Myths and Archetypes: Activity 1.2.1, Movie Review Example

The odyssey experienced by the hero in the novel written by Campbell is a fundamental pattern which is encountered in numerous narratives. The conventional format of the exploits of the hero is depicted in the order or Departing- Starting- regress. This order of events is also described as monomyth. In the Hobbit: An unexpected Journey, the realization of the monomyth is manifested by the protagonist. The narrative develops according to each of the stages of the monomyth. In the monomyth sequence, the summoning of the protagonist to adventure is the initial step of the protagonist’s journey (Campbell 48).

\The protagonist wakens from the mundane existence of daily routines to initiate a new existence by answering a communication from an abstract world. The summoning to the potential of adventuring is the protagonist’s destiny. Usually, there is some superhuman intuition that causes the protagonist to develop a yearning for the new world. The new world is the manifestation of peril and wealth. The peril and the wealth could be found in a faraway land. The faraway land could be represented by a civilization in an alternate dimension, an undiscovered island, the center of the Earth or a deep unconscious dreamlike condition (Campbell 48).

In the monomyth sequence, the protagonist does not always accept the initial call to the new experiences. The protagonist may disregard his intuition. As a result of disregarding intuition, the protagonist is converted into a victim who must be rescued. The protagonist may be afraid of the risks involved (Campbell 49). Usually, in the monomyth sequence, the protagonist is assisted by nature, memories and even the people in the environment. These transactions cause the protagonist to realize that he is about to engage in a historical endeavor which may be the catalysts of social or technological change (Campbell 57).

As the protagonist of the monomyth proceeds, he comes to discover that he has a supernatural power which must be directed by a guardian who is a gate keeper (Campbell 64). As the hero is guided by the guardian, the hero attains a godlike state. Campbell states that in the passing of the threshold “Those who know , not only that the everlasting lies in them, but in what they say, and all things , really are is the everlasting, dwell in the groves of the wish fulfilling trees , drink the brew of immortality and listen everywhere to the music of eternal concord (Campbell 147).  There is always a teacher, a gatekeeper who assists the protagonist in his journey (Campbell 71).

The protagonist usually demonstrates a lack of fear which causes the danger to dissipate (Campbell 82). This lack of fear may be sequenced by an apparent catastrophe, from which the protagonist appears to be deceased. This episode may be preceded by hesitation (Campbell 64). Notwithstanding, the guidance is always present in a supernatural form and provides the protective force of the protagonist’s purpose and destiny in order to provide salvation (Campbell 71). The features of mythology appear to be as pertinent to daily existence with regards to the requisites of the age, race and the individual (Campbell 154). This feature of immortality in order to produce a sequel has been manifested in a number of movie franchises.  The franchises where these features have appeared are the Star Wars Trilogy, Harry Potter Series and the Hobbit collection.

Interactive Story Mythology

 King Chronos and the Continent of Atlantis

The mythological story of Atlantis initiated with the Greek philosopher Plato. Plato discusses how the Atlantean civilization was the forerunner of all of the present civilizations. Plato was able to tell this mythological tale and gain an audience due to the attribute of Athens and Atlantis experiencing the cycle of birth and death. Subsequent to the writings of Plato, a number of writers promoted the existence of Atlantis. In the Mayan and Aztec cultures there had been legends of the manner by which their ancestry was descended from Atlantis. The Inca civilization has demonstrated remnants of maps demonstrating the location of Atlantis (Johnson 16).

There have been archaeological findings of roads domed structures, rectangular edifications and a pyramid. These artifacts of the lost continent of Atlantis were encountered off the shores of the Bimini islands. In the Bahamas, an underwater pyramid was encountered that has a height of 650 feet. This pyramid had been located with its apex located approximately one hundred and fifty feet under the Caribbean Sea. There have been a number of cartographical maps which demonstrated the location of Atlantis. The maps which were used by Christopher Columbus were descended from the Greeks. These maps demonstrated the positions of the lost continent of Atlantis (Johnson 26).

The first king and founder of Atlantis was Poseidon. There was also King Uranus and King Chromos. The kings of Atlantis were the names of gods which were adored by ancient civilizations. The Phoenicians were derived from the Atlanteans. King Poseidon found Cleito who was a mortal. He became enamored and had children. Poseidon formed Atlantis into an island and used it to shelter his beloved Cleitos. Poseidon had five sets of children with Cleitos. The five sets of children that Poseidon bore with Cleitos were Atlas, Gadeirus, Ampheres, Evaemon, Mneseus, Autoclithon, Azaes and Diaprepes. Atlas bore a large family. The island was divided and passed to the heirs of Poseidon (Johnson 31).

