The Hero's Journey in Modern Life: A Critical Analysis

[00:00:06]While the heroic adventure is often associated with stories, we are increasingly seeing it in our own lives.

[00:00:18]With so many ordinary products being framed as either the gateway to, or the unmissable item for exciting journeys, passionate romances, and otherwise impactful experiences, it seems that we are all called to adventure, that we are all invited to fulfill our own hero’s journeys.

[00:00:39]Would you like to take it for a test drive?

[00:00:42]I just did.

[00:00:43]We see this as well in the way we are presenting ourselves on social media.

[00:00:48]More than ever, we now have the freedom to go into the unknown, to explore new worlds, and to present our experiences as cinematic journeys, growingly indistinguishable from the stories we see in films.

[00:01:02]Finally, we can all live the exciting lives that those characters do.

[00:01:06]We can all become heroes living lives worth telling about, lives that are filled with purpose and meaning, right?

[00:01:15]Obviously, the implications of our growing pursuit for the adventurous life run deeper than this.

[00:01:21]As all developments do, there are unintended side-effects, new risks, and other damaging consequences to be taken into account, like; when does the invitation to a new and exciting thing become an expected norm?

[00:01:35]And when does potential become pressure?

[00:01:39]However, before we can properly discuss the role and consequences of the now ever-present hero’s journey in our society, we must first understand where it came from.

[00:01:50]So to begin this second episode of our exploration of the principles of storytelling, and their relation to our own identities, let’s briefly review the history of the heroic adventure.

[00:02:05]Stories vs. Reality Episode 2: Your Life Is Not A Hero's Journey Part 1: A History of Adventures It will be worth it, an adventure. And just the three of us.

[00:02:26]While today everyone experiences the desire for, and pressure of, heroic adventures, this wasn’t always the case.

[00:02:35]In fact, for a long time, the hero’s journey was only reserved for a privileged few.

[00:02:42]If we go back all the way to the real stories of old, the adventure was only experienced by selected mythological figures, by primal heroes endowed with the cosmic purpose we discussed in episode 1.

[00:02:55]You're the son of Zeus, after all.

[00:02:58]Often times, these heroes were even directly created by the gods themselves, Half human, half god.

[00:03:07]and lived their lives for the sole purpose of heroic pursuits.

[00:03:14]Although we now tend to give these heroes more characterization when we retell their stories, back then these heroes were far less relatable on a personal level.

[00:03:25]They may have embodied certain virtues like courage and strength, but given that they had an implicit or explicit superhuman nature, and a rather narrow heroic destiny in which they almost solely concerned themselves with slaying monsters, there was a much clearer separation between their adventures, and those of our own.

[00:03:47]It can even be said that the primal hero is specifically destined to exist only in adventurous stories.

[00:03:54]In our ordinary world, their presence would be awkward and strange, This drink, I like it.

[00:04:00]I know, it's great right? - Another!

[00:04:04]and they probably wouldn’t be trusted because of their unrelatable nature.

[00:04:08]We still see the echoes of this separateness in the stories of gunslingers and other lone wolves who have a place in the world of adventure, but not in our own.

[00:04:21]Moving on into medieval times and we witness the rise of the chivalric romance; the stories about knights.

[00:04:28]Like the primal hero, the knight too ventures into an unknown world to face the dangers that lurk there.

[00:04:35]But unlike the primal hero, the knight wasn’t fated for these adventures.

[00:04:40]Quite the opposite; they went on their quests because of their own choice, most often driven by the opportunity to display knightly virtues.

[00:04:49]Be without fear, in the face of your enemies.

[00:04:54]And when they were done, they did have an ordinary world to return to.

[00:04:59]However, because knighthood was also a privilege for selected individuals, there was still a rather distinct separation between these heroes, and most of the people enjoying their stories.

[00:05:16]Around the 14th century the term adventure became associated with a different type of heroism that today we tend to be more critical of, and that is the rise of colonialism and capitalism.

[00:05:29]The heroes in these stories were often tradesmen, sailing around the world to establish new trade routes, set up colonies, and bring home exotic goods.

[00:05:40]Unlike the primal heroes and knights, these adventurers didn’t journey into new worlds to battle dragons and other monsters, they went there to civilize it.

