The Slayer’s Journey: Buffy as Monomythic Hero
By Mara
Introduction
Joseph Campbell’s seminal 1949 work on mythic structure, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, postulated that there was only one myth in the world (the “monomyth”) which was told and retold with endless variations by every culture on earth. Heavily influenced by Freud and Jung, he argued that the monomyth is universal because it presents and solves the various crises of the unconscious that must necessarily be overcome by each individual in order to move from an infantile state into a higher realization of self. “The Hero archetype represents the ego’s search for identity and wholeness. In the process of becoming complete, integrated human beings, we are all Heroes facing internal guardians, monsters, and helpers.” (Vogler 35) Bruno Bettelheim, who explored similar ideas as Campbell, but studied fairy tales instead of myth, described it thus: “the fairy tales’ concern is not useful information about the external world, but the inner processes taking place in an individual.” (Bettelheim 25)
Campbell’s work has been widely influential in scholarly and literary circles, and although it was written as a work that attempted to explain why all mythic structures bear similarities, it was eventually used as a blueprint for stories that were written subsequently. For example, it was the basis for Christopher Vogler’s 1998 book The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, which is a staple screenplay handbook in Hollywood. What was once the explanation for the organic growth of fiction has become the topiary form into which the fiction is cut.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a television show developed by Joss Whedon, which ran in the United States from 1997 until 2003. The show, which was based around a female hero, inspired deep devotions from its fans, and has also become a sub-genre for pop culture studies in academia. It deals with the mythic structure with both devastating maturity and light-hearted humor, which is equally valid: “Humor is the touchstone of the truly mythological as distinct from the more literal-minded and sentimental theological mood.” (Campbell 180)
I would like to compare and contrast the main character in the series, Buffy Summers, to the monomythic hero described by Campbell. Buffy both conforms beautifully to the archetype presented, while at the same time rebuking and rejecting portions of it. Campbell’s work focused almost exclusively on male heroes, relegating female heroes to a more passive role within the myth, that a masculine hero’s journey is “the son against the father for the mastery of the universe,” while the female hero’s journey is “the daughter against the mother to be the mastered world.” (Campbell 136) As Buffy is both a woman and a warrior, her subconscious crises lead her to have a unique reaction to her hero journey.
I am looking at Buffy’s journey through the entirety of the seven seasons of the series as one continuous story arc, which roughly follows the five-act structure that was used for both individual episodes, and season-long arcs. These five acts may be roughly defined as Act I: The Call to Arms, Act II: Frustration and Opposition, Act III: Nightmare, Act IV: Climax and Act V: Resolution. I have overlaid these five sections with the three-part (or three act) rites of passage explored by Campbell: Separation or Departure, The Trials and Victories of Initiation, and The Return and Reintegration with Society. Figure 2 shows roughly how these different criteria apply to the seasons and dramatic arc of the journey.
The Separation or Departure
At the beginning of the monomyth, the hero must leave the ordinary world and journey into a new and frightening reality. The five subsections within this beginning portion are the Call to Adventure, the Refusal of the Call, Supernatural Aid, Crossing of the First Threshold, and the Belly of the Whale. This first and brief portion of the hero myth is mostly exposition, a way to introduce the character of the hero and to incite him or her into action. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this portion is covered within the first season.
