The Primordial Influence Of Movies To Move Your Soul
I am very happy to report that the movie theater that has been under construction for the largest time has finally been completed. Now I will be able to walk over to the movie theater and watch movies whenever I please. One of my favorite hobbies is to watch movies. If I could, I would watch movies all day long, every day.
Something about being swept away by a the story of a movie is a thrilling yet humbling experience for many. The ancient Greeks new the power of catharsis, and spoke about it at length in many of their discourses. Movies, plays, and stories have been an integral part of human history as long as humans have been around.
Before movies, of course, there were only stories. Sure, people could read books, but stories have long been a part of human existence. As long as people have been living together in groups, people have told stories, and these stories have somehow helped people overcome the struggles of everyday life, just like movies do today.
And one of the fascinating things when you look at the structure of stories is how similar they are. If you compare all the different stories, movies and books, you’ll find a similar structure not only in the story itself, but in the development of the characters as well. The main character usually starts out as an ordinary guy or girl, then must go on some incredible journey, and develop friends along the way. Together with this new group of friends, the hero, or heroine, must defeat a common enemy.
If you study stories and mythology from around the world, you’ll find this structure fairly consistent with all the stories told by all cultures around the world. Joseph Campbell, in his book “The Hero’s Journey” documented this quite extensively.
Whether you are studying the ancient mythology of some far off and ancient tribe, or watching the latest blockbuster in your neighborhood movie theater, you are taking part in something that has been part of human history since the very beginning of time.
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