The Hero and the Perennial Journey Home in American Film

by Susan Mackey-Kallis

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University of Pennsylvania Press 2001 248 pp $24.95

The Hero in American Film - A Spiritual Quest of Sorts
From: Stephen S. Daggett

Susan Mackey-Kallis' The Hero and the Perennial Journey Home in American Film attempts to reconcile two modes of film criticism, the rhetorical and the psycho-mythological into a new synthesis for future film criticism. Mackey-Kallis, who teaches film studies and rhetoric in the Communications Department at Villanova University, manages to integrate the writings of Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung, and the plot elements of several popular American films into this tapestry designed for a select audience, namely film studies scholars. The hero quest, as she puts it," does not involve simply the hero's discovery of some boon or Holy Grail, however; it also involves finding him -or herself, which ultimately means finding a home in the universe." While contemporary dramas, such as Thelma and Louise, are critiqued, the book and the critical methodology used, works best when applied to science fiction and fantasy. The author states that, " Of all film genres, the science-fiction genre is most compelled to explore the relationship between scientific/rational ways of knowing and spiritual/nonrational ways of knowing because when humanity seeks answers to questions regarding its future (the "what if" territory of the sci-fi genre) it is inevitably faced with questions regarding its past, or more specifically its genesis."

The book works best when applying psycho-mythological analysis, which helps keep focus on its central themes. It is here that Joseph Campbell's impact is most striking. Campbell gained a sizeable following in the 1980's with The Power of Myth, Bill Moyers' PBS series of interviews with Campbell. Campbell, in turn, relied heavily on Carl Jung's writings concerning the collective unconsciousness. This began with his classic work The Hero with a Thousand faces, where myths from diverse cultures are integrated to illustrate common archetypes that make the transcendental spiritual journey that Mackey-Kallis' work emphasizes. Heroes make these mythic journeys "home," and simultaneously, find a sense of self and inner peace as a result of the experience. Campbell's writings stress a wish that myths of the future, rather than view humanity in terms of families, cities, or nations, will address humanity as a whole and humanity's relationship to other aspects of nature and the cosmos. He applied this universal view to myths and works of literature that he critiqued. Mackey-Kallis does the same with movies. This book is divided into three sections. The first section, the longest in the book, describes the modes of the hero quest. Logically, it uses Homer's The Odyssey as its touchstone. It stresses coming age myths, including the sacred marriage quest (Odysseus returning home to his wife Penelope) and the father quest (Telemachus seeking his father while maturing into a father figure). The second section analyzes films in a socio-historical context. The final chapter of this section is a worthwhile lead in the final section. Here, the discussion turns to science fiction and fantasy. The works of Kubrik, Spielberg, and Lucas can provide plenty of material for several books, individually and collectively. The science fiction genre blends all the themes stressed in this book. Archetypes such as mana (spiritual power), shadows ("the dark side"), heroes, maidens, wise old men, etc. can be used creatively to describe a character's personal transformation or spiritual journey. Mackey-Kallis effectively uses examples from this genre to develop a mythic model for future film criticism, and possibly, film development.

The first two sections analyze more "down-to-earth" motion pictures, with the possible exceptions of the venerable musical hero quest, The Wizard of Oz and the what-if fantasy drama It's a Wonderful Life. The enigmatic, Thelma and Louise epitomizes the type of analysis used in these sections of the text. Geena Davis' abused housewife Thelma is transformed during the course of the film and the sacred marriage quest theme is quite evident. Susan Sarandon's Louise also makes the quest in far more subtle ways. Louise's transformation begins with the shooting of Thelma's husband Harlan in the parking log of the nightspot where she's employed. Her other experiences with men following this incident and her personal growth are repeatedly reflected by sequences of her examining herself in mirrors. She is being transformed. She is finding her true self. However, the sacred marriage quest in this film does not end with a man, but with the two women united in their ultimate escape from men. The author clearly respects this film. She is more negative in her criticism of other films, especially Gone with the Wind and It's a Wonderful Life, when analyzing some of the cultural, gender, and socioeconomic issues that influenced the making of those pictures. She writes "moral judgments are necessary in any analysis of narrative form. Myths, neither true nor false, are rather more or less functional for interpreting the human condition and, thus, are more or less instrumental in moving a culture toward individuation."

