Last class we discussed the fact that Superman is modern day Mythology, which is something I never thought about. I haven’t seen many superhero movies, but I always hear about them on social media platforms such as Twitter. I’ve never taken the time to deeply think about Superman and wonder where the idea for his character came from, and what the storyline resembles. Most of the time I just watch the movie, asking questions to clarify who is who in the movie and why they are doing what they’re doing. After finishing a movie I never stop to think why everything just happened, and what that means for the characters in the future either. I realized that superhero movies are a lot like mythology first because the characters in each story have a background, which, helps the story or movie to make a lot more sense if you are familiar with said background. These histories help to explain why the hero is going after a certain villain, or why a villain is motivated a certain way. For me, I don’t keep track of what happened to the superhero before they got their powers, or whatever happened to the villian which makes them evil or at least against the hero of the movie. This makes watching the movies difficult, unless I’m with someone who knows what’s going on. In that case, I sit next to them and ask them why everything is happening, because that’s what makes the movie make sense.
This discussion helped me to realize that many popular concepts were inspired by ancient ideas, many of which I wasn’t aware of. Whenever I think of mythology, I always think of the Greek gods, and the crazy stories of the Odyssey, not Superman. Mythology to me has always been an ancient thing that I’ve had to study in English class. However, now I see it as a type of story, rather than an ancient concept. After the reading and discussion in class, I was able to apply the concept of Mythology to the modern era.
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