The Call to Adventure
In the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer we see Buffy attempting to be a normal teenage girl, even though she knows through previous (unseen) adventures that her future is to be a Slayer. Buffy believes she has escaped this future by changing locations, but destiny will not be subverted. It’s already too late. Campbell explains, “…the call rings up the curtain, always, on a mystery of transfiguration– a rite, or moment, of spiritual passage, which when complete, amounts to a dying and a rebirth. The familiar life horizon has been outgrown; the old concepts, ideals, and emotional patterns no longer fit; the time for passing the threshold is at hand.” (Campbell 51)
For Buffy, the call is given by Rupert Giles, whose role as a mentor and advisor will be discussed later. In her attempt to emulate outmoded norms of teenage behavior, she goes to the library for a textbook. Instead, she is presented with a large book with the word “Vampyr” engraved on the cover. Frightened, she says, “That’s not what I’m looking for.” Giles asks, “Are you sure?” (Welcome to the Hellmouth)
In actuality, Buffy is fairly committed to her calling within the first season, as long as the danger to her person is not too great. She has not yet reached the true mark of the hero, which is the sacrifice of self to the greater good. “People commonly think of Heroes as strong or brave, but these qualities are secondary to sacrifice– the true mark of a Hero. Sacrifice is the willingness to give up something of value, perhaps even her own life, on behalf of an ideal or a group.” (Vogler 38) Instead, she is still fighting to keep her life as “normal” as possibly, which delays a final decision in response to her call. “Thereafter, even though the hero returns for a while to his familiar occupations, they may be found unfruitful. A series of signs of increasing force will become visible, until… the summons can no longer be denied.” (Campbell 56)
Buffy cannot ignore her calling completely, as her new home, Sunnydale, is located on a “Hellmouth,” or a portal between a place of high mystical energy (demon dimensions) and low mystical energy (the human world.) In addition to making this area attractive to supernatural creatures, it is also constantly threatening to open, which would create, as Campbell put it, “the shocking transformations that take place when the insulation between a highly concentrated power center and the lower power field of the surrounding world is, without proper precautions, suddenly taken away.” (Campbell 225) The threat of opening the Hellmouth by an ancient vampire called The Master is the cataclysm which eventually forces Buffy to choose once and for all if she is going to accept her call to arms. Read the rest of this entry »
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SPOILERS ALERT
3:10 to Yuma (Mangold, 2007) could have been great. It could have been about a perverse desire of the Good Man to be the criminal he sought to bring justice to, the man who could take what he could and feel free of judgment or ties to a simple life. At one point, something in Dan Evans (Christian Bale) spoke to that desire. But that was not the plan for this film, and what Evans wanted was a little bit more sentimental than that: a chance to rewrite history, to be the hero he felt he needed to be. It still made for a really thought provoking, well made Western yet.
Mangold’s competent, somewhat low-key (despite the presence of an electrifying cast) remake of another film of the same name from the same short story by Elmore Leonard (admittedly, I haven’t seen the original or read the story to make any proper comparisons) told of a struggle by a family man to gain his rightful place in life. Dan Evans, limping on his one leg (though he tried his utmost to hide that fact, even when walking), expected himself to be able to protect and provide for his family on his own. He made a lot of compromises to keep himself out of trouble, while maintaining a bit of his manhood or dignity somehow. There were many chances where he could have just tipped over to one side or another to make the struggle less torturous. Yet, he persisted, insisting on doing things “right.” This involved bringing a notorious criminal, Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to justice. Read the rest of this entry »
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Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others; von Donnersmarck, 2006) Germany
This German film won the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Picture the year it released (2006). It came out of nowhere and beat out the front-runner Pan’s Labyrinth for the prize. It shocked me at the time, but having seen the film now I understand why it was favoured by the Academy. The film was essentially a love letter to the Arts, a pat on the back for its presumed power in bringing out the “good” in people. The writer/director, von Donnersmarck, had said it himself that the film was created so that he could force Lenin to listen to the Sonata that may have stopped the revolution.
The story was rather simple: a Stasi man (known in his reports as HGW) was assigned to spy on a couple of artists in East Germany during the communist era. In the process of recording every minute details of this couple’s life in their apartment, the man found his principles shaken by what he witnessed. He became unexpectedly involved after having heard a piece of sonata played in the apartment. The film then became a romanticized tale of how art saves the soul, complete with the saving grace of a central character by the name of Christa-Maria Sieland. In some ways, Others was a love story between three people. The number three also bears some religious significance, as alluded to by the presence and sacrifices of a Christ replacement, Christa-Maria. The love of a good woman - their guardian angel - brought two men together, as they battled what the lust for a woman brought to them. This fit in with the tendency of the film to romanticize and simplify the struggle between our good side and our bad side. Read the rest of this entry »
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This wasn’t supposed to happen. My first front page review here at Icine, something I’d slightly anticipated, thinking it’d begin with Fleck’s ‘Half Nelson’, or with Lynch’s sweet and simple ‘The Straight Story.’ Now here I am reviewing a film that wasn’t even on my radar before last night, only knowing it as the one that upset a certain boxing biopic almost thirty years ago… but here I am. It’s no masterwork of a Marty Scorsese (and that will be the last he or his film will be mentioned); instead this section of the front page will cover the greatest work Robert Redford will ever give to cinema, the remarkable achievement that is ‘Ordinary People’.
