Blog Entry 3.5: Hero’s Quest in "Coraline"

             Joseph Campbell explored the theory that the most important mythological stories from around the world, some of them thousands of years old, share a fundamental structure, which he called monomyth. In laying out the monomyth, he described a numbers of steps or stages along this journey.

 Coraline by Neil Gaiman is a children’s story about a girl who is ordinary and imperfect, yet has the role of a hero on a quest. The story follows the classic pattern of a hero’s quest story.Coraline is not special. She’s an ordinary kid with ordinary parents living in an ordinary home. She’s just a girl whose curiosity leads her to an adventure, the consequences of which demand heroic actions from her.  Although the writer of the book, author Neil Gaiman, said that he started The Hero with a Thousand Faces, but refused to finish it, there are obvious elements and stages of the monomyth structure in Coraline.
 Coraline has just moved with her parents into a flat in an old house. Her upstairs and downstairs neighbors are kind and eccentric older people who can't get her name right, but encourage her curiosity and explorer's instincts. One rainy afternoon, wandering around bored out of her mind (as young explorers are wont to do on rainy afternoons), Coraline opens a locked door in her living room and finds her way into the mysterious "vacant" fourth flat in the house. Surprisingly, the apartment is far from empty, and Coraline comes face to face with two creatures who claim to be her "other" parents. In fact, there appears to be an entire magical "other" world through the door; there are amazing toys to play with and neighbors who never mess up her name.
 Soon, however, Coraline realizes that this world is as deadly as it is enchanting. The "other mother" wants to keep Coraline there forever, and her intentions are hardly loving or parental. Coraline meets the ghosts of several other children who had been kidnapped hundreds of years ago, and she realizes that her both her body and spirit are in danger. She has to use all her intelligence and exploratory prowess in order to defeat the horrible "other mother."

 The first stage of the monomyth, The Call to Adventure, begins after Coraline is not allowed by her parents to explore outside on a rainy day and discovers a bricked up wall behind the drawing room door “which opened to a brick wall”(pg. 13, electronic ed.). Later as she visits her neighbors the crazy old man gives her a message from the mice warning her not to “go through the door”(pg.27) and the retired actresses, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, tell her she is “in terrible danger” (pg.34) after reading her tea leaves and give her a stone with a hole in it for protection.

 The next day, Coraline opens the door and finds a passage to the other world. Although she finds the other world to be better than her reality, she goes back to her world because the other mother wants to sew buttons into her eyes, in order for Coraline to stay in the other world forever. Coraline wanting to go back to her reality is The Refusal of the Call.

 The Supernatural Aid is represented by the stone received from Miss Spink and the black cat who is talking to her for the first time in the garden.

 The Crossing of the First Threshold stage happens when Coraline returns to her world and finds her parents missing and although she is frightened she goes back to the other world to rescue her kidnapped parents.

 The Belly of The Whale stage begins when Coraline is not being able to go back  to her own world because the other mother has locked the door and has the key in her possession. When she refuses to stay, the other mother locks her behind the mirror as punishment, where she meets the three ghost children.

 Coraline decides to play a game with the other mother in order to win her freedom and the freedom of her parents. She proposes a finding game and she sets off to find the souls of the three ghost children and of her parents. This game symbolizes The Road of Trial stage.  

 As the other mother opens the door Coraline grabs the snow globe, throws the black cat at her in order to distract her and escapes back to her world with the key. This is more dangerous to Coraline than going there because the other mother is trying to keep her in the other world in order to steal her soul. Coraline’s escape back to her world represents The Magic Flight stage.

 The Crossing of the Return Threshold is of a crucial importance for her quest and is represented here by the dream Coraline has in which she meets the three children before they move into the afterlife. They warn her that she must destroy the hand because it wants to steal the key in order to open passage between the two worlds and let the other mother get her. Coraline then sets up plan to lure the hand into the well in order to get rid of it forever. Freedom to Live is the last stage , when Coraline returns home victorious and prepares to go on with her normal ordinary life.

             According to a statement of Joseph Campbell, The Hero’s Journey was developed for men. Its whole purpose was to show cultures how great men distinguish themselves from ordinary men. A book like Coraline, aimed at children, can actually have significant impact on the culture. It normalizes the idea of a girl on a quest by simply showing one without making an issue of her gender, without making her an exception to the rule that girls can’t quest. It is important for the readers to understand the archetypal quest because it helps them to have a better understanding of the various symbols and themes of the work.

Works cited:

Gaiman, N. (2002). Coraline. Electronic edition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell

Blog Entry 3.4: My Project

        My final project will be a research paper on the cult movie Donnie Darko (2001), written and directed by Richard Kelly. First, I will introduce Richard Kelly and write about his background. I will write a general analysis of the movie, but focus mostly on the hero's quest, and identify the themes and symbols. To sum it up, write about everything we did in class over the semester.
        I will mention the difference between the Director's Cut and Theatrical Version, elaborate on the director's interpretation and about the movie's soundtrack. I also want to write about the writer and director of the movie.
        IF time allows, I will create a short theatrical trailer using the stop motion technique, done with my Digital SLR camera and a lot of editing. If I don't have time to do it myself, I will post a trailer from Youtube.
      

