A long time ago a rather famous man wrote a book called: the Hero with a thousand faces:
"The modern hero-deed must be that of questing to bring to light again the lost Atlantis of the coordinated soul".
An eye opener for many. A standard book for therapists and individuals wanting to get to know themselves better. I love the book. If you have not read it already, please use the link above to get yourself a copy (and you will support Mindfunda).
The hero myth has become the standard for stories, scripts, films and presentations. Nancy Duarte wrote an excellent book about it, using the ingredients of the hero myth:
In a common story the hero is somebody you can relate to. An ordinary person living a rather ordinary live, being confronted with everyday trouble. Usually the hero is a man. After the introduction of the hero (remember that in most of your dreams YOU are the hero) he gets a calling to resolve a problem that affects whole of his tribe. In shawshank redemption an innocent man is thrown in jail. We feel for him. We resonate.
After getting setbacks, a helper appears. He has wisdom beyond compare and at first he eases the hero. Remember the Matrix? Neo didn’t think he was the one.
But his helper the wise Oracle knows.
In the modern series, often the hero is a rather autistic guy. He is really good at one thing. Excellent at one thing. But bad at relationships. His helper is usually a male or female he has no interest in for a mate. Take for example the series House.
His helper is Dr. Wilson. House does not want to solve problems for society. He wants to solve problems because he is good at it. He is very attractive for woman but does not have a princess to conquer.
Another series featuring a man with autistic traits is Elementary:
Here a descendant from Sherlock Holmes solves crimes with his helper Watson: only now is Watson being reborn in the beautiful actress Lucy Liu. Again, just like House he excels in one thing: deduction. And his aim is not to help society but just to do what he likes most. He is very attractive to woman but does not have a princess to conquer.
Both hero’s are very good with their minds, but lack social skills. What do you think? Is the Hero myth changing? Do we want to live our lives for us and not for the community we belong to? And if so, is that a good thing?
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