The Hero's Journey in The Matrix

The movie The Matrix contains some very interesting things.The Wachowski Bros did their homework on many levels, leaving aside the concept of a Reality Matrix, the development of the character Neo, the hero in the film, is a good example of the universal mythic journey that any hero must take in his or her quest on earth.

I am refering to the work that Joseph Campbell did in his book published in 1949 called The Hero with a Thousand Faces. 

Campbell scholarly work, now a classic in Comparative Mythology studies, integrates the universal journey recounted in nearly all the world's cultural myths. It shows that for a hero (ie every person) to complete this journey (awakening) of spiritual development(consciousness) a person goes through many transitions to complete this Quest (for enlightenment).These stages seem to be universal in all cultures and so it is call The Mono Myth.

There are 17 such stages each distinctive in what it liberates in the psyche of the individual, these 17 transitions are basically grouped in 3 mega transformational levels.

1. Departure - separation from the known world into the unknown

2. Initiation - into knowledge of the true Self 

3. Return to The World - now with this knowledge as a gift to mankind

I wont go into the minor twists and turns of the Hero's Journey here( this book is definately worth a space in your library) but sujest you look at the video of Chris Vogler see links talking about these transitions in the movie The Matrix. He has adapted Campbell's study in his own analysis of this film to 12 stages, which i think are pretty accurate for film story telling. I came across Vogler's work via The Revolutionary Man see links.

I read The Hero with a Thousand Faces years ago when i first discovered the subject of Mythology, what is interesting about this work to me now, as a teacher of Film Studies, is the degree to which the great story tellers of our age ie Film Director/Writers have used this Mono Myth in their story structure. 

We as audience relate to stories told in this way at a very deep level. For all our intellect and technology we are not that different from an audience listening to Homer's Iliad or the Odyssey around a camp fire thousands of years ago. Modern directors know the power of Epic Story telling that has embedded this Universal Monomyth.

The Star Wars Trilogies of George Lucas are a classic example and a topic i will post on later, as i played a minor role his last movie Episode 111 Revenge of the Sith.

With the world so wonderfully dysfunctional right now, re-integrating The Mono Myth in our lives may be the deep psyche healing that we need. For many people the complexity of consciousness studies & its spiritual disciplines is too demanding. The Power of Myth may be the answer to re connect people with their Heart.

May the Force be with You !