Blog Post 1: The Hero’s Journey

Prompt:

Do you think that most stories fit Campbell's "Hero's Journey" Monomyth model? Why or why not? Can you provide an example or two?

Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth, being the story of the Hero’s Journey, is undoubtedly incredibly prevalent in our cultural storytelling, in any and all forms of media. From the classics, such as the Odyssey itself, to modern productions and novels, the Hero’s Journey follows a similar structure in execution, swapping characters and details and settings to create a new story. We know the story, and so it is an easy and solid structure for a storyteller to apply. It also feels to be the journey we as people dream of – adventure, overcoming hardships, possibly divine intervention, achieving your goal, and a triumphant return. However, as the reading itself explains, that repetition of the same story plot becomes taxing to the viewer. It’s expected, its understood already. We know what’s going to happen, we know the end result, we just have to get there.

I found myself thinking about this exact scenario – of knowing the storyline but having to get there – while watching O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? with my boyfriend, Griffin. It’s a 2001 George Clooney movie, presenting an adaptation of the Odyssey set in 1930s Mississippi. O’ Brother is Griffin’s absolute favorite movie; he can recite scenes verbatim, tell you details about filming locations, and learned to play most of film’s score on bluegrass fiddle (his instrument of choice and the score’s primary genre).

Yet, I learned that Griffin has no prior knowledge to what the Odyssey is – never read it, never seen it, didn’t recognize the name when I referenced it (very long story). My surprise aside, that made me wonder though, that if the hero’s journey can be so detached from its origins in the Classics – even the Epic of Gilgamesh could be considered as following the structure! – could it be utilized in such a modified form that it effectively follows the structure, but we do not recognize it as the Hero’s Journey? Because in general, the Hero’s Journey is the same. The experience is the same. But the setting is changed, the names are scrubbed, the language is modernized. And yet the story can still be captivating.

On this consideration, and wondering if there are, in fact, stories that do not follow the Hero’s Journey, my mind turned to one of my favorite forms of storytelling – live theater. Let’s look at Broadway shows.

Thinking about pop culture musical theater, the shows that made it big and were all over social media feeds (before the Great COVID Broadway Shutdown), we saw many a Hero’s Journey, albeit in unconventional adaptations.

Dear Evan Hansen:

Arguably a Hero’s Journey (but approaching the “Woman as Temptress” in an unconventional means).

Hamilton:

Most certainly a Hero’s Journey (but without a “Freedom to Live” ending).

But to me, the stories that are a bit less on the modern Broadway pop culture pulse are often more interesting, and in this case seem to be less strictly aligned with Campbell’s prescriptions.

The Boys in the Band:

Not necessarily a Hero’s Journey, but an incredibly important story nonetheless (and one with incredible personal significance to me).

The Bridges of Madison County:

A Broadway musical adapted from a romance novel, but with a shockingly beautiful score and lyrics. If approached from Francesca’s perspective, it is not a Hero’s Journey – she remains in one place and returns to how she was, effectively refusing the adventure in the first place because she is loyal to her family. Yet the “journey” is more so emotional and interpersonal than it is physical. In effect, this feels to me like an everyday person’s lived experience, not a Hero’s Journey.

To paint a broad stroke, I feel it may be best to say it as this: While it seems in my view that most stories intended for a commercial audience follow the Hero’s Journey model, I can only vouch for the modern Western canon. And when stories intentionally subvert or move away from the Hero’s Journey, that story seems to have a more profound impact because it is unexpected.