The first Atlanteans were created from outer space. They arrived approximately 51,000 years ago. The Atlanteans had the form of humans. Legend says that the Atlanteans were extremely slender and pale skinned. Their origins have been discussed as being the Lyrian star matrix. The first people who arrived from this star system were known as the Annunaki.

The majority of the ancient civilizations had tales of gigantic humans. The skeletal remains that were found measured between seven to twelve feet in height. The original adventurers to the Americas documented diaries where they perceived extremely tall bearded humans in the Andes Mountains. The Annunaki produced the conventional humans by means of genetic splicing.

The humans who were developed by the Annunaki were founded in order to labor at a variety of tasks. These tasks were agriculture, construction and mining activities. In providing the contemporary humans with the capacity of being able to reproduce autonomously, the humans populated the Earth. As the Annunaki were developing Atlantis and the Earth, more workers were required. The cycle of conception of the humans was modified in order to bear young every month.

 Atlantean Technology

The Atlantean population incrementally evolved from spiritual beings to becoming the conventional humans that inhabit the Earth today. The Atlanteans had the capacity of harnessing energy from crystals. In the application of the crystals, multiple energies were harnessed. Although the Annunaki were able to provide controls to the environment, they relished the creation of lightning and storms. The original Atlanteans were fond of seismic disturbances as displays of power. Occasionally, human habitats would be destroyed by these displays of technological prowess.

The Atlanteans widely applied the technology of crystals. After the generations of King Poseidon, Atlas and Chronos, the crystal energies were misapplied in such a way that the entire island of Atlantis was submerged under hundreds of feet of water. The crystals were applied by the Atlanteans as storage, amplifications and refraction devices. The entire spectrum of light was used by the Atlanteans in their crystalline power sources. The Atlanteans would apply specific types of energies for agricultural cultivation. There would be other energy spectrums which would be applied for medicinal uses. There were other energy spectrums which would be applied for constructing and deconstructing molecules.

Crystals have the capacity of transmitting, focusing, intensifying, retaining and conveying energy. The crystals in Atlantis were applied in order to apply the crystalline energies over long distances. The pyramids which were originally constructed by Poseidon were applied in order to transmit energy from one location to another. The pyramids were applied as relay stations. Poseidon constructed a system of pyramids that would focus light from one stellar source and transmit it others. There would be times when the pyramids would be aligned with different stellar sources. The application of energy transmission and the policy of harboring reptilians eventually brought King Chronos a great deal of difficulty.

The crystalline forms that were applied by the Atlanteans were excavated from the center of the Earth. There were systems which were applied in order to cause the crystals that were mined to increase in dimensions. There had been some of the crystal forms which were developed into energy receptacles measuring as much as twenty five feet in height and ten feet in radius. These crystals were multifaceted and were used for the storage of substantial amounts of energy.

There were other crystals which would be smaller in dimensions. These crystals were tinted with distinct colors. The use of the colors in the light spectrum was applied for traveling at velocities that have not been attained by our civilization. Can the Atlanteans be said to be myth or reality? Approximately 9,000 years ago, before the complete decay of the Atlanteans civilization, the Atlanteans became given to narcissism. This infers that they were over obsessed with their appearance and comparing the possessions of each one with another. King Chronos was out to establish that he had been the greatest king that ever lived. He initiated this by starting a series of storms. The humans were terrified. The storms were sent all over the world.  One of the storms caused an earthquake near the Grecian coast and destroyed the Temple of Poseidon.

The humans went to King Chronos pleading for mercy. They knew that divine wrath would be incurred upon King Chronos. There was a breed of reptiles that were among the citizens of Atlantis. They conspired against King Chronos. King Chronos was determined to show his might. An earthquake ensued which caused many of the islands to sink. Atlantis remained intact. The reptiles wanted to be closer to the center of the Earth, which had been their dominion. The leader of the reptiles approached King Chronos and told him that his might was less than his father, Uranus and much less than his grandfather, Poseidon. King Chronos become infuriated. This emotional outburst was what the reptilians sought. This was attributed to the jealousy that they had for the Atlanteans and the humans.

After the destruction of the Temple of Poseidon, the reptilians approached King Chronos and said: “Your grandfather knew how to manage the temporal crystal. He was able to cause earthquakes and immediately repair the damages. You do not have dominion over the temporal stone.” King Chronos became more infuriated. He told the leader of the reptilians: “I have the ability of making Atlantis disappear and reappear whenever I would like.” The reptilians challenged King Chronos. A lighting and thunder storm ensued as King Chronos held the temporal stone. The ground shook and Atlantis become submerged. The reptilian leaders smiled and challenged King Chronos to make the island of Atlantis reappear. Prior to King Chromos attempting to make Atlantis reappear, one of the reptilians had stolen the temporal stone and hid the stone deep within the Earth. Consequently, King Chronos was not able to raise Atlantis and the island of Atlantis remains submerged to this day.

