CHAPTER FIFTEEN EXERCISES
1. Identify 10 film heroes who are “forces of vengeance” – driven by a daemonic possession to kill or destroy.
2. How do these vengeful heroes exorcise their daemons?
3. Analyze each of your examples and decide whether the moment when the daemon is purged is the same moment as the hero’s emotional catharsis.
4. Using the four-stage model of self-consciousness delineated in this chapter, analyze the character development of five of your favorite film heroes.
5. Using the four-stage model of self-consciousness delineated in this chapter, analyze the character development of the heroes in the following films: Braveheart, Mad Max, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and Legend.
6. Identity five film heroes whose primary conflict is the issue of identity loss.
7. How does each of these characters achieve epiphany?
8. Analyze the film Memento from an existential point of view. Pay special attention to the intricate interplay between the hero’s sense of identity loss, his moments of epiphany, and his daemonic possession.
ADDRESSING EXISTENTIAL CONFLICT IN YOUR SCRIPT
1. The murder or death of innocent loved ones in the 1st act is an archetypal theme for the hero. It provides the vital motivation of vengeance, and it also cuts the hero’s emotional ties with his home. In what way does your hero experience either a literal death of innocence, or a figurative death of innocence in the 1st act of your script?
2. Heroes in the 2nd Act are often “possessed by the daemonic” – driven by dark obsessions of vengeance, hatred, rage, or destruction. As part of the hero’s development, he must overcome his own daemonic possession. Does your hero overcome his internal daemons, like Luke in Return of the jedi? Or does he remain daemonically possessed, like Harry Callahan in the Dirty Harry movies?
3. A common problem at the end of a film is an abrupt ending lacking complete resolution and denouement. The audience needs to know not only how the story ends, but also what will happen after the movie is over. Now that your hero has completed his journey, how will his life be different? Is he dedicated to a new cause? Does he rededicate himself to the same cause, but at a higher level? In what way is it clear that the hero has changed on his journey, and has become a better person?
EXISTENTIAL CONFLICT AT A GLANCE
STATES
PLOT DEVICES
EXAMPLES FROM STAR WARS
Innocence
The Emergent Hero
Luke’s longing to leave his home planet
Rebellion
Death of the Innocents
Daemonic Possession
The Murder of Luke’s aunt & uncle
Luke’s drive toward vengeance
Ordinary Self-consciousness
The Selfless External Goal
Catharsis
Rescuing Princess Leia & Defeating Vader
Destroying the Death Star
Creative Self-consciousness
Epiphany
Denouement
Luke’s realization of his identity as a Jedi
Luke’s rededication to the cause of rebellion
Chapter Sixteen
ARCHETYPES FOR THE AGE OF NARCISSISM
In his later writings, May refined his theories and focused on the problem of “narcissism” as the endemic existential illness of modern times. He declared the latter half of the 20th Century the “Age of Narcissism,” an age of self-centeredness that stems from the American myth of intense individualism, independence, and isolationism. The ideal American hero needs no one, lives in solitude and has no values other than his own. May argues that these narcissistic character traits result in personal separation, distantiation, loneliness, violence, greed, and depression – symptoms of existential despair that are typically self-treated through drug use and alcoholism. The archetypes of the age of narcissism are the product of America’s idealization of independence and individualism, qualities that are engrained in the American hero depicted in Hollywood films – the primary medium for contemporary American mythology.
THE AMERICAN HERO
The American archetypal hero is best known within the context of the classical American mythological setting – the Wild West – but he also can be seen in many other settings. In times of war, the American Hero dons an army uniform. When Westerns became less popular, the American Hero traded in his horse for a squad car, and his 10-gallon hat for a policeman’s cap. George Lucas even transplanted the traditional American Hero into an outer space setting. But whether he is rustling cattle or blasting through intergalactic wormholes, American heroes all have the same common archetypal traits. They are rugged, stubborn, violent, and single-minded. They don’t always follow the rules (in fact, they usually break them), but American heroes have their own codes of honor that they hold fast to, no matter the circumstances. And though American heroes may be brash, ignorant, impudent, and reckless – they rarely run from a fight, and can be counted on for bravery, righteousness, and determination. In short, the American hero is far from perfect, but he’s the kind of guy you’d want in your corner when the going gets rough. Most importantly, he’s the kind of character that makes for good movies.
THE COWBOY HERO
Though John Wayne will forever be the king of the cowboys, the same cowboy hero type was played by almost every actor who worked in film during the Golden Age of Westerns. Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Tyrone Power, James Stewart, Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, Rock Hudson, Alan Ladd, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Paul Newman, and William Holden are just some of the stars who frequently mounted horses to play cowboy leads. Cowboy Heroes are usually men who travel alone. They are rugged individualists who need nothing but a horse, a gun, and an open range. Whether they uphold the law as marshals, sheriffs, and rangers, or break the law as outlaws, robbers, and rustlers – they all live independently and proudly, according to their own codes of honor.
