Rmaxwel1_LMST_345_Blog

Hero’s Journey The Hobbit The hobbit follows many parts of the classic hero’s journey archetype but somewhat differs in the execution and set dressing. The Call to action does not meet a strong refusal, instead the call is accepted with minor amounts of convincing. The supernatural Aid would be Gandalf coming to convince him and his other hobbits since “Hobbits don’t go on adventures”. The belly of the whale as well as the fight with a dragon seem to intersect within the story. Bilbo and friends approach a large cave. Bilbo faces another ordeal versus Gollum. He finds the primary ring being the McGuffin and is faced with riddles in order to escape Gollum’s wrath. Within a large mountainous cave they find they find the Tests and Ordeals trope, being the dragon Smaug.

The new weird is a somewhat ephemeral genre to identify. One could relate this to the definition of pornography; You know it when you see it. As with most experimental genres that we explore in the modern age of film the concept is hard to pitch to potential investors. The low or mid budget nature of these films helps to pin them down in the faux reality that they reside within. Much like the found footage films they bring a sense of authenticity to them while residing within a truly supernatural and strange world. This sharp contrast is likely a large part of the appeal. This is perhaps the strongest portion of the formula, by giving the viewer enough to root themselves in a possible reality the supernatural reality becomes that much more believable and intriguing. Perhaps this hyperreal or surreal tendency aids in the horror aspect of the genre. The fundamentals of horror come from the roots of human nature, the untapped unknowns. This is displayed in monster myt...

The modern American vampire has become a misunderstood predator, something that can attack but can also choose not to. The older variations of vampires are compulsive in nature, needing to feed and kill in order to stay healthy. Newer variations of vampire can feed on animal blood rather than humans giving them more options. The common trend seems to be the humanization of the vampire. The deconstruction of the vampire archetype seems to result in an anti-hero archetype building off of the predated vampire tropes. Vampires have become modernized as well, having more sexuality to the act of feeding, hyper sexuality, use of drugs with no consequences. The modern-day vampire trope is one of a party animal. This new variation is quite boring and has more in common with a comedic tone than that of a horror classic. Fantastic films like Let The Right One In go back to the horror classic tropes with small twists and changes and get very solid results. The use of common re...