Enemies Of William's Adventure example essay topic

"The Hero's Journey: An Analysis of Cameron Crowe's Film Almost Famous Using Joseph Campbell's Mono myth " an analysis of Almost Famous (2000) Almost Famous (2000) is a dramatization of writer / director Cameron Crowe's real-life experiences as a teenage rock reporter for Rolling Stone. Based on thinly-veiled autobiographical material from the precocious beginnings of Crowe's early career, the screenplay shapes sentimental memories into movie magic. But how did Crowe give his own coming-of-age tale such universal appeal? A closer look reveals that Almost Famous, like most films worth their salt, is yet another incarnation of the greatest and only mythological adventure, "The Hero's Journey".

This relationship can be explained using the framework of Joseph Campbell's phenomenal book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, along with certain terms and interpretations from The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler. William Miller, our unlikely hero, lives at home with his protective mother Elaine and rebellious older sister, Anita. His ORDINARY WORLD is the sheltered existence of a San Diego junior high school student. When Anita has a fight with her mother and decides to leave home to become a stewardess, her parting words to William make her the HERALD of his adventures to come. With the car packed and running, Anita takes hold of William on the front lawn, looks him dead in the eye and says: "One day, you " ll be cool". Under his bed, the stack of albums she has left for him includes the Who's Tommy, with a note taped to it.

"Listen to Tommy with a candle burning and you will see your entire future", it reads prophetically. And so it was written. Rock music is about to change William forever. In the next scene, we are introduced to an older William-now fifteen and in high school-obsessively scratching band names into his notebook during class. It is time for the appearance of his SUPERNATURAL AID "to supply the amulets and advice that the hero will require". (Campbell 72) William goes to meet the famous rock critic, Lester Bangs, who is being interviewed at a local radio station.

Over lunch, Lester initiates his role as MENTOR to the aspiring young journalist, warning him against making friends with the rock stars lest he lose his objectivity to write about them. "You have to build your reputation on being honest... and unmerciful", he says repeatedly. Seeing that William is serious about his quest, Lester offers him a bona fide writing assignment-1,000 words on Black Sabbath-effectively issuing the CALL TO ADVENTURE. William is a willing hero. He doesn't refuse the call. It's his mother that needs convincing.

"As long as I know this is just a hobby", she says, dropping her son off at a Black Sabbath concert. Her reluctance evokes the "protective aspect of the THRESHOLD GUARDIAN" (Campbell 82). Notebook in hand, William knocks at the backstage door. The surly bouncer that answers is the personification of another aspect of the THRESHOLD GUARDIAN, an ogre of ill will who slams the door on William because he's "not on the list".

William joins a nearby cluster of waiting girls and is instantly smitten by the lovely Penny Lane-not a groupie, but a retired "Band-Aid". When the girls get whisked backstage, Penny promises to try to get him a pass, establishing herself as one of his ALLIES. As William waits, the members of the band Stillwater arrive late to the show. Recognizing them, he introduces himself as a journalist and asks for an interview. They refuse, yelling, "The enemy! A rock writer".

It's no accident that this nickname sticks. The band members-particularly Russell Hammond, the guitarist-are the ENEMIES of William's adventure. Far from traditional, out-and-out villains, these antagonists take more "curiously fluid, ambiguous forms". (Campbell 97) They are the SHAPESHIFTER S that Lester Bangs has warned him against, the "fake friends" that will "ruin rock and roll". It's not until William flatters them with his detailed knowledge of their music that they offer up a fickle form of friendship, bringing him backstage with them and into the UNKNOWN WORLD. William's ROAD OF TRIALS begins when Rolling Stone magazine calls to commission a Stillwater story, sending him on tour with the band.

He faces a series of TESTS and difficult tasks, from keeping his hysterical mother at bay to losing his virginity to missing his high school graduation back home, but his greatest challenge lies in getting an interview with the elusive Russell Hammond. In Cleveland, William stumbles in on a poker game Russell is playing with some roadies and watches as Penny Lane gets traded for fifty dollars and a case of beer, then he has to tell her the truth about why she's not invited to New York. These events mark the APPROACH TO THE INMOST cave. As the action builds toward the culmination of second act-the ORDEAL-the stakes get higher for all of the characters.

William is informed that his embryonic Stillwater story is going to be on the cover of Rolling Stone and due the next day in San Francisco. Penny shows up in New York and is ignored by Russell (and everyone else) to the brink of death. She overdoses on Quaalude's in her hotel room but is rescued by William, who takes the opportunity to confess his unrequited love for her. The music swells. Even as she's getting her stomach pumped in the bathroom, Penny is his MEETING WITH THE GODDESS, his "incarnation of the promise of perfection". (Campbell 111) The next segment of the story is THE ROAD BACK or THE MAGIC FLIGHT-these both literally and figuratively.

In the morning, after Penny heads back to San Diego on her own, William flies to California with Stillwater on their new private plane. The plane nearly goes down in an electrical storm (a nice rock and roll metaphor). Because they think they are facing death, the characters make a round of desperate confessions, finally declaring the secret resentment they " ve been harboring for each other and owning up to their back stabbings and betrayals. Ironically the plane recovers and they are landed safely on the ground. "Write what you want", Russell tells William as the shaken group silently disperses. Indeed, it is from this "crisis of the threshold of return" (Campbell 207) that William emerges with THE ULTIMATE BOON of his adventures.

Having been denied the key interview he needed to write his story, everything he's seen and heard must be used to write the story for Rolling Stone. The near plane crash is his "theft of the boon he came to gain". (Campbell 246) The next stage of the adventure dictates William's RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR that will benefit the rest of the world, or at least the readers of Rolling Stone. However, the CLIMAX of the story must first be revealed. As Campbell has noticed, the boon often "becomes quickly rationalized into nonentity" once the hero introduces it to the ordinary world. (218) Although the editors at Rolling Stone are more than happy with William's story, it must be submitted to the staff "fact-checker" for verification purposes.

When the members of Stillwater are contacted, they are unwilling to substantiate what William has written presumably because he has been too "honest and unmerciful". But when Russell calls Penny Lane to try to get back together with her, she tricks him into showing up on William's doorstep instead. The two finally sit down to an interview together and we discover that Russell has called and come clean to the editors of Rolling Stone about the truth of William's story. The film's climax is thus resolved as its closing shot depicts a bundle of bound Rolling Stone magazines landing on the pavement with a thud. Almost Famous tells the story of an uncommon adolescence, too unusual for audiences to relate to on a personal level, yet with a common resonance that speaks to millions. This effect can't have been achieved on accident.

Far from just a haphazard reminiscence, the screenplay succeeds by arranging its elements along the symbolism of our collective consciousness. Therefore, using the outline of "The Hero's Journey" as the basis for analysis, we see how Almost Famous has also been wrought from the power of this infinite myth.

Bibliography

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. 2nd ed. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968.
Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. 2nd ed. Studio City: Michael Weise Productions, 1998.