge. In Sur Har, Lake receives a dovble cll to sdvenuute. Fine, fom Princes Leis inthe hologrph, and then theough ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi who say he neds Luket help But Luke i ot rey to go. He rum home, only to find tit the imperial Stomntooper have burned his frhouse and slaughtered his family. Now he i per sonally motivated, ready to enter into the advenure 4: many joarncy, che hero usally eceves help, andthe help often ‘comes from unl sources. Tn many fry tals an old woman, a dwar 2 witch, or «wizard elpe che hero. The hero achieves the gol becase ‘ofthis elp, and because the hero is recepive to what this person has to ee Thee ae a number of ry ales where the fist and second som are seat ro completes task, but they ignore the helper, often scoring them. ‘Many times they are severely punished for thelr lack of umity snd uwilingness to acept help. Then che hid son, the her, comes slong, He receives che help, accomplishes che ek, and offen wins the princes, Pr Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi es peracs example ofthe “helper” ‘-char. He is a kind of mentor to Luke, one who teicher him the ‘89 reat iy ES Wiy ofthe Fores and whose teachings continu eve afi his dea. ‘Tit mentor hacer appean in mom hero soviet He the peson ‘ho hs spec know, spec infomation, and special sill. Ths right be the prmpetor a The Ter of the Sle Ma, o he psy= hasta Olay Ppl of Quit an who Kaows all sboe sks Sr the Good Witch ofthe Nom who giver Dorothy the mb slippers {2 The Wierd of Ox I Sa War, Obi-Wan gives Loe the lg ber that vas the pei weapon of the Jods Knight With th, Luke eady {0 ove forward and do his aiing and mec adventure. 5 The hero i ow rend to move into the speci Wodd where he ce he wil change from the oinry ita the exrsorinary. This as the bers etna, and ea up the obaales that rt bese ‘outed 0 seach te goal Unal his happens atthe St Torin Font of the sory, Sil fad neo Ace Two development In Str Ihe, Oksana Like search fora pilot to take them to che planes of [Alerts that OB Wa can deliver the plans to Praca Lei fer ‘These plan ave cao othe sun ofthe Rebel Forse. With thi ‘eon, the vente i ready fo begin ‘6: Now begin lth ts snd obstacles necesary to overcome the ‘enemy and accompli the hero} goal, In fry Wey, es ofen tears frling ps witches, ours he devi, siding ober, or contron fig en In Hemet Oe, means Binding the Cyclops, escaping Gone and othe bots Bate, ressng te tmptaion fh sings, Sie, ad srviengasipoectIn Star War, nnueneble adventures Confront Lake He and hs cohorts must run to the Meat Fao, ‘momiy escaping the Stoizoopen before jumping ito hypenpace ‘Tey must make k through the eter shower afer Alderan bas ben destyed They mut eve capes on the Death Stas rescue the Pin es and even uve a atbage crusher, “ht tome pont nthe soy, the hero fen its rock boetom, He beni "eat exprence" lading to 4 pe ofebieh, In Sor Ha {ke same to hse Sed when the serpent he gutnge-mathee pulls kim under bu het sagan te tk RADE to sop the marher ‘elore they ertbed Ths olen the “back momen” st he second ‘Sning pon, the pln when the worst is conomte, andthe ation now moves toward the exngcondsion. '8, Now the beso sae the sword and takes poeion ofthe tea- sare: He row i charg, bathe sll as por. complted he jure. Here Ls bathe Pine an the plan, bt the al confronaion yerto begin, This tare the thinact ape scene, leading tothe fins imax 3: The oad back soften the chase ene. In man Bir es, his ithe plat where the dol che he hero andthe ha he It heats to overcome before reall being fe and fe. allengea THE HOLLYWooD sion to take what hes lead and neat int his daly fe, He mut ‘ex to rene the mundane world Sar Way Dat Vader abot, pl planing to Blow op the Rebel Pane. 10, Since every hero sry x enemys tasfrmation sory, ve ced ose te hero changed the end ened into anew Ope of iG He mt face the fal onde before being “reborn 2 the her roving is courage ad becoming easormed. Tis the Pian ‘any Bye, ere the Mller Son ecore the Pace othe King {nd