Hero's Journey in TOS?

[commodore64]

Some of the folks in the Enterprise thread are discussing whether there's a Hero's Journey for Enterprise and who the Hero is (from Campbell's Power of Myth transcripts and Hero with a Thousand Faces as well as Christopher Vogler's Writer's Journey).

Here's a link for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero's_journey

A couple of comments where folks might get tripped up:
* Everyone in TOS is a hero, but not everyone can be the Hero (as per Campbell)
* Interesting characters (ex: Han Solo) aren't necessarily the Hero (ex: Luke Skywalker), but are still interesting
* Heroes often deny the call to adventure and/or are ill-equipped to handle the journey at first

I'm hoping Indranee is watching this thread. I believe she indicated she believed that Spock was the Hero in TOS.

What's your opinion? Did they use the Hero's Journey to create TOS and who is the Hero?

 

[Karnbeln]

I'm not so sure Star Trek in general follows the path of the hero's journey. The episodic nature of the show and lack of true beginning or end goal hurts the ability to tell that particular type of story, although individual episodes may cover the hero's journey with any one character. DS9, maybe, could have Sisko as a hero thanks to his emissary storyline, but that's all that seems obvious to me.

If I had to pick one from TOS, though, I think you'd have to go with action-hero Kirk. Spock is his companion- he even dies in Star Trek II, and the loss causes our hero to come to new realizations about his life.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Certain episodes fall into that paradigm, to greater or lesser degrees ("City On the Edge of Forever" certainly does, "Spock's Brain" not so much), but yeah, the episodic nature tends to blunt that type of epic storytelling.

Which is why I said in another thread around here somewhere that Star Trek is not an epic, certainly not in the classic sense. Certain episodes and a few of the movies can be described as epics, but Star Trek as a whole? Nope, and that's the point that Paramount just doesn't seem to get.

But then, I doubt any of the front office pinheads know what a real epic is anyway, so it's really not surprising that they're trying to fit Star Trek into a mold that just doesn't fit all that well.

 

[number6]

A hero is a sandwich.. Maybe the "Hero's Journey", is just simply the digestion of Shatner's lunch.

 

[FarDreaming]

I have to agree that there is no clear hero in TOS-- that episodic TV just was not set up for mythic journeys, although there are some clear archetypes. There just was no time in the hour less commercials and credits.

Not having seen the movie yet, I can't speak on that, but there does seem to be a good possibility that it will have at least some of the elements needed to define a hero in both Kirk and Spock. However, my vote for what I know of it, it will be Spock.

 

[Captain Robert April]

The problem with trying to do "epic" is, what do you do for an encore?

 

[Hober Mallow]

Some of the folks in the Enterprise thread are discussing whether there's a Hero's Journey for Enterprise and who the Hero is (from Campbell's Power of Myth transcripts and Hero with a Thousand Faces as well as Christopher Vogler's Writer's Journey).

Here's a link for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey

A couple of comments where folks might get tripped up:
* Everyone in TOS is a hero, but not everyone can be the Hero (as per Campbell)
* Interesting characters (ex: Han Solo) aren't necessarily the Hero (ex: Luke Skywalker), but are still interesting
* Heroes often deny the call to adventure and/or are ill-equipped to handle the journey at first

I'm hoping Indranee is watching this thread. I believe she indicated she believed that Spock was the Hero in TOS.

What's your opinion? Did they use the Hero's Journey to create TOS and who is the Hero?

Not specifically, no. Certainly not the way Star Wars and 2001 were modeled on the classic myth of the hero. But I do see Kirk as a hero who answered the Call and embarked into the unknown on the his ship, like Jason and the Argonauts. According to Campbell, the hero leaves what he knows and heads into the unknown, encounters help and challenges along the way, has an experience which transforms him, returns home to share what he has learned to better his society.

Campbell himself had come to believe that science fiction was perhaps the only way to continue the myth. In the old myths, a young man could walk through the woods and end up in essensially an alien world, since little of the world was known. Now that we can see every nook and cranny of this planet from our satellites, Campbell believed we'd have to seek out the unknown out in space. 2001: A Space Odyssey closely followed the structure of the ancient myth of the hero. Star Wars, too. I think Star Trek would be well served if its writers did the same.

 

[Captain Robert April]

In the case of Star Trek, leaving home generally means leaving the Enterprise, learning something astounding, and bringing back that knowledge.

The problem is that, in the classical myth formula, it has to be the most important thing ever. So, as I said, after the hero has learned the most important thing ever, in the case of episodic television, whaddya do for an encore next week? And in the case of this movie, they just blew up one of the founding members of the Federation and the home planet of their most identifiable character. How the hell do they top that for the sequel?

Yeah, it was spectacular, but for the long term, they effectively cut themselves off at the knees.

 

[Hober Mallow]

In the case of Star Trek, leaving home generally means leaving the Enterprise, learning something astounding, and bringing back that knowledge.

I don't agree. The ship is the vehicle taking the crew into the unknown, like the Argo of the Jason myth. I suppose you could argue that Spock is sort of the guide, a representative from this alien realm with the knowledge that will guide Kirk safely through. Like Virgil from Dante's Inferno or Athena from the Odyssey.

The problem is that, in the classical myth formula, it has to be the most important thing ever. So, as I said, after the hero has learned the most important thing ever, in the case of episodic television, whaddya do for an encore next week?

This, however, is a very good point. The myth deals with a transformation from one type of being to another. Often a youth in his formative years goes off on an adventure and comes back a man, both mentally and physically transformed. Many ancient cultures (and some modern ones) would act out this myth with a rite of circumcision, tatooing, and or scarification, so that the boy has gone through an ordeal, a real physical transformation, and mentally is now a different person altogether with a new body and new understanding of his world and his place in it.

The myth, as you say, is the one of the most important moments in the life of the hero; it's when he becomes a hero. It's when he transitions from one stage of his life to another, from youth to adulthood, from adulthood to old age, and from old age to death. You can't do that every week in episodic television.