[00:05:51]To expand their own world into uncharted territories and exploit its resources.

[00:05:57]As such, the heroic adventure also become strongly associated with material gain.

[00:06:03]While these adventures were still mostly reserved for the more wealthy individuals, the entrepreneurial spirit at the basis of their stories did resonatemore widely among the general public.

[00:06:15]And it still does so today as the adventurous tales of the entrepreneur are arguably more popular than ever, even though now the focus has shifted from conquering new worlds, to conquering new markets.

[00:06:30]The democratization of the heroic adventure continued in the 16th century with the picaresque genre.

[00:06:37]Unlike the exclusivity of the previous adventures, in these stories, for the first time, the hero could be anyone.

[00:06:45]In fact, in picaresque stories, the hero was typically someone from a lower social class, someone who often challenged the rules and institutions of their society.

[00:06:55]Welcome to Sherwood, milady!

[00:06:57]This was the time for heroic deviants, petty criminals, and pirates, whose behavior, while bordering on being criminal, was still framed as sympathetic.

[00:07:08]It was heroic.

[00:07:09]Heroic is it? Be dead, it was epic!

[00:07:13]Today, these are the stories of the likeable outlaws as for example seen in Point Break, The Fast and the Furious, and Ocean’s Eleven.

[00:07:24]There is one final development that brought us to where we are today.

[00:07:28]For while in the picaresque stories the adventure was technically open to anyone, it was still something that you had to embark on.

[00:07:35]The adventure was still driven and reflected by the will and character of the would-be hero.

[00:07:42]Around the 18th century, this changed with stories that featured adventures, but no real adventurers as we have seen up until this point.

[00:07:52]One of the most influential stories of this movement was that of Robinson Crusoe, who famously stranded, and had to survive, on a desert island.

[00:08:01]Crusoe was unlike any other hero in the sense that he himself wasn’t adventurous by nature.

[00:08:07]Instead of seeking out danger and excitement, he desired comfort and safety, and tried to rebuilt his ordinary world around him.

[00:08:16]As such, the main focus of the adventure wasn’t directed outwards, but inwards, on Crusoe’s own character.

[00:08:25]It was because of stories like these, that the adventure was no longer an explicit journey, but more of an experience.

[00:08:32]One that can happen to anyone at any place and any time.

[00:08:37]The unknown world that the hero ventures into no longer has to be a physical space, but can also simply be the hero’s own mind.

[00:08:46]And this eventually led the way to psychological stories, stories that were centered around the inner journey of the hero, that were driven by the hero’s own character, emotions, and motivations, by traits we all possess and can all relate to.

[00:09:03]And thus, our very being became the source for adventure.

[00:09:08]Note that this of course was a very rough and simplified historical overview, one that is based only on Western literary history.

[00:09:16]The main point was to showcase the very general trend from adventures as being reserved for unrelatable, mythological heroes that we observed from a distance, to being directly relatable and open to anyone, as this is pretty much where we find ourselves today.

[00:09:33]Now that everything we do, everything we experience, and everything we feel, is seen as adventurous, as worthy of a story, everyone can experience the adventure.

[00:09:46]Everyone can go on their own hero’s journey.

[00:09:55]Part 2: Life as an Adventure What does it really mean to live life as an adventure?

[00:10:03]As discussed in episode 1, the fundamental difference between stories and reality is that the adventures in stories are always made up of meaningful elements.

[00:10:13]They are always constructed in hindsight by a storyteller who uses this vantage point to give order and significance to disconnected parts until they form a cohesive whole.

[00:10:24]This is often done according to similar structures, which can be assigned to the more general format of a transformative heroic journey, be it a triumphant, or a tragic one, or to a more specific genre like the previously discussed types of adventures.

[00:10:40]As such, stories create norms and expected patterns for how certain things play out.

[00:10:46]And with the boundary between stories and real life having largely evaporated over time, and the heroic adventure now being a realistic expectation for anyone, stories are increasingly informing what our own adventures should be like.

[00:11:02]We shall have such great adventures together.

[00:11:06]Of course, we don’t expect our lives to become adventures in the literal sense that we too will be fighting aliens or becoming pirates.

[00:11:13]Oh good, no worries then.