tars the Princ Ta Sur a, Ls ts seve eco ghee peo fom he none oun nn he a "Athi pin the hr esr niente int ioe. Su Wars Lake hat dentoyed the Death St snd he recive get send “This the cane “Hero Story” We might leh examples lon coc tth myth, where the penon ho complete sta butte tk ele Spor the sel wenure The cal evard be Lake the love of the Prince andthe sf, new wold he hedged crete. "A mh ean have many vations. We se vations on hs myth in mes Bod fis although they ack mach ofthe depth beste te feo int ertormed, and in The Aen Ger, whee Rove and Aut nse blow up the Laut, rin Pls tthe Hoe, where Btn Crercores cals fo achove Eon wably IT ise mp aoe ation oh ee, wig the Son, n ths tory, oun receives map ana phone cl ‘hic lb no te see, Shen lped fav Aes id Catcher anda Meatea pickup tuck diver Soe ovesvoma the cbt ct salen the jangle, wary, shotoos, and Soaly recive the ea she slong wth be "pice" ‘Whether the hero journey ifr 2 tere oto complete 2 ek, the element remain the ame, The Humble, recta ero eed to tn advenie The hero helped by aay of unique characters S/he iat overcome a seer of clnaces that anon hm or et in the proces nd then fet heal challenge that deo inner and ote ‘The Healing Myth a pode en aaates Seomeeees Neh nsme ea eeenas “threo expedene bind hee henge curpho- © OD oa ‘ee not al chat dlierent front the weskend in Palm Springs, oF the trip t6 Haw to get away fom i al, or lying stil in 2 hospital bed for some weeks to heal. In ll cates, something is out ‘of balance and the mythic joumey moves toward wholeness. ‘Being broken can ake several forms, Ie ean be physical, emotional, ‘or paychologcal. Ural, i all hee. Inthe proces of being exiled ot bidng out inthe forex the dese, of even the Amis farm in Hines the person becomes whole, balanced, and recepeve t0 love. Love in these stores i bath sealing force anda reward. "Think of John Book in Wine Im Act One, we see a fenstic, Imensitive man, aid of commitment, crical and unreceptive to the feminine influences in beh, John is suleing fom an “inner wound” ‘which he doesnt know about, When he receives an “outer wound” fom a gunshot, it forces him into ele which begins his proces of ‘eansformation. ‘A the begining of Act Two, we se Jahn delisious and close to ea, This is # movenient ino the uncoasclous, a movement fom the ronal, active police fe of Act One into a mysterious, feminine, more innitive wos, Sine Job’ “inner problems the lack of balance with bi minin sid, chit dein begins the proces of transformation Taterin Act Two, we se John beginning to change. He moves fom his highly independent ife-eje toward the collective, communal lif of| ‘is Amish hos, John now gets up eacy to milk the cows and to asise with the chores. He uses hie carpentry skis to belp with the bam. ‘building and to compete che bedhouse. Gradually he bepins to develop ‘ehtionships with Rachel and her ron, Samuel. John’ ife sows down tnd he becomes mare recepve,luning important lessons about love In Act Three, Joi finally sees tht the feminine is worth saving, and hows dow is gun to save Rachel’ if A few beats later, when he hs the opporniy to Kl Pol, he chooses nonviolent response instead ‘Athough John does’ “win the Princes, he has nevertheles "won" love and wholeness. By the end of the fim, we can see thatthe John, ‘Book of Act Thee is diferent Kind of prion om the John Book. of ‘Act One, He hata diferent Kind of comradeship with his fellow police officer, het more relaxed, and we can sense that somehow, this expe- Fence his formed a more integrated John Book. Swe Creating h y ‘Combination Myths Many stories are combinations of several diferent rays. Think of * Ghonbudter, 2 simple and rather outrageous comedy about three men saving the city of New York fiom ghoss. Now think of e story of “"andore’ Bax” les aboot the worn wo let looe all n__r of ev vents nach br amen» hw dhe un old tt tC hat6 THE HOLLYWooD Slaw ‘uses, the EPA tan it 4 Pandora figure. By shuting off the power to the content center, he inadverendy unleashes