Music Video Analysis

The music video which was evaluated was “Land of Confusion.” It is a rock protest song that was published by Genesis in 1986 on their album titled: Invisible touch. The protest song reached a high level on the U.S. and UK music charts. The band wrote the music for the video, the lyrics were inscribed by Mike Rutherford, who is the lead guitarist. The music video portrays caricature representations which were created by Spitting Image. The song was deemed as outstanding as a result of the video that was made. In the 1980s the video received substantial air time on MTV (Rutherford 29).

The music video begins with an animated portrayal of President Ronald Reagan, the First Lady Nancy Reagan and a monkey which was a memorial of President Reagan’s Movie (Bonzo’s Bedtime).  The characters which are portrayed are taking a nap at 4: 30 pm. Nancy is engaged in reading a biography of Frank Sinatra which was written by Nancy Sinatra. In the book, there are allegations which had been made against Nancy Reagan prior to her marriage to President Reagan. The video demonstrates President Reagan Taking his nap which holding his favorite teddy bear. As President Reagan falls asleep, he has a nightmare which established the scene for the protest video. The video manifests collections of stomping feet. The stomping feet are symbolic for the military’s journey through marshlands. As the military members are traveling, they are collecting the heads of the political persona of the Cold War era (Rutherford 29).

In the music video, there are animated versions of the members of Genesis. Phil Collins is one of the animated figures. Mike Rutherford portrays himself plating a guitar which has four strings. In the following verse of the song titled: “Land of Confusion”, there are a variety of global heads of state which are performing monologues on large televised screens in the presence of crowds.  The video depicts Muammar al – Gaddafi with his aides, Gorbachev with his assistants, Ayatollah Rubollah Khomeini and Benito Mussolini. As the heads of states are proceeding with their monologues, President Reagan dons a superman outfit (Rutherford 29).

Phil Collins Continues to sing while the heads of state are performing their speeches and President Ronald Reagan is running with the superman outfit. After returning to what appeared to be reality, President Reagan had been demonstrated as being inundated by his own perspiration. While President Reagan is inundated in his perspiration, a rubber duck sails past his persona.  In the bridge section of the music video, President Reagan continues while wearing the superman outfit. At the same time a Tyrannosaurus Rex who is wearing jewelry reminiscent of punk rockers sits beside the President and the First lady, while they are viewing video clips of Bob Hope, Spock from Star Trek, President Nixon and Johnny Carson. The scene transforms into a prehistoric scenario. There is an exaggerated feline who is consuming an egg while reading the newspaper. At the final part of the bridge, the monkey from the first part of the video is demonstrated lancing a bone into the air. This is a parody from the movie which was directed by Stanley Kubrick titled: 2001: A Space odyssey (Rutherford 29).

After the bone that had been lanced upwards into the air by the monkey falls to the Earth, the music video changes direction. There is an animated image of Phil Collins stating that he will not return to his residence tonight, the members of his generation will correct all of these flaws. The bone lands on David Bowie’s head while he is next to Bob Dylan in the music video. President Reagan is demonstrated as riding the triceratops as it runs through the streets (Rutherford 29).

President Reagan has a cowboy hat on his head with ranch attire. As the music video approaches its apex, there are parodies which are alluding to Hulk Hogan, Popeye, Bruce Springsteen, Bill Cosby, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Tina Turner. The parody demonstrates the animated figures singing the social justice song titled: “We are the World”. The movie also demonstrates Pope John Paul II playing the bass which was held by Pete Townsend (Rutherford 29).

As the video reaches its conclusion, President Reagan returns to his reality. President Reagan emerges from the ocean of sweat in which he was being inundated. The President’s wife, First Lady Nancy Reagan is portrayed as being attired in scuba gear. She is wearing a snorkel mask and breathing apparatus. President Reagan attempts to drink a glass of water. He tosses the water and it misses his mouth. After the glass of water misses his face, he attempts to call the nurse for help. There is a button which is on the wall which says: “Nurse”. President Reagan attempts to press the button which says: “Nurse” and accidentally presses the button which says: “Nuke”. As a result a nuclear device is exploded. President Reagan retorts at the end of the music video while embracing his pet monkey: “Man, that’s one heck of a nurse.” Nancy takes the breathing apparatus from the snorkel and gently hits President Reagan on the head. The music video “Land of confusion” was nominated as the best music video concept. It also received a nomination for the year’s best music video award of its time (Rutherford 29).

Works Cited

Campbell, Joseph. The hero with a thousand faces. Vol. 17. New World Library, 2008. Print.

Johnson, K. Paul. Edgar Cayce in Context: The Readings: Truth and Fiction. SUNY  Press, 1998. Print.

Rutherford, Mike. “Mike Rutherford.” Genesis: 29. Print.