Heroes in a Virtual World ; Spate of New Flicks Combines Our Fascination with Fantasy Universes and the Classic Myth of a Hero's Journey Howell, Peter
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Heroes in a virtual world ; Spate of new flicks combines our fascination with fantasy universes and the classic myth of a hero's journey Howell, Peter . Toronto Star ; Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]16 Apr 1999: 1. ProQuest document link ABSTRACT (ABSTRACT) Writers-directors Andy and Larry Wachowski follow [Joseph Campbell]'s hero myth formula so closely the names of several characters act as plot pointers. Neo comes from the Greek word for "new." Morpheus, named for the Greek god of dreams, literally wakes Neo up: "Welcome to the real world," he says. Other characters are called Oracle (the Greek goddess of prophecy) and Trinity (as in the Holy Trinity of Christian teaching). It's intriguing that both movies have early scenes where [Keanu Reeves]' characters are awakened by a voice from a video screen. In The Matrix, though, Reeves is called to do battle; in Johnny Mnemonic, he's simply awakened. Johnny Mnemonic's main problem, apart from bad acting and sloppy directing, is that neither the hero nor the audience is sent on a compelling journey. THE GAME: Michael Douglas plays classic reluctant hero caught up in an unreal world.; AGE-OLD FORMULA: The Wizard Of Oz gang, top, are joined on their quest by characters from The Matrix floating above, Star Wars' [Luke Skywalker] (on the Emerald City) and Ian Holms from eXistenZ, at right. Poster for The Thirteenth Floor, above, promises a similar journey. FULL TEXT A reluctant hero is summoned by a mysterious mentor to a strange world where he's put through tests of strength and character, battling enemies and forging alliances. An ultimate conflict looms, which the hero must win to gain passage back to the ordinary world. There is death, there is rebirth, and most important, there is wisdom gained to live a better life. Sound familiar? It should. It's a formula as old as storytelling and as new as the plot of The Matrix, currently the Number 1 movie in North America. It's also at the heart of Star Wars, the billion-dollar film franchise gearing up for another assault with the May 19 release of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Many other popular films follow this Yellow Brick Road to success, including what could be regarded as the mass- audience protoype, The Wizard Of Oz. PDF GENERATED BY SEARCH.PROQUEST.COM Page 1 of 5 What makes The Matrix and others like it - think "classics" such as Terminator 2, Blade Runner, Aliens, The Fifth Element, the soon- opening eXistenZ and The Thirteenth Floor, and such earlier films as Dark City and The Game - particularly fascinating is the layer that state-of-the-art computer technology has added to the mix. The wondrous capacity to create mythological worlds through techno-wizardry is a double-edged light sabre: it can be more tempting to rely on the visual pyrotechnics, or the god-like ability to create an alternate universe, than on storyline. Filmmakers in the heroic mode sometimes forget its most important element: simplicity of the story. So here's a tip for budding filmmakers: Read Joseph Campbell's definitive 1949 interpretive text, The Hero With A Thousand Faces. George Lucas did, and he has acknowledged it was the blueprint for Star Wars. Campbell, a scholar of mythology, argued that the world's favourite heroic stories are all rooted in classic myth. The heroes, and the journeys they take, are essentially the same, no matter whether they're religious icons such as Jesus, Mohammed or Buddha; folklore figures such as King Arthur, Homer or Ulysses; or movie creations such as Luke Skywalker of Star Wars, Dorothy of The Wizard Of Oz and now Neo of The Matrix. "Religions, philosophies, arts, the social forms of primitive and historic man, prime discoveries in science and technology, the very dreams that blister sleep, (all) boil up from the basic, magic ring of myth," Campbell wrote. The formula is pure Hollywood pitch: The heroes are called to adventure. They frequently refuse the call, claiming unworthiness or disinterest, until compelling circumstances - and a prodding mentor - force them into action. Their journeys can be either physical or spiritual, but all take the hero - and the audience by extension - to places of fantasy and wonder. Once inside the new world, the hero and his allies must battle numerous evils, culminating in a final great contest. The journey back to the ordinary world, "the real world," as The Matrix calls it, can only be made when the hero has won a prize. In most cases, personal enlightenment. Luke Skywalker is first told by Obi-Wan Kenobi, and then Yoda, to travel across the cosmos to battle Darth Vader and to learn the value of The Force (a.k.a God). Dorothy