http://steel-not-glass.livejournal.com/ ([identity profile] steel-not-glass.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2010-01-19 12:13 pm
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Monomyths [Tuesday, January 19, Period 3]

"So, today we start talking about the actual components of the heroic journeys," Cindy said as soon as the bell rang. "And, as is appropriate for a story, we'll begin at the beginning, the 'Once Upon a Time,' as it were. When we're first introduced to a narrative, it's important we know where the hero comes from, what's motivating him or her to go out and make the journey--regardless of whether or not the hero actually wants to make that journey. The hero on the masculine journey starts out in a 'Perfect World,' while the heroine starts out in the 'Illusion of a Perfect World.' Both of these are a natural function of the journeys they are about to undertake. The feminine hero must wake up and realize that there is more to the world than just what's in front of her--she has to discover her world is flawed and negative so that she has a reason to endure the hard journey towards something better. She has to awaken before she will leave; she must realize that her world is an illusion."

"Heroes on the masculine journey start in a world that brimming with possibilities and promise. Society is often rewarding him for playing by the rules--he's got friends, a solid career and bank account, everyone thinks he's great. But these things and society's expectations about keeping these things, often blind him to other directions in his life that he can explore. He pursues the ideal that's been laid out for him rather than discovering what he truly wants. There may be something missing in his life that he hasn't yet realized he needs--this is a common trope in every romantic comedy ever where one character is the hardworking business person with no time for love or a family. Rather than awakening to this lack, the masculine hero is called to his adventure; he needs to come from a perfect world so we can see what he's turning his back upon."

Cindy went over to the projector set-up, lowering the screen and taking several DVDs from her bag. "The problem is, there aren't a lot of hard and fast rules about what makes one world perfect and the other illusory. One trope that is used to illustrate that someone is living in the illusion of the Perfect World can easily be used in the creation of the Perfect World as well. In one story, finding out that your idea of family is predicated on a lie might be the hallmark of an illusion--Blossoms in the Basement, for example--yet for other tales, it might simply show that the hero is destined for something greater--take any book or movie when the orphan farmboy discovers that he isn't truly an orphan; he's been told lies to save his life. The war that shows just how quickly the hero on the feminine journey can lose everything that she thought made her life meaningful might simply be 'The Call' to the hero on the masculine journey. In The Epiphany, the main character seems to have everything: a rich husband, lovely children, a thriving social life and yet is neither happy nor fulfilled. To complicate things further, sometimes the Perfect World isn't; it may be boring or aggravating or even a little scary. So it all comes down to how the work is portrayed. Let's take a few examples and watch to see how we are meant to view the worlds presented to our heroes."

[Wait for OCD up! Sorry it's so late--looking for movie clips is HARD]

Re: Sign in #3

[identity profile] ancientbschamp.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 05:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Gabrielle (what? It's hot)
thatsamilkshake: (playing)

Re: Sign in #3

[personal profile] thatsamilkshake 2010-01-19 06:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Francine Peters
notmyownage: (*does a little dance*)

Re: Sign in #3

[personal profile] notmyownage 2010-01-19 06:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Claudia Donovan

[scientists in South Dakota apparently only get so far as short sleeves]
officetightass: (no. just. no.)

Re: Sign in #3

[personal profile] officetightass 2010-01-20 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
Angela Martin
wannabehunter: (swimsuit totally a swimsuit)

Re: Sign in #3

[personal profile] wannabehunter 2010-01-20 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
Jo Harvelle

Re: Sign in #3

[personal profile] bitchprince 2010-01-20 05:48 am (UTC)(link)
Arthur Pendragon

Re: During the Lecture

[identity profile] kestrelswolf.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 05:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Firekeeper was listening attentively, although as usual, not taking any notes. When the lecture reached the part about "being told lies to save his life", she felt that familiar pang of sadness whenever something reminded her of Questioner and how he'd saved her life.
Edited 2010-01-19 17:54 (UTC)

Re: During the Lecture

[identity profile] ancientbschamp.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 06:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Gabrielle was . . . not taking notes as avidly as usual. And possibly getting a little twitchy every time the word "husband" came up.

To be honest, she kind of looked like she wanted to crawl under her desk and hide, or get a lot more bitter, but, being Gabrielle, she was trying very, very hard to keep as positive as she could. She wasn't hugely successful at it, but she was trying.
notmyownage: (*goes "uhhhh"*)

Re: During the Lecture

[personal profile] notmyownage 2010-01-19 06:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Claudia's notes were pretty succinct:

perfect world -- unless its not

See, she told you she was a genius.

Re: During the Lecture

[identity profile] wantstocheer.livejournal.com 2010-01-20 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
Claire was taking notes.

Re: During the Lecture

[identity profile] cataclysmicluck.livejournal.com 2010-01-20 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
Zayne was taking notes on his datapad as rapidly as he could, as per usual. He wasn't sure what his "world" was. He was pretty sure his world wasn't perfect, and it didn't exactly seem to have an illusion of perfection.

He had no clue just how closely his life was following the feminine journey.

Re: During the Lecture

[identity profile] new-to-liirness.livejournal.com 2010-01-20 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
Liir took notes. He was still rather skeptical of this whole thing, but he took notes.

Re: Activity

[identity profile] robinthefrog.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"I don't know that the hero and heroine in Space Battles are coming from even illusory perfect worlds. The hero is miserable in his home, and the heroine already knows about the flaws in her world and is trying to fight them."

Re: Talk to the TAs

[identity profile] kestrelswolf.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 05:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Firekeeper (with Blind Seer by her side, of course) was around, still thinking about the whole "being told a lie to save one's life" thing, and how that hit pretty close to home.

Re: Talk to the TAs

[identity profile] death-of-hope.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 05:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Anemone was totally there, and willing to answer questions if she knew the answers.

Re: OOC

[identity profile] ancientbschamp.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 05:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll have you know one of the FIRST THINGS I did on my trip was get my hands on the first two trades of your canon.

I hope you're proud of yourself. ;)

Re: OOC

[identity profile] brat-intraining.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
I demolished both volumes in about an hour. I think I'm on a good pace to get to those soon. ;)