Thus far, my mythology class has involved reading a lot of ancient stories. We have also spent time talking about how modern day mythologies can still be found in the art of a culture. One such art form is modern cinema. Far more people watch movies than read books and from these films comes the fictional characters that everyone comes to know.
For our first class paper, we must describe how the plot of a movie relates to Joseph Campbell's archetypical hero's quest. We could choose between seeing Batman Begins or Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. From the sounds of it, the whole class choose Batman. I saw it this morning. It was odd going to see a move at 10:00 AM. The theater was practically empty. It's odd when you only hear yourself laughing at the jokes. Luckily, i was able to find plenty of stuff to put my paper together.
There were a few plot points that i'm not sure i got quite right. If you saw the movie, can you answer any of these questions for me (and if you didn't see the movie, don't read them so i don't spoil anything)? When the kid first sees Batman and he says that the other kids are never going to believe him, what proof does Batman leave behind? It looked like some of his spy gear, but someone else thought it was one of those metal bats (but aren't those really sharp? would you give one to a kid?). Now, did Henri Ducard train the first Ras Al Guhl or did he just decide to pick up the master's work? Finally, the league of shadows had nothing to do with the death of Bruce's parents - in fact, it screwed with their plans, right?
Posted by Matthew at July 9, 2005 10:02 PM