listens to Good Witch Glinda, follows the Yellow Brick Road and battles the Wicked Witch of the West to learn "there's no place like home." Blade Runner's anti-hero Dekker answers the call to fight killer replicants ("I need your magic, Deck") and discovers that machines - like the Tin Man of Oz - have hearts and feelings, too. In The Matrix, Keanu Reeves' computer hacker character Neo is summoned by the mysterious Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) to transform himself into a digital warrior, to battle evil computers enslaving mankind. Writers-directors Andy and Larry Wachowski follow Campbell's hero myth formula so closely the names of several characters act as plot pointers. Neo comes from the Greek word for "new." Morpheus, named for the Greek god of PDF GENERATED BY SEARCH.PROQUEST.COM Page 2 of 5 dreams, literally wakes Neo up: "Welcome to the real world," he says. Other characters are called Oracle (the Greek goddess of prophecy) and Trinity (as in the Holy Trinity of Christian teaching). The hero formula allows for minor substitutions and plot changes. But tampering with it too much can mean the difference between blockbuster and bomb. This explains why The Matrix is a massive hit, while 1995's Johnny Mnemonic - which also starred Keanu Reeves in a computer world - was a dud. It's intriguing that both movies have early scenes where Reeves' characters are awakened by a voice from a video screen. In The Matrix, though, Reeves is called to do battle; in Johnny Mnemonic, he's simply awakened. Johnny Mnemonic's main problem, apart from bad acting and sloppy directing, is that neither the hero nor the audience is sent on a compelling journey. Originality is not the issue here. Some of the biggest hero movies, in particular The Matrix and The Fifth Element, steal shamelessly from other classics of the genre, but they do so with style and humour. Both films upped their pop-culture ante with such '90s essentials as high-fashion clothes and techno-rock soundtracks. The Matrix goes further, with camera angles and movements that mimic popular video arcade games and martial arts wizardy from a dozen Hong Kong action movies. Too much originality conspires against success for movies of heroic journeys. Too often filmmakers either don't understand the myths they are playing with - last year's Dark City was a tour de force of visual design, but a jumble of ideas: no compelling hero, no defined journey - or they understand them all too well, and try to defy the rules. Such is the case with David Lynch, who prefers the title of iconoclast over storyteller. His Lost Highway in 1997 had many elements of the hero myth, including visits to strange dreamscapes and a mentor: a creepy Robert Blake in Uncle Fester mode. But Lynch went out of his way to confuse the audience, going so far as to change the identity of a key character mid-way through the movie. He made similar mistakes in his 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert's sci-fi classic Dune, turning a mythic marvel into a colossal mess. David Cronenberg faces a similar challenge with eXistenZ, his virtual reality tale set for an April 23 release. It follows the hero formula but, not surprising for Cronenberg, it demands much more of the audience; it could be described as the thinking person's Matrix. It's all right to confuse people, as The Matrix frequently does. But by the end of the movie, there must be no doubt as to who the hero is, who the villain is and what lesson has been learned. This is not as simplistic as it sounds. A happy ending is not always necessary: The Empire Strikes Back didn't have one, although it's part of the original Star Wars trilogy, which does. Getting the formula straight can make sequels bigger than their originals. James Cameron made Aliens and PDF GENERATED BY SEARCH.PROQUEST.COM Page 3 of 5 Terminator 2 bigger and better by more closely adhering to Campbell's dictums. This was especially apparent in Terminator 2, where Arnold Schwarzenegger's character switches from bad-guy robot of the original to being the good-guy mentor in the sequel, teaming with reluctant heroine Linda Hamilton to battle a shape-shifting cyborg from the future. There's no doubt the new Star Wars movie will continue with the myths that have made George Lucas a very rich man. The plot glimpses from the two trailers, and leaks from the Internet, confirm that the good guys (the Jedi knights and Yoda) and the bad guys (Darth Vader and new baddy Darth Maul) have their light sabres poised to fight Campbell's classic battle, once again. Illustration Caption: THE GAME: Michael Douglas plays classic reluctant hero caught up in an unreal world.; AGE-OLD FORMULA: The Wizard Of Oz gang, top, are joined on their quest by characters from The Matrix floating above, Star Wars' Luke Skywalker (on the Emerald City) and Ian Holms from eXistenZ, at right.