Blog # 9: Hero's Quest and Film.

HOOK

Hook is a 1991 American fantasy-comedy film directed by Steven Spielberg. Hook acts as a sequel to Peter Pan's original adventures, focusing on a grown-up Peter who has forgotten his childhood. Now known as "Peter Banning", he is a successful corporate lawyer with a wife and two children. Captain Hook kidnaps his two children, and he must return to Neverland and reclaim his youthful spirit as Peter Pan in order to challenge his old enemy (Wikipedia). This film has most of the elements of the Hero’s Journey, explained by Joseph Campbell.

Departure, based on Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey means that: “the protagonist is separated from the known and steps into the unknown” (Seifert). The movie starts when Peter Banning and his family are watching their little daughter performing the play of “Peter Pan”, which in the movie is also a kids’ story. Peter Banning appears as a busy man, who has almost no time for his family; the beginning is known as the home culture. The call to adventure is when Peter and his family have to fly to London to visit his grandmother-in-law. An important symbol that appears here is when Peter, his wife and his grandmother-in law have to attend to a meeting so Peter gives to his son a “neck watch/clock” saying that now he has the control and has to take care of his little sister. Once the meeting ends, they come back to home; Peter realizes that something horrible has occurred. His kids have been kidnapped and the only information he has is a letter from the person who has his kids. In this part, Wendy Darling—Peter’s grandmother-in-law—tries to encourage and convince him that he has the ability to fly, and that he is Peter Pan by showing him a cartoon of Peter Pan. However, Peter’s ideas, and what he knows as normal make him refuse it. This is the refusal of the call. The supernatural aid is a fairy, named Tinker Bell, and she also is an important symbol. She appears when Peter is nervous and confused. Her role in the movie is to help Peter remember who he is, by taking him to Neverland—a place in which time does not exist and where Peter grew up as Peter Pan. Peter is taken to Neverland; he leaves his home, and everything he used to see as normal. This is the crossing of the first threshold.

Initiation, according to Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey: “By crossing the threshold, the protagonist's world is changed forever. A mental journey merges with the physical journey to result in a spiritual revelation of purpose and self” (Seifert). Now Peter Pan’s world has changed completely. Roads of trials are where Pan is tested and found vulnerable by James Hook, the antagonist. Peters is not able to fight against Hook; he receives the fairy’s help. Then Peter meets a group of children who live in Neverland. They start working in Peter’s journey. Peter starts practicing and preparing for the war with Hook to save his kids; this part is the meeting with the goddess. The atonement with the father is where someone or something is interfering in his journey; in this case, it would be himself because he does not know how to fly. But Peter overcomes his fears and starts using his imagination. He imagines food all over the table and that is the beginning of his journey as Peter Pan. The apotheosis is when Peter faces and goes to the final terrors. Peter sees his son and realizes that his son is really confused and likes James Hook. Here, Peter accepts that he needs to be more ready. Peter is aware that he has to recover his kids in order to come back and continue with his life. The ultimate boon is when Peter is able to remember everything. He remembers how he came to and left Neverland as a child. He also remembers how time passed for people, who lived in the earth, and that he decided to stay with them, where time does exist, and people get older. In this boon, Peter understands how he can achieve his journey successfully. He learns how to fly, which is a gift.

Return, based on Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey means that: “Through the protagonist’s ultimate sacrifice of self, s/he walks in an enlightened state” (Seifert). Peter Pan feels comfortable living in Neverland. He does not want to return because he thinks he’s always been in that place, in Neverland. He also is forgetting his real life; this is the refusal of the return. The chase is where Peter has to undergo a difficult situation; he has to make his son feel proud of him and start looking at him as his father. In this part, everything depends on what he is doing, his abilities, and power. He eventually fights against Hook. Then, the rescue, in which Pan needs others’ help. So he and his friends fight in order to free his children. After Pan wins the war, he has to return to his real life. However, he is dealing with these two things—the fantasy life and the real one; this is the crossing of the return threshold. The master of two worlds, even though Peter feels comfortable in whatever place, in his real or fantasy life, he has to choose one of those. Finally, the freedom to live, Peter is at home with his kids. He has learned how to live in real life “at home”; he won’t commit the same mistakes, such as paying more attention to his job than his family.

This film has some significant symbols and archetypes that will help us understand much better the movie. The first symbol appears when Peter has to go to a meeting and gives to his son a “neck watch/clock”, it is meaningful because a clock means to control, the passing of time, so with this knowledge we can figure out what is going to happen. Also knowing that Peter comes from a place called Neverland give us an idea in which we can connect that information. Another essential symbol is the fairy, as in the movie Peter has to use his imagination in order to save his kids, the fairy as a “real creature” in the movie helps him develop his imagination. Hook as a symbol would mean to attract interest or attention, "hook" is relevant in the movie because the antagonist has a hook instead of a hand, and his goal is to catch Peter in order to kill him. The most relevant archetypes I could find were: Peter Banning/Pan, Banning as a busy man, and Pan as the hero. The fairy, Tinker Bell, is the one who encourages the hero. Mr. Hook is the villain, also known as the "bad guy" or antagonist. Wendy, Peter's grandmother-in-law as an old lady who knows everything, the wise one.

The “Myth to Live By” as Joseph Campbell would say, or the lesson to be learned is that people usually forget the important things about life; they give more attention to insignificant things. People have to appreciate and be aware about how important are families in our lives. As in the movie, Peter learns that his family and his kids need him. Also, this movie shows us how important time is in life, and we know how to manage it. Time passes and we can miss a lot of things such as seeing our kids grow up, and spend a really good time with them.

Works Cited

Hook. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Pref. Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts. RKO, 1991. Film.

“Hook Film.” Wikipedia. Web. 30 Apr. 2010

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook_(film)

Seifert, Sheila. “Hero's Journey Defined.” By Joseph Campbell. Web. 30 Apr. 2010

http://home.rmi.net/~seifert/id22.html