all the ghosts upon New York City, Combine the tory of "Pandora Box" withsherostory tnd notice that ve have our thre heroes bueting the Marshmallow Man. ne of them avo “gts the Princes when Dr. Peter Venkman filly reecives the fects of Dats Bare. By fobkingatthese combinations, itis apparent that even Ghostarten i more than “just a comedy” rows a ype of reworking of many Shakespearean sories where a. yoman has 0 dest a 4 man in order to accomplish a certain tak "Those Shakespearean tories ae reminiscent of many fry tales where te here bce eile oes on anther persons. or we + Specific dngie fo Bde hit or fer real quai, Inthe sores of Prelve Dancing Panceie" ot "The Man in tie Beas” disguise is fecesiary co achieves goal Combine these eletnhrs with the ranifor- ‘aun themes of the hero myth where hero (auch 3b Michae) most Dervome matty abwacles to ik success san actor and hua beng. Ts. not dial Go ndentnd why the Tete story hooks ws Aschetypés Armythindlides, cht ig ed Th character are led ayes They can be thought of the o Shaan oe “cases pe thar wil be found onde bro ure ‘Archerypes take many form, but they tend vo fl within specific cate PPP Ealet, we drcaed diane of he héjper who give advice to help the hero™ buch the i ld man who posses special knowledge and ‘fen serves ata mentor to the hero. "The fale Counterpart of the wise Old ma i che good mathe ‘Whereas the wise old man at saperor knowledge, the good mother Known for her nortiting ques, and for het intuition. Tht figte fen gives the hero pacar object to help en the journey, Te might bea protective amulet, oc the roby slipper thar Dorothy receives in The Wiser of O: from the Good Wiech ofthe North. Sometimes in fry tale is cloak to make the penon invisbe, oc ordinary object that ‘become extraordinary, a jn "The Gil of Courage” an Afghan fry le bout a maiden who receive a comb a whettone, and a itr to belp ‘ets the devi ‘Many myths contain a shadow fe. This i a character who isthe coppnite ofthe hero. Sometimes ths figure helps the hero on the ou ec times tis fig oppose the ero. The shadow figure can be the ave side ofthe hero which could be che dark and hose brother Secor 7 beatog i yt a "The Snow Queen" The shadow figure can alo help the hero athe ‘wore, withthe heart of gold who saves the heros hfe, of provides bance to his deazation of wom. ‘Many myths contain animal aehenpes that can be positive or negative figures. In “Se, George andthe Dragn,” the dragon ithe negative Force svhich ia violent and ravaging animal, noc unlike che shark in Jaw But in. many stores, animal help the hero. Sometimes thee ate talking donkeys, or dolphin which saves che hero, or magical hones or dogs "The iste is a ichievoussrcheeypiel gure who ix aways cat ng chaos, distnbing che peace, and generally being an anarchist, The ‘sicker wes wit and gunning to achieve his or her ends. Sometimes the ‘sehr isa harmless prankster ora "bad boy" who is fanny and enjoy thle. More offen, the tte is acon man, asin The Sing, or the dev, in The Exoritvho demanded all the sls of the pei 10 outie hn, The “Til Baleospiege™ scores revelve around the esckte, = Jo the Spaiih pcaresgue novels Even the tales of Tom Sawyer have 2 tester mout in all counties, there are stories that revolve around this, figure, whose job tio our “Mythic” Problems and Solutions ‘We all grew, up with myths. Most of us heard or read fairy tales when ie were young, Some of us may have read Bible stories, or sores {fom other religions or other cultures. These stoves are past of ts. And the best way to work with them isco It them come out naturally 2s you wrt the exp, ‘OF couse, some filmmakers ate heer at this than other. George ‘Lucas and Steven Spielberg havea srong sense of myth, and incorporate ‘tint thei lms. They both have spoken about thei love of the woes ffom childhood, and-of their dese to bring these types of stones to audiences. Their stories creat some ofthe same sense of wonder and ‘uctement st myths Many’ of the necesary rychologial bet te part