THE LONE CRUSADER
In High Noon (1952), Gary Cooper plays a marshal who is about to retire when a violent criminal returns to town. When the chips are down, all the representatives of civilized society prove themselves to be impotent. His friends, the judge, the pastor, his deputy, his wife (Grace Kelly), and even his mentor, the former marshal (Lon Chaney, Jr.), tell Will to get out of town – to run from danger rather than confront it. In the lone crusader’s world, only the brave man who holds strong to his code of honor is able to bring justice and order to a world of chaos. The lone crusader hero, epitomized by the Lone Ranger and the cowboy heroes molded after him, appears in urban settings as well. …
THE RENEGADE COP
As the Western genre began to decline in popularity in the 1960s and 70s, the cowboy hero began to appear in the big city. John Wayne hung up his spurs for city cop roles in Brannigan (1975) and Mc.Q. (1974), and other cowboy heroes followed suit in films such as Bullitt (1968) with Steve McQueen and The Stone Killer (1973) with Charles Bronson. Clint Eastwood brought his ultra-violent lone drifter persona into the cop genre in the Dirty Harry movies: Dirty Harry (1971), Magnum Force (1973) The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983), and The Dead Pool (1988). He also played the same type of cop hero in movies such as The Gauntlet (1977), Tightrope (1984), City Heat (1984), and Blood Work (2002).
While the cop hero is on the side of the law, he is still an outlaw because he invariably breaks all the rules to get his man. The viewer is constantly reminded, typically through the frequent chastisements of his irate police chief, that the hero is a renegade cop who has no respect for proper methods and procedure. The renegade cop archetype was epitomized in the 1980s and 90s by Mel Gibson in the Lethal Weapon series, Eddie Murphy in the Beverly Hills Cop trilogy and Bruce Willis in the Die Hard films. Like the Western hero, the renegade cop is a violent maverick who operates according to his own code of honor. The archetype has even spawned a popular television parody in the ultra-violent character on
The Simpsons, “McBain.” The fact that renegade cop movies are so ripe for parody may signify that this genre has become trite and stale. The current top contenders for lead roles in the renegade cop genre are Vin Diesel and Mark Wahlberg. But unless some new pictures arise that redefine and revitalize the genre in the ways that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The Wild Bunch (1969), and Unforgiven revitalized the Western, the renegade cop archetype may simply fade away.
GANGSTER HEROES
Outlaw heroes can live in the city as well as the Wild West. James Cagney epitomized the gangster hero in Depression Era classics such as The Doorway to Hell (1930), The Public Enemy (1931), The Major of Hell (1933), and Lady Killer (1933). Though gangster films were made before the 1930s (most notably by Tod Browning), the outlaw became a particularly intriguing figure for Depression Era audiences, who saw no escape from their impoverished situations and dreamed of getting rich quick through larceny. While the Western outlaw typically rides off into sunset at the end of the film, the gangster usually gets his comeuppance. The gangster’s fate is a product of his environment – the big city – where a man cannot hide. He is trapped by the city and the people he exploits. This sense of being trapped, surrounded by evil and bound by a dark and foreboding fate is the essence of film noir.
THE GUMSHOE DETECTIVE
Just as Gagney epitomized the film noir gangster, Humphrey Bogart epitomized the gumshoe detective as Sam Spade in John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Philip Marlowe in Howard Hawk’s The Big Sleep (1946). The gumshoe is a poor but respectable detective who fights crime on his own terms. Since he is not a cop, he does not have to conform to police procedures. Like the cowboy, he plays his own game by his own rules. Furthermore, the gumshoe is an outcast among outcasts. Neither a cop nor a criminal, he walks the line between good guy and bad guy, often times getting threatened and beaten by representatives from both sides of the law – all for a few dollars a day plus expenses.
GOOD COP, BAD COP
Policemen dwell in perilous environments. Surrounded by crime and corruption, they are constantly in danger of becoming infected by the same depravity that they have sworn to fight. In some films, the cop hero’s worst enemies are his comrades, or even himself. In Serpico (1973) and Cop Land (1997) good cops become immersed in a system in which everyone is corrupt. The cop heroes must overcome their temptation to join their colleagues and go “on the take.” Their conflict is extremely acute, because in order to honor their duty, they must betray the men who share the same uniform, and break the unwritten “blue code of silence.” Bad Lieutenant (1992) took this structure one step further. The cop hero starts out completely corrupted. His challenge is to somehow redeem himself and earn forgiveness for all of his bad deeds.
THE MAD SCIENTIST
A final archetype of the age of narcissism is a product of the 20th Century obsession with scientific discovery. The mad scientist was depicted in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Metropolis (1927), The Invisible Man (1933), and the many versions and remakes of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein. He is an isolated genius – so dedicated to his work that he uses people as machines – ignoring their inherent humanity. The mad scientist’s narcissistic devotion to his maniacal science projects causes him to isolate himself in his intellectual universe. Often times, the mad scientist is concocting diabolical plots to destroy or conquer the world, symbolizing his need to control everyone and everything. The greatest mistake made by the narcissistic type is that he alienates himself from others and from his own feelings by focusing so single-mindedly on his egoistic schemes. His work, in turn, is narcissistic – mega-pompous attempts at creating life in ungodly experiments that are as arrogant as they are sacrilegious.
