Recently, there has been a new movie theater built near my house. They have been working on it for quite a while. And I've been looking forward to it's completion with great expectation. There aren't many things I enjoy as much as a good movie. Because this new theater is only a five minute walk from my apartment, I can watch movies whenever I want.
There is something magical that happens when the lights dim and the curtains open up. Something powerfully amazing that happens when the story unfolds on the screen right before our eyes. It's as if we are transported to another world, and another time. We can momentarily forget our normal everyday problems with the movie starts.
Before they could make movies, people would sit around and tell each other stories. Usually each tribe, or village, had it's resident story teller, who was gifted in the art of taking people into a temporary fantasy land with only his or her words. The power of simple stories to help people overcome the stresses of ordinary life is phenomenal.
If you look at the structure of your basic story, or your basic movie, you'll find a similar theme that runs underneath all the different stories. You have a basic character that goes on a journey. And through this journey, he makes new friends, forms new alliances, and has to join forces with these new friends to 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.
No matter if you are studying ancient mythology, or spending the afternoon in your local movie house, watching movies, or being engaged in a moving story is much more that mere entertainment. Telling and enjoying stories is what makes us human, and what makes it easy for us to deal the stresses and anxieties of everyday life. - 40731
There is something magical that happens when the lights dim and the curtains open up. Something powerfully amazing that happens when the story unfolds on the screen right before our eyes. It's as if we are transported to another world, and another time. We can momentarily forget our normal everyday problems with the movie starts.
Before they could make movies, people would sit around and tell each other stories. Usually each tribe, or village, had it's resident story teller, who was gifted in the art of taking people into a temporary fantasy land with only his or her words. The power of simple stories to help people overcome the stresses of ordinary life is phenomenal.
If you look at the structure of your basic story, or your basic movie, you'll find a similar theme that runs underneath all the different stories. You have a basic character that goes on a journey. And through this journey, he makes new friends, forms new alliances, and has to join forces with these new friends to 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.
No matter if you are studying ancient mythology, or spending the afternoon in your local movie house, watching movies, or being engaged in a moving story is much more that mere entertainment. Telling and enjoying stories is what makes us human, and what makes it easy for us to deal the stresses and anxieties of everyday life. - 40731
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