The setting is established instantly with vivid and vibrant colors of the fall foliage of a northern town, but at first I wasn’t certain I’d like this film. The characters, a mother and a son - there was no chemistry at all between them. Zero, and heck if Lester and Jane Burnham didn’t look like family of the year members by comparison. Mismatch in casting? The story goes on, and we begin to realize who these two really are. The son is a tortured soul, a poor teen dealing with horrific trauma; the mother is incapable of compassion or empathy, almost callous in her neglect as a parent when he needs her most. I was wrong, they weren’t meant to have any noticeable mother-son bond. Read the rest of this entry »
Rob Prentes Reviews, Drama 4 Comments »
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — The summer movie season appears to have climbed the $4 billion box-office mountain a few days earlier than expected, reaching that milestone for the first time ever.
Preliminary weekend figures show that the industry narrowly crossed the $4 billion threshold over the weekend, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers. Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers, estimated that the weekend’s business would bring the tally from the first weekend in May through this past weekend to $4,003,000 in sales. The summer season runs from the beginning of May through Labor Day.
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Director SPIKE LEE has vowed to continue highlighting the plight of Hurricane Katrina victims with a follow-up documentary about the 2005 disaster. The moviemaker’s original offering, When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, attracted huge critical acclaim for its frank look at the disaster and its aftermath. It featured footage which many news networks were reluctant to broadcast, including scenes of bloated bodies floating in the floodwaters near New Orleans, Louisiana. And Lee insists, “The story is not over. It’s still something that’s evolving and we want to keep on top of it. “Most of them (victims) are still up the creek without a paddle, abandoned by their local, state and federal governments. We can’t forget about them.” Lee accepted a Peabody Award in New York yesterday (04Jun07) for his original documentary.
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Fans trumpeting the cause of CBS’ canceled drama “Jericho” have caught the network’s ear. CBS, deluged with calls, messages and shipments of nuts signifying viewer displeasure, is reconsidering its decision, a source close to the production said Tuesday.
The source spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly. A decision on whether to bring the show back, probably for a midseason run, is imminent, the source said.
“We are tired of the networks (not just CBS) tossing aside quality programming,” was the message carried by jericholives.com, one of several web sites protesting the cancellation. “Enough! We’re going to fight for this one.”
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Kowalski is delivering the star of the movie, the white 1970 Dodge Challenger, from Colorado to San Francisco. Pumped up on speed (the drug, not velocity), he decides to drive it as fast as he can. Kowalski is the hero with a mysterious past that is slowly revealed in flashbacks over the course of the film. The dialog, frankly, is rather substandard. But the movie makes up for it with the action, stunts, cinematography, music, and speed.
The cops chase Kowalski (Barry Newman) through each state. Super Soul, Cleavon Little (Blazing Saddles), a blind black DJ at a radio station, becomes his guide. No one understands why Kowalski is doing this but he becomes a recognized hero. People along the way sometimes help him out. It becomes a counter-culture spiritual journey through the desert southwest. Read the rest of this entry »
Flamegrape Articles, Reviews, Action 1 Comment »
Like any Bond film, Casino Royale is given context not only by the period in which it was made, but by the films that directly preceded it. The Brosnan films to which Casino Royale is the heir slowly disintegrated from enjoyable camp to not-so-enjoyable schlock, the nadir of which may have been the casting of Denise Richards as hotpants-clad nuclear physicist Christmas Jones. Though, in all fairness, at least Christmas Jones was memorable in some way, if only memorably awful — in writing this review, I was starkly reminded how little I can tell the last three (or was it four?) Bond films apart.