This idea stems from Campbell's view that myths cannot be consciously conceived or scripted, but arise from the collective unconsciousness. Stanley Kubrik perhaps best exhibits Campbell's perspective, with 2001: A Space Odyssey. Kubrik's fascination with technology reached its zenith with this film. Screenwriter Arthur C. Clarke is blunt about his collaboration with Kubrik, "We set out with the deliberate intention of creating a myth. M-G-M doesn't know it yet, but they've footed the bill for the first 10,500,000.00 religious film." No one individual makes the journey home. Humanity undergoes a spiritual journey of which Campbell must have been proud. Even the title pays homage to Homer. The journey that humankind takes is punctuated by mandala symbols, spherical symbols that promote contemplation of a deity. Typically, these symbols include the sun, the moon, the mother's womb, and the circularity of the passage of time. In Kubrik's film, technological mandalas are evident, from the spinning bone at the dawn of man sequence, to the spinning space station in the middle segment, and even the astronaut Dave's eye in the final segment. The good and bad that comes with scientific and technological developments are symbolized with these. Mackey-Kallis' criticism that this film successfully reconciles the "logical/rational ways of knowing with spiritual/nonrational ways of knowing," is well-documented with several of the movie's sequences. Kubrik brings together the contrasting ways of knowing into a critically acclaimed package that manages to stimulate over thirty years past its release date.

Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind does this as well. The hero, Roy (Richard Dreyfuss), struggles throughout the film with what he knows in his heart (i.e., that aliens are trying to make contact with him) and what his education and practical experience should lead him to believe (i.e., that he is delusional). Roy eventually does arrive at "home;" but home is the great unknown...the alien world. A world the audience glimpses for only a few closing segments at the end of the feature. While Roy is the focus of the film, the struggle is going on with others. Government personnel, clergy, and mother searching for her alien-abducted child must contend with the logical-spiritual conflict. Those individuals that successfully reconcile these conflicting elements are called "boundary spanners" by the author. In Close Encounters, the boundary spanner is the French scientist, played by director Francois Truffaut. The other movie stressed in this review, 2001, uses technology, rather than individuals as boundary spanners. Space vessels function both as mandalas that force us to wonder about our connection with God and boundary spanners that reconcile our relationship with the deity and the scientific approach to understanding the universe. The mandalas for Spielberg's work is the South Dakota mountain where the alien mother ship lands, the mother ship itself, and assorted smaller alien vessels that are sighted around the world. But his film has more of a traditional emphasis on individual characters and their storylines.

Even with a traditional narrative, Close Encounters and other science fiction films, encourage us to wonder "at the infinity of space and time that is the universe and the divine spark of life that created humanity-both of which science and technology reveal-while warning that science and technology could paradoxically obscure those same spiritual truths." In this light, Mackey-Kallis praises the Star Wars trilogy as a spiritual tale, but acknowledges its conservative interpretation of the hero quest prevents it from becoming a model for future myths. Women, even Princess Leia, are at the margins of the various quests portrayed in the film, while white males carry out most of the heroics. This falls well outside Campbell's wish for future "myths that will identify the individual not with his local group but with his planet." However, Mackey-Kallis' work concludes on a hopeful note that science fiction aficionados dwell on when they come together for meetings. That is, "The new myth for humankind needs to be a quest, not a conquest; its purpose, to search rather than to search and destroy." Fulfillment of this dream is a long way off, especially as long as Hollywood continues to be driven by the bottom line. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful dream that future filmgoers and filmmakers should pursue.

Copyright 2002 Metanexus:
The Online Forum on Religion and Science
http://www.metanexus.net/
Reprinted with permission of the author.
Stephen S. Daggett, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biology
Department of Natural Sciences
Avila College
11901 Wornall Rd.
Kansas City, Mo. 64145
daggettss@mail.avila.edu
(816) 501-3654 Fax (816)501-2457

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