Mad Scientist: John Barrymore in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920).
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s full title for her novel, Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus, alludes to the narcissistic quality of her hero’s character, as well as his wicked subversion of the natural order through modern science. The mad scientist has a classic superiority complex. He sees himself as superhuman, and others as subhuman. The superiority complex in the mad scientist archetype is elevated to a “god complex.” He rationalizes his own superior intelligence as a justification to ignore the customs of society, to use people as objects and to create or manipulate life without taking into account the perilous consequences for himself and others.
THE ISOLATED GENIUS
Dr. Hartdegen in The Time Machine (2002) is a scientist who becomes an isolated genius when his fiancé, Emma (Sienna Guillory), dies. His mad experiment in time travel is a desperate attempt to get Emma back. Dr. Hartdegen’s quest is symbolic of the quest of every isolated genius. This archetype’s challenge is to become un-isolated – to reintegrate love into his life and reconnect himself with the rest of the world. In Frankenstein (1931), Dr. Frankenstein (Colin Clive) only realizes the error of his ways after his monster nearly kills both him and his fiancé. Dr. Jessup (William Hurt) in Altered States (1980), is only able to tell his wife that he loves her after his demented experiment nearly alters both of them into evolutionarily regressed primates. And Dr. Nash (Russell Crowe) in A Beautiful Mind (2001) is constantly hamstringing his marriage because of his egotistical obsession with his mathematical theories. In all of these films, self-awareness and epiphany only come about when the mad scientist’s cold, objective work turns against him, and he must choose between love and science.
EXISTENTIAL REVERSAL
The mad scientist archetype represents the particularly American proclivity toward “workaholism” and unhealthy obsessions with external goals. He embodies the narcissistic archetype because he is possessed by the daemonic – his own egomaniacal need to play god and prove to the world how brilliant and powerful he is. The moral taught by this type of hero is that an integrated personality requires a balance of love and work (“lieben und arbeiten”). The isolated genius must realize that his work, though important, is not the center of his existence. Character development for the isolated genius is accomplished through an existential reversal. Rather than sacrificing his personal relationships for his work, he must sacrifice his work for the people he loves. Most often, this epiphany and apotheosis come about only after the mad scientist’s creation runs amok and comes to the brink of destroying not only himself, but his true love, as well. In the climax of the film, the mad scientist typically must destroy his cherished (albeit demented) creation, in order to save the life of the woman he loves.
FRANKENSTEIN MONSTERS
The relationship between the mad scientist and his creation is symbolic of the relationship between father and son. Moreover, it is symbolic of the relationship between God, the ultimate creator archetype, and God’s creation – the human race. In this sense, the mad scientist movie represents the supreme issue of the Age of Narcissism: Man’s negation of the existence of God in favor of science and reason. In the early half of the 20th Century, the mad scientist’s creation, the monster, represented the ordinary man’s basic fear of technology and the unnerving acknowledgement that the modern age is gradually replacing God with science. Consequently, the mad scientist’s creations are sympathetic creatures. They represent the hapless human race adrift in a godless world.
The zombie in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, the workers in Metropolis, Dr. Moreau’s mutated creations in The Island of Lost Souls (1933), and the monster in Frankenstein are exploited automatons contrived by irresponsible creators. They embody the anxiety of the exploited masses in the post-Industrial Age, their resentment of the ruling class, their mistrust of science and modern technology, and their repressed rage – which will ultimately rise up in an orgy of violence, destroying both their creators and themselves. The only way in which the mad scientists can avoid this calamitous fate is to realize their narcissistic error, abandon their unholy projects, and devote themselves to human relationships rather than scientific obsessions.
THE CREATOR ARCHETYPE
Existential questions abound in films – especially in the science-fiction and horror genres – in which humans act like gods by creating Man. In his essay, “Answer to Job,” Carl Jung addresses the interrelationship between God and Man, explaining that: “The encounter with the creature changes the creator.” Whether or not this was true for Job and God, the concept of character change through encounter is an archetypal theme in myth and film, especially in the science-fiction genre. The mad scientist plays God, acts like God, believes himself to be a god, and even becomes a god when he creates a man in his own image. However, the creature that he creates is a projection of the shadow within his Self – a walking testament to his own narcissism and social isolation. When the mad scientist encounters his shadow, when creator encounters creature, epiphany is achieved, and the mad scientist finally sees the error of his own ways. In destroying the creature, the mad scientist purges himself of his own narcissism and hubris, and the isolated genius becomes reintegrated into the whole of society. He becomes human again.
Psychology for Screenwriters Page 25