Casino Royale is a much-needed “reboot” of the Bond franchise, and infuses the Bond mythos — which had become weighed down with painful puns, preposterous scripts, and an increasingly obvious lack of self-awareness — into a new, stripped-down, simplified Bond for a new century.
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Dan Swensen Articles, Reviews, Drama, Action 1 Comment »
Grindhouse (Rodriguez & Tarantino, 2007) Watching Grindhouse, it was clear to me who was the one with the big ego: his name wasn’t Robert Rodriguez. While Rodriguez settled for a blast-from-the-past film-to-film transfer, Tarantino made a Tarantino film - probably his most peculiar one yet, and one that, if anything, established once and for all his auteur status as a film director.
The double feature began with Rodriguez’s Planet Terror. No, rewind that. It began with fake prevues of non-existent films, notably ‘Machete’, a Mexican outlaw film that was hilarious in brief and probably nauseous in full length (Rodriguez entertained the idea of making a real film out of this; to that I can only say, to paraphrase another brilliant fake prevue, ‘Don’t'). The two directors went to great length to recreate effects of cheap films in cheap grindhouse tradition: cheesy prevues of exploitative films, cheap advertisement, scratches, oddly coloured film sections, missing reels, etc. were all there in all their glory. That was the homage part, a remake of sort of the grindhouse pictures. Read the rest of this entry »
Aurelle Articles, Reviews, Action, Horror/Thriller 1 Comment »
Fortunately, the title of this review isn’t a complete spoiler for Hilary Swank’s latest movie, The Reaping. The plot is, in a general sense, a carbon copy of the Hammer Films classic, The Wicker Man (1973). But not as unintentionally hilarious. Rest assured the film has a surprise twist-and-shout ending. A “surprise” meaning that there is, in fact, a surprise that you see coming about 20 minutes into the film. A “twist” because, of course, there is a twist. And, there is a shout at the end. By you, the audience. Usually something along the lines of, “Oh, gimme a break!” as you leave the theater.
“Join me! Kill Nicolas Cage and we will rule the horror genre together!” Read the rest of this entry »
Flamegrape Reviews, Horror/Thriller 1 Comment »
Fires on the Plain (Nobi) is one of the most powerful Anti-War movies I have ever seen. Which is surprising because it’s not about the war itself, as the soldiers hardly do any battle in the film. Taking place in the Philippines near the end of WWII, it is very a bleak and uncompromising look at abandoned Japanese Imperial soldiers trying to survive in a harsh environment, but without any hope of ever being truly rescued. The Japanese have clearly been beaten, but because of the insane logic of Bushido they cannot allow themselves to consider surrender. They are near starvation, stuck in a foreign land that does not want them, and collapsing under the weight of superior American firepower.
At its core, the film is about how far humans will go to maintain their own existence. The lead character Tamura is a good soldier who can’t abandon his humanity, though he is as frightened and lost as his comrades. Before he departs for a hospital that will reject him as too healthy, Tamura is given a hand grenade by a superior who recognizes the hopelessness of their situation and advises Tamura to kill himself. But the will to survive, along with the fear of death is too strong. Is he willing to deceive, murder, or even resort to cannibalism like some of his comrades have just to live a little bit longer?
This is one of those films that will stick with you for well after you have seen it, as it is horrifying in its depiction of these events. It’s a truly powerful film. Ichikawa produced a stark representation of the victimization of soldiers by a confluence of bad political decisions and cultural pressures.
Ricardo Ramos Articles 1 Comment »
Grizzly: So, Aurens, I’m gonna cut straight to the chase and ask you; what’s your prediction for Best Picture and why?
