I've been thinking about this for some time now, that the narrative structure suggested by Campbell in The Hero's Journey is the industry standard, an idea propagated in the industry that this would be the universal format for telling stories.
I grew up in Brazil where I was exposed not only to American cinema but also to films from other parts of the world. The narrative formats that interested me the most were precisely those outside the format of the Hero's Journey, filmmakers such as Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Luis Buñuel , Andrei Tarkovsky, Robert Altman, David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, Bong Joon-ho, Charlie Kaufman, Lynne Ramsay, among many others avoid this form of structure, not that the THJ is a bad format, great movies and stories were told in this format, which predates Campbell, my question is why is this the most demanded and practically used format as a basis of evaluation by readers and agents, executives and studios?
I have a theory, based on what I’ve studied about cultural industrialization, more specifically the work of authors like Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse.
Any industrialization system needs a standardization process, think of the screen you are using to read this and the number of norms and standards that the initial design went through until it is in your hands. The industrialization of art faces a problem because art is not material but subjective, how can you standardize art in a product, preferably a salable one? If the metric used to standardize art cannot be objective, it becomes ideological and follows the dominant ideology chosen by the capitalist society. Films become a commodity and the main goal is to bring profit, not for the workers that make the films but for the corporations and their stockholders, you know who I’m talking about.
We all know what moves the film industry. And this directly affects our labor relations because the industry is the workforce, those who create and produce films, us, and the only way for Capital to control this is by controlling the way it is distributed and films are promoted, building a wall between those who produce and those who watch.
I want to indicate two videos made by Maggie Mae Fish where she does a critical analysis of Joseph Campbell and his Hero's Journey and even brings links to other information and alternative ways structures.
I also want to recommend this wonderful and fun lecture from one of my favorite writers Kurt Vonnegut shape of a story (links at the end)
I’m not suggesting you should trash your screenplays that use THJ as structure, or saying that stories that use this structure are wrong or only serves capitalism, that is not the case. I know how real and personal your stories are to you and others, my first script was written using THJ structure, in that case, the story asked for this structure but other stories I’ve been working on don't fit this same format, what worries me because I know when it gets to the moment for look for financing I will face oppositions and probably will hear things like “I don’t see a lot of money in this project” or ”it’s not commercial”
This doesn’t mean every screenplay is perfect and has no flaws, or the executives that hear our pitches and read our scripts are just greedy or they don’t understand art whatsoever, most of the time they are very nice people and capable professionals who understand how hard is for writers to hear no, they are under the same system and have no options if they want to keep working, they feel the pressure of the industry too, most of them are workers just like you and me trying to survive.
The problem doesn't come from the creator or the creative process but understanding the reality of how the industry works may help us to avoid frustrations expecting a golden ticket to be finally chosen by the industry, which is a lie, because if you are writing you are in the industry. The hustle culture and the entrepreneurship ideas we see so much on social media trying to convince us our success depends on us and that if we keep hustling things will happen, of course, that some projects pass the walls and get made or even experiences of studios like A24 producing unconventional films with relative commercial success, but this is becoming increasingly rare and the industry will quickly label that in some sub-genre if you work your ass off and produce an independent film with your heart and blood, do you think you can get distribution and be able to market your film to reach the audience and be able to get at least your investment back? Even self-distribution needs a good amount of money to put into marketing.
Most writers I know devote their life to the craft, and when a screenplay gets in the hands of an executive, it has hours of hard work done and is not the executives or even the so-called “Industry” who should tell if you are in the industry because if you write, direct, act, photograph, record, dress, or produce you are the Industry, the truth is any industry is made by the workforce, not stockholders. This same concept of the hero’s journey is what makes you believe this is a quest where you control your destiny and you can make it if you hustle hard, but the reality this is just a way to exploit industry workers. We need to understand this and organize ourselves to bring our stories to life and get in front of the audience.
I won't delve too deeply into this subject now there is a lot to say about this and I'll write more about this very soon.