[00:11:16]But it’s the underlying structures, those norms and expected patterns, that we are increasingly projecting onto our own lives.

[00:11:25]We see this very simply in the way we talk about ourselves.

[00:11:29]When we tell others our stories, we essentially become the authors of our own lives.

[00:11:34]And what makes a better story, than an adventurous one?

[00:11:37]But it started raining now. Lighting!

[00:11:42]It’s fun to go to a party, but it’s not truly epic until it escalates like it does in Project X, or until it ends with a morning after as it does in The Hangover.

[00:11:53]It’s nice to meet someone and fall in love, but it’s not truly romantic until it becomes, depending on what you’re into, a grand love story like that in The Notebook, or a quirky one as seen in so many Indie films.

[00:12:08]There is a lot to say about the growing feeling of having to one up each other with ever more exciting tales of adventures, which I don’t think is just because we want to appear more interesting to our friends, but also because nowadays it’s becoming so much of a norm.

[00:12:24]Applying for a job or university no longer means just having the necessary skills, becoming an artist no longer means just being good at your art, you also need a good story, you need to stand out from everyone else.

[00:12:40]You are, to some extent, expected to have experienced adventures.

[00:12:46]This is also where our consumer culture comes in as we are constantly bombarded with the apparently necessary items for new adventures.

[00:12:55]Here too, it’s not really about the explicit message, but about the subliminal one.

[00:13:00]I know that if I get the newest GoPro, my life won’t suddenly turn into an extreme sports adventure, but I might be able to present it as slightly more adventurous than it is now.

[00:13:12]Even though I already own an older GoPro model, I still can’t help but imagine how much sharper, and more colorful, and therefore more adventurous, I could present my life as with this new one.

[00:13:26]Same goes with expensive fragrances.

[00:13:29]I know these won’t turn my life into that of the celebrity presenting it.

[00:13:34]But wearing one that slightly raises my appeal and confidence might just give me that extra edge to turn an ordinary night, into an adventurous one.

[00:13:44]It might seem easy to just brush this all off, to laugh at the commercials trying to get us to buy products we don’t really need.

[00:13:52]But when you take everything together; when every story shows you heroic journeys, when every product promises you adventures, and when everybody around you is presenting their lives as more exciting than they really are, it’s hard not to feel like you are falling behind, that you are missing out.

[00:14:11]That you are not living up to your potential.

[00:14:14]And this, I think, is what it ultimately comes down to.

[00:14:18]By forming a break from the ordinary, the adventure always promises a potential for more.

[00:14:24]More excitement, more romance, more personal transformation, more fame and fortune, more meaning and purpose.

[00:14:33]Even when your life is already pretty good, the adventure will still be there as the voice in the back of your mind telling you that you can do better, that you can be better.

[00:14:44]That you are meant for more than this.

[00:14:52]Part 3: Imagined Destiny I wanna do it. Get you started on, this thing of yours.

[00:15:02]On my great... - I know.

[00:15:05]On your great Alaskan adventure.

[00:15:08]I think it’s fair to assume that we all have dreams, that there are things we want to achieve, adventures that we want to go on.

[00:15:17]Maybe you want to start a business and become rich and successful.

[00:15:21]Maybe you want to go on a journey of self-discovery and explore exotic places.

[00:15:26]Maybe you just want to find someone to love because you don’t like being alone.

[00:15:31]There's something that feels so good about sharing your life with somebody.

[00:15:35]When we set out on these adventures, we often subconsciously do so while assuming the norms and expected patterns imposed on us by adventures as seen in stories.

[00:15:46]We see entrepreneurs who came from nothing pulling themselves up by their bootstraps to achieve great financial success, and believe that if we follow their lead, we can do the same.

[00:16:01]We see people having amazing journeys in foreign countries, and believe that if we just go to the same place, our adventure will be equally meaningful.

[00:16:11]And we see romances unfold into beautiful relationships, and believe that if we just play the act, we are guaranteed to experience the same story.

[00:16:23]To be clear, it is not that all these things can’t happen, it’s just that they are not guaranteed to happen as they are in stories.

[00:16:31]Your business may fail before even taking off.

[00:16:35]The amazing journey you go on might be disappointing and not at all like you expected.