Aurens: At this point, I think I should just spin the bottle and kiss whatever film it points to. WHO THE HELL KNOWS? I used to think Babel got it in the bag, but it’s like an international version of Crash and they already crashed last year. I’m not feeling Letters at all. I want to bet against The Departed. It’s not a traditional ‘Oscar’ movie. AND it’s a remake. Little Miss Sunshine and Babel would seem to be where the duking is. The problem with Babel is that it’s not a huge film in terms of b.o. The problem with Little Miss Sunshine is it’s not serious enough. When was the last time best picture went to a comedy? ARGH. Babel it is. No wait. *looks at predictions* Babel can’t win if it’s not a front runner in any other category. Bah. I change my mind. The Departed then.
Grizzly: Babel is the “important” film, the stereotypical kind of film that wins Best Picture. Scorsese never won Best Picture with films like Goodfellas or Raging Bull, so why would that change? The Departed is a violent movie, not really what the Academy picks as top dog. So i’d say either Little Miss Sunshine or Babel. The only thing that throws me off predicting Babel is that it doesn’t really feel like it’s a frontrunner to win anything else, and the Best Picture winner usually wins at least two or usually three additional categories. It could win that many if it’s getting Best Picture though. But yeah, it kinda feels like you could just as well spin the bottle too.. But to make a prediction, I’m going for Little Miss Sunshine.
Aurens: Well, what about Crash last year? It only got editing and script. Uh, this year, Babel could win … editing? I think the key this year is going to be in editing and script. Babel is up against The Departed for editing, and Sunshine for script. If by the time those two awards are handed out and Babel misses both, then we know that it’s Sunshine winning. There really is no sentimental favourite this year. At least Crash had its vocal supporters? We’re completely ignoring the other two nominees eh? Do you feel the love for any of these pictures? The Academy votes with its collective heart, and I think The Departed may have an edge in this department. Although, Little Miss Sunshine is certainly a crowd pleaser. However, it just won the Spirit Award and that can’t be good.
Grizzly: Well, I would like to think that whatever film wins Best Picture, it at least wins two more on top of that. Before Crash last year, I think the last film that won BP with as few as three wins total was Rocky in 1977. Only two wins total is probably unprecedented in modern Oscar times, so whether it’s Babel, The Departed or Little Miss Sunshine, the winner will probably win three total, at least. From that viewpoint, The Departed has it easiest, since it practically has Director and Adapted Screenplay in the bag already (and Editing wouldn’t be too unlikely either). Little Miss Sunshine could take Original Screenplay and Supporting Actor, while Babel could snap up Original Screenplay and Editing. You’re absolutely right in that the Editing and Original Screenplay categories will definitely be guiding lights on Sunday. The Departed could still win BP even if Babel takes both Editing and Original Screenplay though. As long as it wins it’s categories, that is. As for the other two nominees, I’m just not feeling it. It could happen, who knows, but they definitely feel like they’re a step or two behind the other three.
Read more on Icine Oscar Blog.
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Oscar snubs are more often than not of the horrible kind - great works overlooked for more middling affairs seems like the norm. However, we often forget that Oscars also makes some smart decisions (we’ll talk as though it is of one mind, even when it really is just a voting body). This year, that smart decision is the decidedly huge and deserving snub of Dreamgirls in the Best Picture race. Seeing the film made me realize how the Oscars is only 1/10th as lame as the Grammys. I probably wouldn’t have predicted Dreamgirls to score a nod despite the hype if I had seen it before the nomination day. It is very much a TV-movie-of-the-week kind of film. The film is overlong, oversung, and overdirected. During the Family number, Condon (director) got into his head that somehow doing a 360 shot five times in a row would help him out-Luhrmann Luhrmann in Moulin Rouge (the elephant sequence comes to mind). The sincerity displayed by Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson is touching, but I could only care so much before being induced into hysterical laughters against my will. The film is long on diva attitude, and short on actual substance - or just plain entertainment. At least Chicago was fun! I did like the dance and the outfit though?
