Vougler pg 231-290

Summary: 

       Vougler spends the last few chapters looking at how the inner workings of the hero's journey can be seen in various films of today. These films he examines are the Titanic , The lion king, Pulp fiction, the full monty, and stat wars. He stresses that the hero's journey is simply a guideline. It can't be applied rigidly to ever story. The ultimate measure of a storys success of excellence is not it's compliance with established patterns like the hero's journey, but rather it's lasting popularity and effect on the audience. Any element in the hero's journey can appear at any point in a story. It's possible to write good stories that don't exhibit every gesture of the hero's journey and it's better if they don't. The needs of a story dictate its structure and the beliefs and priorities of the writers along with the audience, and the time and place which the story is being told. 

   Vougler then talks in depth about the Titanic which is the most expensive movie ever made. The movie was originally predicted to tank, because the vital element of surprise with the ending was lacking, the actors were not well known and it was a period piece. The movie is reality was hugely successful. Vougler argues that the movie was so successful because it captured a universal shared wish for meaning. and it captured this through the use of the hero's journey motifs and concepts. The hero's journeys described in this movie are that of the scientist seeking adventure and that of the old woman returning to the scene of a great disaster. Vougler then goes into great depth to describe the elements of the hero's journey found in the text. The movie titanic is also highly symbolic. One of the symbols i found interesting was the heart of the ocean being a symbol for the idealized notions of love and honor. He also talked about the impact the movie had on the film industry the success is had shows that the big hamlet sometimes pays off. I also found it interesting how the Titanic explores death but makes the case for the full embrace of life. The next movie he describes is the lion king. He talks about how the story line is actually based off of hamlet. He talks about his own idea that were integrated into the movie such as the baptism seen of simba and also other ideas that the film companies rejected of his like focusing more on sambas adolescence. Vougler then describes the elements of the hero's journey which can clearly bee seen in both pulp fiction and the full monty. He ends with talking about start wars and the impact the film has had on mythic structures of story lines. The star wars series best exemplifies Vougler mythic structure. 

Reaction: 

      I found Vougler to be a little too boastful when he was talked about his contributions to the Lion King. I also found he was a little resentful that the film companies didn't take all his advice. I did agree with however on one point he made about the film. He said that the development of Simba form a scared little cub into a teen-aged lion is handled to quickly. I think that it would have made the movie better if they had took this advice. The development of adolence into a teenager is a huge transition and one that the viewers could have related to. This transition should have been payed more attention to. He also commented that the movie failed to dramatize the stages of simba's development, the individual lessons that he has to learn. This is an important part of every hero's journey. Being a teenager is full of drama and trial and tribulation, this could have been better portrayed in the movie. 

Q's:

1. Vougler says that animation with humans is more difficult that with animals because to animate a human character you have to represent a particular ethnic group and choose certain hair and skin colors, which may precent audience members with different features from fully identifying with the character. Do you agree with Vougler here, do you think that it would be harder for you to relate to an animated character that was of different ethnic background than your own?

2. Vougler talks about how Rafiki mentors Simba by giving him hard knocks and tough advice, but at the same time inspiring him. Do you feel all these elements are important in a mentor? What other characteristics are important?

3.  Vougler talks about how the Titanic had elements of synergy which is a combination of elements that somehow adds up to more than the sum of parts. What are other examples of synergy that you can think of?