While discussing the power of storytelling and the tradition of rites of initiation with Joseph Campbell, Bill Moyer, in ‘The Power of Myth’, asks whether movies today have replaced the ancient rituals wherein the young are given instruction in the mythology of the tribe. Campbell agrees, but offers the following reflection.
“That might be our counterpart to mythological re-enactments – except that we don’t have the same kind of thinking going into the production of a movie that goes into the production of an initiation ritual… what is unfortunate for us is that a lot of the people who write these stories do not have the sense of their responsibility. These stories are making and breaking lives. But the movies are made simply to make money. The kind of responsibility that goes into a priesthood with a ritual is not there. That is one of our problems today.”
Thirty years after the publication of Campbell and Moyers’ conversation, that statement remains significant. Today our screens (big, small, and hand-held) are saturated with hero stories which echo with the vague patterns from a thousand years of mythological knowledge. Marvel’s superhero universe has a solid foothold in the zeitgeist of today’s youth, as does Star Wars, both of which build upon a foundation laid by ancient lore (particularly the monomyth of the hero’s journey popularized by Campbell himself) and purport to share culturally-significant teachings.
But while myth thrives in the ‘gray’ areas (meaning can be difficult to verbalize – traditional myth generally speaks to the unconscious mind rather than the concscious one. No easy to understand parable lessons here!) movies, especially those of the superhero genre, tend to simplify conflict into easy-to-digest, black-and-white vignettes. The protagonists may occassionally scratch the surface of inner-conflict over the complexity of the challenges they face (Wonder Woman, played by Gal Gadot, questions whether mankind ‘deserves’ her help) but those questions are always resolved without much effort (3 minutes later she decides ‘Yes! They do!’) Any turmoil felt by the hero is simply a chapter marker in the narrative, a breather in the action arc before more heart-pounding, gravity-defying, CG infested sequences of violence.
While staunch defendors of these properties might bristle and call my assessment an over-simplification, I would remind them that, as Campbell pointed out, these movies were not created for altruistic purposes (such as integrating individuals into society via awe, wonder and narrative) they were created to make profit. Can we truly trust the lessons we learn from stories cultivated by industry, where the motivation for creation is fixed on the bottom line?
“The rituals of primitive initiation ceremonies are all mythologically grounded and have to do with killing the infantile ego and bringing forth an adult,” Campbell adds in The Power of Myth (emphasis mine). In other words, these rituals provide foundational learning for the individual – literally helping mold the adult self. If it is true, as Campbell says, that movies have replaced these ancient rituals of initiation, then it’s easy to see how we should be worried about the inner development of modern humankind. We should question the type of society we are building with this kind of education.
Those who know me know that I love a good adventure flick. When it’s time to switch off my brain, a rock-’em sock-’em adventure is an excellent source of relief, so it can’t be argued that my objections are rooted in a dislike for these stories or the medium (but, let’s be honest, these are not really good stories…I mean, come on). Rather my concern lies with the fact that we as humans place so much value in storytelling as a vehicle for cultural knowledge. Allowing ourselves to absorb the teachings of stories engineered by entities loyal only to profitibality is, in short, a dangerous proposition. Perhaps after watching these movies, we should take a moment to breathe, to think, and to question the messages written into the movie text, before we allow ourselves and encourage our young to emulate and idolize these so-called ‘heroes’.
Have the storytellers done their due diligence and imbued these movies with valuable lessons worth integrating into our lives? Ask yourselves that question after watching the next two-hour, corporate-sponsored tale featuring bloodsport and inhuman protagonists. My guess is you’ll answer with a resounding NO.