Monomyth: Batman
Batman: A Modern Hero
"If Hero means sincere man, why may not every one of us be a Hero?” (Thomas Carlyle). In the youth of many, comics and heroes played an important aspect in most of our lives. Growing up most children in the United States and around the world has cherished their comic books and cartoons that demonstrate their favorite heroes courage and self-sacrifice in the face of danger and adversity. Joseph Campbell, in book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, describes his idea of the monomyth. His proposal states every hero, including Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, goes through 17 stages in their journey. By investigating the plot line of a popular superhero multi-million dollar movie, Batman Begins, we will discover the heart of the monomyth outline.
The film opens up with Bruce Wayne as a child stealing an Indian arrow from his friend, Rachel, and almost immediately falling into a feebly covered well. After the fall into the cave, a swarm of bats fly out and surround the terrified boy. This scene plays a huge impact on Bruce’s origins of becoming Batman. As with most heroes, some sort of tragedy or life changing incident happens at a young age. Besides the ‘bat incident’, watching the murder of his parents places a life-changing shift in his life and his way of thinking. As a young man of 21 or 22, Bruce (Christian Bale) confronts his own desire to commit murder when the killer of his parents is released on parole; he does not commit the act, but only because the killer is gunned down in front of him. Rachel (Katie Holmes), now a lawyer, takes him to the underside of Gotham where he gets to see the face of true criminality; after that, he sets out on a journey to learn about the criminal mind (Jones, Paul). This new awareness of crime in Gotham is the first stage in Joseph Campbell’s pattern, the Call to Adventure. Bruce takes off on a seven-year exploration, exploring prisons and criminal masterminds. It is during his travels he is
"If Hero means sincere man, why may not every one of us be a Hero?” (Thomas Carlyle). In the youth of many, comics and heroes played an important aspect in most of our lives. Growing up most children in the United States and around the world has cherished their comic books and cartoons that demonstrate their favorite heroes courage and self-sacrifice in the face of danger and adversity. Joseph Campbell, in book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, describes his idea of the monomyth. His proposal states every hero, including Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, goes through 17 stages in their journey. By investigating the plot line of a popular superhero multi-million dollar movie, Batman Begins, we will discover the heart of the monomyth outline.
The film opens up with Bruce Wayne as a child stealing an Indian arrow from his friend, Rachel, and almost immediately falling into a feebly covered well. After the fall into the cave, a swarm of bats fly out and surround the terrified boy. This scene plays a huge impact on Bruce’s origins of becoming Batman. As with most heroes, some sort of tragedy or life changing incident happens at a young age. Besides the ‘bat incident’, watching the murder of his parents places a life-changing shift in his life and his way of thinking. As a young man of 21 or 22, Bruce (Christian Bale) confronts his own desire to commit murder when the killer of his parents is released on parole; he does not commit the act, but only because the killer is gunned down in front of him. Rachel (Katie Holmes), now a lawyer, takes him to the underside of Gotham where he gets to see the face of true criminality; after that, he sets out on a journey to learn about the criminal mind (Jones, Paul). This new awareness of crime in Gotham is the first stage in Joseph Campbell’s pattern, the Call to Adventure. Bruce takes off on a seven-year exploration, exploring prisons and criminal masterminds. It is during his travels he is
Cited: Batman Begins. Dir. Christopher Nolan. 2005. Warner Bros. DVD. Carlyle, Thomas. “Quotes.” Book Rags. GlamFamily, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2011. . Jones, Paul M. “Batman Begins.” Paul M. Jones. Word Press, 21 June 2005. Web. 13 Mar. 2011. .