Blog Entry 3.3: Final Project Ideas

       My first thought for the final project is a research project about "Fight Club", a novel written by Chuck Palahniuk in 1996.  I am still thinking if I want to use the "Fight Club" movie instead of the book. I liked both of them, but more people are critical of the movie, especially the "nonsense" violence in it.
        I am also thinking if I would do a multimedia project (I am a Photography major student). First thing coming to mind is a timelapse video of a scene from it, but I think my resources would be limited, having to depend on the availability of the models for the project and shooting locations.

Blog Entry 3.2: Macbeth Video

          This short clip is from a 30 minutes animated version of Macbeth commissioned by BBC in the early 1990s. Although this animation may look like a "cartoon", it follows the original play and it includes the Shakespearean language and tragedy. There are many scenes in this version that could be scary for younger viewers. Animation is a relatively new medium and it is used in a very impressive way here to portray the archetypes and personalities of the characters.
           The video begins with the brief appearance of three witches and then moves to a military camp, where the Scottish King Duncan hears the news that his generals, Macbeth and Banquo, have defeated two separate invading armies, one from Ireland and one from Norway. After their victorious battle with these enemy forces, Macbeth and Banquo have an encounter with the witches. The witches tell Macbeth that he will be made thane (a rank of Scottish nobility) of Cawdor and eventually King of Scotland. They also predict that Banquo's sons will become Scottish kings, although Banquo will never be king himself. The witches vanish, and Macbeth and Banquo are skeptical and joke about their prophecies. Then some of King Duncan’s men come to thank the two generals for their victories in battle and to tell Macbeth that he has been named thane of Cawdor. The previous thane betrayed Scotland by fighting for the Norwegians and Duncan has condemned him to death. Macbeth is intrigued by the possibility that he will be crowned king, but he is uncertain what to expect. He visits King Duncan, and they plan to dine together at Inverness, Macbeth’s castle, that night. Macbeth writes ahead to his wife, Lady Macbeth, telling her about everything, including the witches. Lady Macbeth is not sa uncertain as he is. She wants him to become king and to murder Duncan in order to obtain it. When Macbeth arrives at Inverness, she convinces him to kill the king. The video ends with Macbeth's vision of a bloody dagger.
            The animation style and scary background music help emphasize the overall eerie, dark atmosphere of the play. The witches are depicted very distorted and they keep transforming, symbolizing supernatural force; this visual, continuous transformation of the witches is something that could not be achieved with the same effect on a stage, in a theater. They are forming a circle when they are dancing and casting the spells. The circle is a clear symbol of infinity, in this case, continuity for their spells. Macbeth's eyes are very dark in this animation. The eyes are considered in many cultures as the windows to the soul, therefore his soul is very dark and evil. He is like a soulless ghoul, driven by desire for power. Macbeth is influenced by his ambitious wife and the prophecy of the witches and becomes a ruthless killer, rather than the hero he is in the beginning of the play. Lady Macbeth's features are also very exaggerated and drawn out of proportion, showing that she is evil and dark herself. All of the scenes where Macbeth, his wife and the weird sisters appear, are visually very dark and scary. 

Video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC9G_CZVAL8

Blog Entry 3.1: Macbeth

        Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's darkest play."The Scottish Play" is filled with brutality and savagery. And this still image evokes just that. This is a photograph from a modern adaptation by Rupert Goold, in which the actors are wearing soviet-style uniforms and machine guns to establish a 1950s Stalin-era mood as Macbeth tries to eliminate his rivals to the throne.  The main reason for choosing this photograph, aside from being a fan of the amazing Patrick Stewart, is that it is such a brilliant narrative photograph. It is just the perfect example to show that a photograph is indeed worth one thousand words. This image shows the relationship between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, which is obsession; obsession for power and beauty, for everything. Macbeth has completely sold his soul to her, in all of its evil.
       Macbeth and his wife are standing in a strange basement setting with a cold, metal table and white brick walls in the dark background and a sink in the foreground; all of these elements of the setting serve to provide a dark feeling to the play. Both of them get blood on their hands in order to become rulers. The red color of the blood is a significant element in this image, but just as important are the the looks in the actors' eyes and their postures. Lady Macbeth is looking at her hands and looks horrified and regretful and is standing in front of the sink, like she is about to get the blood of her hands. At the same time, Macbeth is not as close as her to the camera lens and seems to be looking at her and realize that she was the one who pushed him to murder. But is he really doing that? His gaze is mysterious, almost magical.
       In "Macbeth", symbolism is used abundantly to exemplify the overall theme of murder. There are several obvious forms of this throughout the play. The contrast of light and dark represents good and evil. Blood symbolizes murder and  their guilt and shame about the horrific crime.The archetypes of the ruler and warrior, which are present throughout the play for Macbeth, are not evident in this image. Lady Macbeth here seems the archetypal negative mother influencing him in a destructive way. From Macbeth, we can learn that there is a spiritual battle between good and evil inside everybody.


 Works cited:  "Patrick Stewart gives Macbeth new life." UK Reuters. Web.26 Oct. 2010. <http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKN0124949720071001>.
  Image link: http://novaclutch.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/30/mac2650.jpg

I Am McLexie x3: Entry 2.2 The Dark Magician & The Altruist

I Am McLexie x3: Entry 2.2 The Dark Magician & The Altruist: " Upon taking this archetype assessment, it was concluded that my main archetype is the Altruist ( CareGiver ), and my negative ..."

Vincent's Blogs: Entry 2.2: Magician

Vincent's Blogs: Entry 2.2: Magician: "My archetype is Magician. According to Wikipedia, the definition of a magician is: a person who performs feats using supernatural means; a..."