(AN EXERCISE IN ACADEMIC BULLSHIT)Michael Douglas is a happily married family man. His domestic comfort represents a barren emotional wasteland which must be made fertile by the quest, or journey, of our hero, Douglas.
After consciously allowing himself to be seduced by Glenn Close, he enters "The Belly of the Whale", a torrid and turbulent maelstrom from which there seems little or no chance of escape. Close's role compounds many characteristics of Campbell's Hero Myth, most obviously "the meeting with the maiden", a woman who is both liberating and dangerous.
This duality is the teetering and transitional point in the hero's journey. For example, Close's increasingly obsessive behaviour marks the curve of Douglas's return - that is to say, it is the acquired knowledge that he is destined to carry back to the homeland in the hope that its application will invigorate and empower his "tribe".
Blah blah blah... Douglas' wife kills Close and the rest is a crass fairy tale.
Stay tuned for news on why Snow White and the Seven Dwarves is actually about The Military-Industrial Complex! (Or something).
For more on Campbell's Monomyth (assuming you have absolutely no idea what I am twatting on about) CLICK HERE
2 comments:
I like Joseph Campbell. But I do not like the academic bullshit :D I especially like applying a bit of Campbell or Jung to Tolkien as it gets the more militant Christians a little worked up...
Oops, that logs me in as Dave somehow????
It is Leatherbarrer by the way.
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