Vougler 197-228

Summary:
Vougler begins by describing stage eleven the Resurrection. For a story to be complete the audience needs to experience an additional moment of death and rebirth, similar to the supreme ordeal. This is the climax not the crisis, the last and most dangerous meeting with death. A new self must be created for a new world and the hero gains a new personality. Another function of the Resurrection is to cleanse the heroes of death yet help them retain the lessons of the ordeal. Heroes must be tested one last time to see if they retained and learned from the supreme ordeal of act two. To learn something in the special world is different then being able to apply that knowledge to your daily life. The threat in this climax is different because unlike the threat in act two the threat is not just towards the hero it's towards the whole world. In westerns the Resurrection is expressed as a showdown or shootout. Conventionally heroes survive death and are resurrected but tragic heroes actually die at this point in the story. The Resurrection often involves a difficult choice. This choice tests the hero's values and see if he will choose in accordance with his old flawed ways or he will reflect the new person he has become. The climax can be quiet or explosive, but it should provide catharis or a purifying emotional release. Sometimes heroes will bring back proof of the special world to show to others. The resurrection also calls for a sacrifice by the hero. The biggest dramatic purpose of the resurrection is to give an outward sign that the hero really has changed.
Following the resurrection is stage 12 return with the elixir. This is a return from the special world bringing something to share with others something that has the power to heal a wounded land. Returning with the elixir means implementing change in your daily life and using the lessons of adventure to heal your wounds. There are two ways to end the hero's journey. One way is to end it with a circular form in which there a sense of closure and completion. The other way is the open ended approach in which there is a sense of unanswered questions. Having your hero return to her starting point allow you to draw a comparison for the audience. It gives a measure of how far the hero has come., and changed. The open ended point of view the storytelling goes on after the story is over, it continues in the minds and hearts of the audience. The return with the elixir is also the point in the story when the hero has out final rewards and punishments. The elixir it's self can be love, responsibility, tragedy, or realization, wisdom or even sadness. The penalty for not returning with the elixir is that the hero or someone else is doomed to repeat the ordeals until the lesson is learned or the elixir is brought home to share. Common mistakes when writing the endings to stories are unresolved subplots, to many ending, abrupt endings, or endings that loose the main focus of the story. The story should end with the emotional equivalent of a punctuation mark.

Reaction: Vougler talks about the two branches to the end of the hero's journey. One ending which is greatly preferred in western culture and American movies is the circular path. in which there is a scene of closure and completion. This ending is the total opposite of the open ended approach where the ending is up to interpretation. The viewers have to think and decide for themselves how the film ended. I think the fact that Americans prefer the circular ending says a lot about our culture. It infers that we like getting thinks spoon fed to us, we would rather have thinks sugar coated then realistic. We would rather have someone tell us what the ending is then figure it out ourselves. Another characteristic of Hollywood films especially fairy tails is the achievement of perfection. Fairy tales bring the shattered family back into balance and back into completion. I think this is important to our society because we want to watch movies that make us feel good. The reality in America is that many kids are from broken homes and families are not so perfect. Watching things work out in the movies and little kids watching fairy tales gives them an escape from reality and a hope that one day things will all work out.

Q's
Do you think having these perfect endings to fairytales in the long run helps or harms todays youth?
Can you think of a movie that you loved because the ending was open ended?
Do you agree with Vougler that the real treasure from traveling is not the souvenirs, but lasting inner change and learning? Why or why not?