oftheir stores, deepening the story beyond the ordinary acton-adven= Mya big dep toa hero sory fa flmmaer sony thinking about the action and excement of 4 soy, audences might il to onnet with the hero josrey, Bue if he base bets ofthe hesot Joumey are evident fn wil oem ineplebly dene sadience, in ‘ft spn ein “Tike Rade for nsancs, Why was this violent, simple sory 50 popu wth radesce’ donk tk wa cca one aed ‘thts pli. do think Sviveter Silloneisamustes, .Zrporinga8 THE HOLLYWooD sion conscious. Somehow he is naturally in syne with the myth, and the smyth becomes integrated into his tvs CGline Eastwood also docs hero stories, and gives ws the adventure of| the myth and che wansformation ofthe mj, Recently Eastwood! line have given more attention to the wassormasion ofthe hezo, and have ‘been receiving more serious erie attention aa res All ofthese flmmaken-—Lues, Spielberg, Stallone, and Eastwood -—ramatize the hero myth in thei own parc way. Andallof them prove chat mythe are marketable, Application eran importane part ofthe writer’ or producer's work to contin« ull find opportunities for deepening the cheme within sscripe Finding, the tye Beneath the modem sary i pat ofthat proces “To find these myths its not a bad ides toeread some of Grits ‘ny tals or fry tls from around the word to begin to get acquainted with various myths. You'l tart to see pattems and element that contet with our own human experience. ‘Also, read Joseph Campbell and Greek mythology, If youre inter- sted in Jungian poychology, you'l find many sch resurcee within + ‘umber of books on che subject. Since Jungian prychology dei with archetypes, youll find many new chacsct to daw on for your own ‘work, ‘With all ofthese resources to incorporate, it imporanto remember cht te myth is nota mary to Fre pon serps more «pate Which you can bring out in your own sores when they eet to be heading in the recto of yt ‘Asyou work, ask youre Do Ihave 2 myth working in my sexpe? Iso, wit best a [ ‘ing ofthe hero} journey? Which ones seem co be missing? ‘Am I mising characte? Do I need a mentor type? A wie old ‘man? A wizard? Would one ofthese character help dimmesion= alize the hero joumey? (Could I create new emotional dimension to the myth by ttt ing my character as reluctant, nave, simple, or decidedly “un heroic"? Does my character get transformed in the proceso the joumey? Fave [eda song three scr to mppor the myth, ‘ine theft taming point to move into the adventure and the ec! uming point ro create a datk moment, or a reversal ot ceverx“near-death” experience? See ati he yt ae a0 Dont be afi to create variations on the myth, but don tart with ‘he myth tele Let the myth row naturally fom your ory. Developing myths are part of the rewriting proces. If you begin with the mith, you'l find your writing becomes rigid, uncreaive, and predictable ‘Working with the myth ia the ewig proce wil deepen your expt, sing it new lie as you find the story within the story. Reading the Text 1, How does Seger define the “bro yeh"? 2 Inyus ow wore xpi what Soper means by “the healing th” 3 What ian “rcherypal gue in ln? Reading the Signe 1. Linda Seger is wing asiing screenwitrs. How doe er sat an Inds tier aflat he dsrpeon of here aecheyper? 2 Compare Seersformalaon of herons with Raber Py in “The The- ‘matic Pudign” (p24). To what exon do Soper and Ray adequately {Splint sale of women in movie? 4 Review Biel Parents "Claw and Viewe” (p 282), and then wae an ‘say idenijing the myth bend the acer soc Pty Wear sid Inde Pope 4, Renta wideoupe of Super Ma By and write anny in which you ‘ngain how i fnciony ta sacl poi, in epee What ys and achesypl character does include? 5, Seger recommends that pring erent read Grimmt ry tle for Ipiation. Read some Grimm te, and Gen wee an argue fr ist te sual of Sich ass napaton for ime in he 1990 {6 What mie abot Ameria Bistoy, nce abd gender do you sen Gone sith he Wind? Branton thse mts as, hen we your it of yee (o write an exay in wich joa exp why the fil has become a ‘Rueian eae