Mainframe
In these final few days before the end of the year, we've watched an exciting struggle for dominance of a man as much around him works against him.
I'm talking, of course, about Mr. Mitchell's heroic battles against Room 106N's technology.
Mr. Mitchell's "call to adventure" came on Monday, when the speakers stopped working for some reason. His "ordinary world" consisted of verbal class discussion of physical books we've read, so choosing to show a digital video was already a form of "crossing the threshold".
This time, however, the common tactic of restarting everything didn't yield desirable results, and this is where I think the true "call to adventure" is. Here, Mr. Mitchell had been forced to seek outside help. He initially "refuses the call" by continuing to try to fix the issue himself. At last, though, he sought help from the IT guy. (Was it Mr. Coobs? I think it was Mr. Coobs.) Mr. Coobs would be this story's "mentor", being much more experienced with technology and tech problems than Mr. Mitchell.
Together, Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Coobs then take on their ordeal: getting the speakers to work. After many minutes and much frustration, the menu theme of Pee-wee's Big Adventure starts playing. They have succeeded at last. The whole class celebrates, and we begin watching at last. The next day, setting up the movie goes by without a hitch. This, of course, would be "the road back" and the "reward" of the hero's journey.
But that's not the end of the tale. Today (Wednesday), Mr. Mitchell encountered another technical problem: the projector wasn't taking the computer's input. This was very similar to Monday's speaker problems, marking the "resurrection" part of a hero's journey. This time, however, Mr. Mitchell was forced to battle against the projector without the help of Mr. Coobs; without his mentor.
He attempts to switch the projector's source once, and nothing happens. He voices his frustration, showing that he's fighting against both the projector and his own emotions simultaneously. At long last, he repeats his button presses once more, and it all starts working. Here, we see that the hero has grown from when the tale started. Mr. Mitchell, once relying on Mr. Coobs's help, can now solve problems with technology on his own. He, and his class, finally settle down to enjoy the final part of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, a happy conclusion to the story.
I'm talking, of course, about Mr. Mitchell's heroic battles against Room 106N's technology.
Mr. Mitchell's "call to adventure" came on Monday, when the speakers stopped working for some reason. His "ordinary world" consisted of verbal class discussion of physical books we've read, so choosing to show a digital video was already a form of "crossing the threshold".
This time, however, the common tactic of restarting everything didn't yield desirable results, and this is where I think the true "call to adventure" is. Here, Mr. Mitchell had been forced to seek outside help. He initially "refuses the call" by continuing to try to fix the issue himself. At last, though, he sought help from the IT guy. (Was it Mr. Coobs? I think it was Mr. Coobs.) Mr. Coobs would be this story's "mentor", being much more experienced with technology and tech problems than Mr. Mitchell.
Together, Mr. Mitchell and Mr. Coobs then take on their ordeal: getting the speakers to work. After many minutes and much frustration, the menu theme of Pee-wee's Big Adventure starts playing. They have succeeded at last. The whole class celebrates, and we begin watching at last. The next day, setting up the movie goes by without a hitch. This, of course, would be "the road back" and the "reward" of the hero's journey.
But that's not the end of the tale. Today (Wednesday), Mr. Mitchell encountered another technical problem: the projector wasn't taking the computer's input. This was very similar to Monday's speaker problems, marking the "resurrection" part of a hero's journey. This time, however, Mr. Mitchell was forced to battle against the projector without the help of Mr. Coobs; without his mentor.
He attempts to switch the projector's source once, and nothing happens. He voices his frustration, showing that he's fighting against both the projector and his own emotions simultaneously. At long last, he repeats his button presses once more, and it all starts working. Here, we see that the hero has grown from when the tale started. Mr. Mitchell, once relying on Mr. Coobs's help, can now solve problems with technology on his own. He, and his class, finally settle down to enjoy the final part of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, a happy conclusion to the story.
I wasn't there for these episodes, but this goes to show just how easy it is to apply the hero's journey to so many things, essentially validating Campbell's ideas. It's not just stories. It's how humans live their lives.
ReplyDeleteThis made me laugh really hard. I was not expecting to find Mr. Mitchell's battle against technology in the blogs. I'm pretty sure that our IT person is Mr Schnepp now. Otherwise, wonderful analysis of Mr. Mitchell's journey this semester.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that there was another that realized that Mr. Mitchell's struggle was in fact a work of performance art, brilliantly done, blending so well with reality that there were many that didn't even realize the art at work. I wasn't even there, and yet the stories I heard let me recognize the wonderful ending to this class. Fair well my fellow art conscious schoolmate, I'm glad there was another to realized.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a good post! I especially like your analysis of how Mr. Mitchell became the master of two world when he was able to fix the projector by himself. To be serious though, I think your use of the story shows not necessarily the ubiquity of hero's journeys but rather the extent to which people like to frame stories of overcoming challenges using the narrative of a hero's journey because it makes for a satisfying structure.
ReplyDeleteThis post cracked me up. It's funny how utterly unaware I was--in the thick of the struggle--of the now-obvious hero's journey implications. I just wanted to show _Pee-Wee's Big Adventure_ and have a couple of laughs at the end of a hard semester's work (a hero's journey in itself). The hero is maybe oblivious to his or her own journey while it's happening--we're too busy grappling with those obstacles!
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