John Campbell’s popular recognition followed his collaboration with Bill Moyers on the PBS series “The Power of Myth.” The series exposed his ideas concerning mythological, religious, and psychological archetypes to a wide audience, and captured the imagination of millions of viewers. A companion book, “The Power of Myth”, containing expanded transcripts of their conversations, was released shortly after the original broadcast.
I liked this book because it gave great incite on storytelling and what fundamental characters and situations people relate to on a primal level. In the chapter, The Hero’s Adventure, Moyers and Campbell discuss George Lucas‘ claim that Campbell’s work directly influenced the creation of the Star Wars films. “Star Wars is an example of what Joseph Campbell called the Monomyth, which reaches a broader audience and is more enduring,” said Shanti Fader, editor of Parabola magazine, a publication of the Society for the Study of Myth and Tradition.
In classic mythology, the hero reluctantly leaves the homeland (in Luke’s case, the planet Tatooine) on a quest that takes him over a supernatural threshold into a strange land. A helper/co-hero such as space jockey Han Solo lends a hand through a series of ordeals. Comic relief is provided by tricksters such as the Greek muse Thalia or C3PO and R2-D2.
Lucas followed a formula. Hollywood follows a formula. Will you? Don’t over think your concepts/pitches. I suggest reading “The Power of Myth” to get a better idea of what ideologies have been “branded” into our subconscious. With this knowledge, your vision/pitch/underlying motives of your TV or movie character will become clearer.
Thanks for reminding us of the significant insights provided by specific mythologies, and from the peoples who lived by them, provided by Joseph Campbell in his wonder-filled books.
I’ll never forget reading the large format books as a matter of research into lost civilizations when I was preparing my documentary production team for a venture out into the Atlantic off of Florida to investigate a large pyramid that resides on the seafloor there.
Campbell’s work, and that of Bill Moyers in shing a light on his life-long exploration into lost knowledge, are invaluable tools to those of us who seek to bring this information out of hiding.
Thanks,
Rob Wold
writing from New Orleans, Louisiana