Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey

Think the Hero’s Journey is a story formula? Think again!

I suspect most screenwriters familiar with Joseph Campbell have a connection with him based on some version of The Hero’s Journey they have picked up along the way. Or maybe they’ve seen the 6-hour TV series “The Power of Myth”, a fascinating conversation between Campbell and Bill Moyers. Possibly a few have tried to work their way through Campbell’s first book, the seminal “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, but I’m guessing most never made it beyond a few chapters. It is, after all, a scholarly work.

I bring up Campbell because a while ago, I posted this question: Why are there so many Protagonist orphans? It spawned a wide-ranging conversation, ultimately leading to Joseph Campbell. At some point in the thread of comments, TripDreamer posted this:

Killer Films producer David Kaplan made a comment on twitter denouncing Campbell. I asked him why and he told me that 90% of the scripts he reads follow the same formula and this, he insinuated, made them flat and, well, formulaic. These books can only give you so much guidance, it’s up to us to inject soul, heart, voice, and identity into a story.

I thanked TripDreamer for posting that, even though it pained me to read it. Not that I doubt Kaplan’s assessment as I’ve read far too many scripts of the ilk he describes as well. However to come to a situation where someone would associate the words “formulaic” and “flat” with Joseph Campbell seems to me… well, almost blasphemous.

I have studied Joseph Campbell since my junior year at the University of Virginia. What he accomplished in his career as an author, teacher, thinker and speaker is nothing short of phenomenal. The problem lies not with Joseph Campbell. The problem lies with what people in Hollywood — specifically writers — have done with Campbell. By essentially reducing the mass of his work to The Hero’s Journey, then to reduce that to a twelve stage pattern to fit into an easily digestible screenwriting paradigm basically falsifies both Campbell and his work.

Therefore I thought I would attempt this week to open the door just a bit to a wider appreciation of Joseph Campbell by spotlighting some memorable quotes of his I have picked up along the way which — hopefully — will expand your understanding of The Hero’s Journey and how that can enrich your own storytelling instincts.

Part 1: “What each must seek in their life never was on land or sea”
Part 2: “Every myth is psychologically symbolic”
Part 3: “Where you stumble, there lies your treasure”
Part 4: “We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned”
Part 5: “All the gods are within you”

Joseph Campbell never intended for his take on the Hero’s Journey to be used as a rigid narrative paradigm. He recognized and embraced the organic nature of story. When I teach it, I focus on the three macro movements:

Separation.
Initiation.
Return.

This, of course, mimics Aristotle’s take on story:

Beginning.
Middle.
End.

All the rest of Campbell’s take on the Hero’s Journey — Call To Adventure, Refusal of the Call, Meeting the Mentor, and so on — can be helpful, but it is not proscriptive.

Instead focus on the five Campbell quotes above. They speak to the spirit and essence of the Hero’s Journey.