In your opinion, what is the best way to subvert the hero's journey and what film do you think uses a different narrative structure?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOGru_4z1Vc
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Thank you! Especially when it comes to female protagonists... The heroine's journey doesn't work well, either. My character's journey is usually internal, but it's not to be a hero. It's self-actualization. This is why Maslow has been far more helpful in structuring my writing. that's just me. . IMO
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@Luciano I agree there should not be a paint by numbers etiquette for any protagonist’s story. Each individual character in each individual story is unique. However I don’t disagree with J Campbell’s or other “Hero’sJourney” authors EG Christopher Vogler. Some characters DO have a need/quest and have to figure out a path in a way only themselves are capable of. There are infinite ways to execute the journey, some of which fit to Campbell’s structure, others may not. I too am a fan of Federico Fellini, in “8 n half” I felt that the lead character was in a battle with himself as we saw his own “inner voice” play out on screen. I am going to watch all the links you shared later but I’m on a train right now. Catch up later!
Debbie Croysdale I totally agree with you about the character's arc determining the structure of the story. My counterpoint about THJ is that in a way the massification of this type of structure values individuality and not the collective, but it is a broad theme, my criticism is not about the structure of the stories, but why the industry, led by the big studios, use and propagate this as a universal standard.
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A few weeks ago I did a video on this. Here if anyone is interested.
https://youtu.be/E5mjOx12lvA
What it boils down to is that there are commonalities in story telling due to commonalities in our experience. People noticed this and codified it. Then someone saw a story that was lacking, applied the commonalities and thought it was truth. It fixed that bad story, it must be true.
In my opinion it is impossible to be unique while striving to be like everyone else.
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Hi Craig D Griffiths Thanks for sharing your video, it's very good and I agree with you that there are no predetermined rules, I even updated my text including a paragraph about it with an example of 3 recent movies. You are right when you show there is no rule when writing the script, however, the industry uses financial power to control who receives the Golden Ticket or not. You can check it here https://lucianomello11.medium.com/the-heros-journey-is-not-universal-de5... Thank you
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Luciano Mello they will never turn their back on money. That is why we get Marvel movie after Marvel movie. Chadwick died, they are still finding a way of having a Black Panther 2 Movie. They never turn down money.
They could care less about structures, formula, or anything else for that matter. If they did, they would be giving development deals to kids of TikTok. These TikTok kids have an audience, that means money.
Plus there is no golden ticket. Just money. If you can find money you can make a film. You can then get it distributed. It is a business and that business needs money.
I heard of an indie producer that makes the actors pay to be in the film. Then they have a credit and they get their money back over a few years.
Craig D Griffiths who is "they"? Have you actually been employed by a studio, hired to write a billion dollar potential franchise like Black Panther? I really doubt filmmakers like Ryan Coogler doesnt know story, and is making movies simply to pat his bank acct.
If Ironman 1 sucked globally, exec Kevin Feige would've been fired. majority of marvel movies are directed/written by indie filmmakers. thank Jon Farveanu for creating the Marvel universe, (he starred, wrote & directed Swingers 30 years ago).
Hi Craig D Griffiths, Marvel is another story, and considering the current impact on the industry and current popular culture deserves a deeper analysis, which Eyebrow cinema channel has done, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiV-bOulZl8&t= 1s
I don't want to stray too far from the topic, of why THJ is considered the basis for scripts in the industry. I agree with you, all one need is money to make a film, money is the golden ticket, but it doesn't come in a bar of chocolate. Money is in the hands of a group of people and this group determines the direction in which it should be invested. There is a romanticization of the industry and a general idea that these films are successful because they are on an equal competitive level and this is the way to do it. We need to question those ideas. I believe for writers and filmmakers this is important not because we have the individual power to change something now, but to understand that standard is not synonymous with quality and should not drive creativity, and yes there are other ways and as an industry, we have to think about how to change the distribution system.