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The original Saw seems to have ushered in a new era for horror films. Acting and story has been cast aside for gore and grisly deaths. These kinds of films are certainly not new on the scene, but until recently have had more of a cult following. As a result the budgets were even cheaper, and usually were shipped straight to video. Partially to sidestep the inevitable NC-17 rating that would be slapped on such films by the MPAA and also because the audience was so small there was no profit to be had from releasing it in theaters. As vapid as these films were, there was a certain charm attributed to their horrible production values. The violence and gore was so poorly done and over the top that the gross out factor was more amusing. Now, with the rise in popularity of such films as The Hills Have Eyes, Wolf Creek, Hostel, and the Saw franchise the goal is to make the audience violently ill. The only scares provided are the expected quick jolts; the horror is supplied by unflinchingly exploring scenes of torture. I have no illusions that the horror genre is the redheaded stepchild of the cinematic family, but previously the audience engaged in the abuse. Now, the audience is embracing its inner gross and fostering this new trend, while critics and proponents of good taste are left scratching their heads. Read the rest of this entry »
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*Contains major spoilers. Only read if you’ve seen it.
What is the imagination? It is a voice in the loneliness of the night, the wind creaking the walls of your room, the things out of the shadows. It is a call to adventure.
For what purpose do we use the imagination? We use it to escape reality, to create another one, as well as to understand it better. The central character of Pan’s Labyrinth, Ofelia, uses her imagination for all these things.
It starts with her seeing a winged insect and thinking it to be a fairy, and lo and behold, it becomes a fairy, just like the one pictured in her storybook. The fairy shows her something, and like Alice down the rabbit hole, Ofelia follows it into the old garden labyrinth. She first saw the labyrinth in the day outside of her new home�where her mother, with child, brought her after remarrying to a Captain in the Spanish militia. But in the night, the fairy shows her its heart, the secret that is Pan�s Labyrinth. There she meets it’s keeper, Faun, a creature that looks like a giant upright goat, with legs made of crooked trees, and smells of the earth. And he tells her a story. The story of a princess. The story of her. Read the rest of this entry »
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Here’s Andy Garcia’s cue to re-assume the mantle of Mr. Plot in writer/director Joe Carnahan’s new post-Tarantino mockup, Smokin’ Aces: “Make this all make sense.” Existential enough for you? After having delivered a lengthy expository monologue at the film’s outset, Garcia squares his shoulders in the ferocity of Ryan Reynolds’ fierce glower (yes, you read that right) and sums up a stunning, revelatory, incredible, mind-blowingly telegraphed third-act twist that is, in fact, intended to make the film make sense and set up a final shot that was evidently designed to deliver a more potent emotive blow than it did. Or had any right to.
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Matt Schneider Articles 4 Comments »
Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave deftly explores the most unstable of interpersonal relationships: the triangle. Add a corpse in a locked room and a briefcase full of money, and Boyle’s particular brand of black British humor, and you have a tense, effective thriller that exploits the “classic” thriller themes, while putting a fresh spin on the genre.
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Dan Swensen Reviews, Drama, Horror/Thriller 1 Comment »
Pan’s Labyrinth (del Toro, 2006) Spain
You know there’s something wrong with the world when a child’s paradise is the dark and sinister underworld. In this horrifying fairytale from the Spanish director, del Toro (who seems to be following Peter Jackson’s career path), a little girl - Ofelia, played with heartbreaking grace by a relatively newcomer Ivana Baquero - desperately hangs on to her imagination in order to cope with an inescapable situation she and her mother find themselves in.
Ofelia is a child on edge: she’s about to leave her childhood behind, as well as her old way of life, to enter an adult world where a man’s face could be smashed repeatedly with a bottle just because, where a potential guardian is more likely to use the back of his hand to hurt her than the whole of his arm to protect her. Her new father - the chilling devil-in-disguise played to perfection by Sergi Lopez - leads a government troupe in a mission to exterminate any remaining rebels still lurking in the woods after the Spanish Civil War. She is however warmly welcomed by the troupe’s caretaker - a woman of surprising strength and uncertain loyalty. In time, she would act as Ofelia’s godmother, with promises to take care of her the way her humiliated and defeated mother can not. Read the rest of this entry »
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