Creating The Myth Analysis

Jenna Curtis
Greg Kerkvliet
English 100
3 Oct 2013

Teen Movies and Myths In a movie that you have watched recently, was there a hero somewhere in the movie? Was there a relation to that hero in any way? Did the movie connect to you in because of the hero? Many movies that are watched today include heroes; maybe they are geeks or not in the popular crowd, and maybe they are just ordinary people that grow up to become something greater. Whichever category the hero of a movie falls under, a relation between the hero and the viewer is formed. Whether the hero is popular or not, they can be found in different scenarios: reality TV or stories that have a deeper meaning. The articles “Creating the Myth” by Linda Seger and “High-School
In movies, those kind of girls that have it all, the good looks and the mean personality, they are known as the villain. What is the hero then? Movies portray the hero to be the geek, or the awkward one that lacks popularity. They also may feel like outsiders. In Denby’s article, he acknowledges the fact that the outsiders are the ones that grow up to be successful. “…has powers, and will someday be a success, an artist, a screenwriter. It’s the wound and the bow all over again” (Denby 399). Although the heroes may be successful, bad things happen to them. For example, the Littleton shooters. The shooters were two smart teens that felt like outsiders; in their future, they could have been very successful men. Some teens that have that outsider feeling may be missing a parent, or get bullied but those unfortunate things help them to grow into something successful. Heroes in movies don’t always have to be the outsiders
Just like Denby’s article, there is a hero; that hero is an ordinary person, much like the geek or the outsider was. Also, just like the geek or the outsider, the hero of the myth grows to be more. “The journey toward heroism is a process” (Seger 357). The hero starts off as a character who is ordinary and then after he/she goes through an adventure becomes extraordinary. What helps them become extraordinary is the shadow figure, or bad guy. The shadow figure helps the hero become more, just like the outsider missing a parent becomes successful. Movies contain heroes because the audience identifies to them, or thinks that they are emotionally satisfactory. According to Denby, “movies wouldn’t survive if they didn’t provide emotional satisfaction to the people who make them and to the audiences who watch them” (397). With a movie including a hero, the attention of the audience is captured. In some way, shape, or form, a relation is formed with the hero or the movie. It could just be that you want the hero to grow up and be successful, or maybe the outsider gets the prince. Emotionally, viewers feel what is going on. “When the gangster dies, he cleanses viewers of their own negative feelings” (Denby 397). A relation is not only formed during teen movies but during myths also.