[00:16:40]And being a perfect romantic doesn’t guarantee a successful romance as the other person might simply not like you back.

[00:16:48]Especially when it comes to the bigger goals that so many people dream of; becoming the next billionaire, a blockbuster filmmaker, or a world-famous artist, they’re not even remotely likely to happen.

[00:17:02]And yet, because stories show those adventures as so relatable, as so accessible for everyone, a part of us still clings to that secret little voice telling us: ‘of course it doesn’t happen for most people, but it might happen for me.'

[00:17:18]'I’m not like everyone else, my story is different.'

[00:17:22]'I am meant to do this’ And the thing is, it is hard to argue against this. Because again, it is technically not impossible.

[00:17:32]But this is also kind of the point. We can’t know how our lives will turn out.

[00:17:37]And by believing in all the heroic adventures telling us that we can, we simplify an endlessly complex reality that does not unfold according to those structures.

[00:17:49]We create the illusion of cosmic purpose; the false belief that there are specific steps that will lead to a pre-determined goal.

[00:17:57]And by assuming these unrealistic expectations, by assuming that our lives unfold according to a simple plot, to but a handful of variables, we are bound to set ourselves up for disappointment.

[00:18:11]Just imagine how many people dropped out of college to become the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg, how many people recklessly moved to Los Angeles to become the next superstar, how many people believed that, as long as they followed the steps of the hero’s journey, they would surely make it?

[00:18:30]And for how many did it actually pan out the way they envisioned it?

[00:18:36]Furthermore, when we reduce reality to the simplified structures of heroic adventures, we also tend to focus only on those elements that are within our control.

[00:18:47]On things like willpower, discipline, and perseverance.

[00:18:51]Once again, all important qualities that are hard to argue against.

[00:18:56]But what is especially insidious about this focus on individual agency is that whether or not you will get to live out your hero’s journey becomes solely determined by personal responsibility.

[00:19:09]It reinforces the idea that you are not only expected to have an adventurous life, but also that you yourself have to make it happen every step of the way; a burden that only makes you more vulnerable to the belief that you need to buy all those things that might just make difference between success and failure.

[00:19:29]Because following this perspective, if you don’t succeed, if you don’t fulfill your hero’s journey, your destiny, it is your fault, it is your failure.

[00:19:42]But, is this really true?

[00:19:50]Part 4: Everyone as a Hero?

[00:19:54]At this point, you might see the paradox that arises when we project the adventures as seen in stories on our own lives.

[00:20:01]On the one hand, we are all called to adventure, we are all driven to become the heroes of our own hero’s journeys.

[00:20:10]But on the other hand, it is also clear that an actual hero’s journey is still exclusive, that not everyone gets to have one.

[00:20:18]Then there is also the issue that heroic stories aren’t just made up of heroes, but also have supporting characters, villains and extras.

[00:20:27]And so if everyone is expected to claim the main part of the hero, who gets to play the other parts?

[00:20:34]Okay, fine.

[00:20:36]You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

[00:20:40]What do all these contradictions actually say about chasing an adventurous life?

[00:20:45]Maybe it is just that everyone can try, but not everyone can succeed?

[00:20:50]Is that what it means to have democratized the heroic adventure?

[00:20:54]Do people have to compete with each other for the privilege of a fulfilled hero’s journey?

[00:20:59]And if so, does success really just depend on individual determination and willpower?

[00:21:06]Are there not countless other social, environmental and genetic factors as well?

[00:21:12]But doesn’t all this just bring us back to the notion of cosmic purpose?

[00:21:16]That only some people have the right combination of traits?

[00:21:20]That only some are meant for a heroic destiny?

[00:21:24]And that everyone else has to settle for a supporting role?

[00:21:27]For what is at best a story about gracefully accepting defeat, or about learning some lesson in humility?

[00:21:35]Maybe the hero’s journey is not so democratized after all.

[00:21:41]If we look at the stormtroopers in Star Wars for example, do we say that these characters failed at their own heroic journeys?

[00:21:49]Or do we just assume that they were never meant to have one in the first place?

[00:21:54]Of course, in our society there is no clear distinction between Jedi’s and stormtroopers, between main characters and extras, which raises what is perhaps the most important question: How do you know if you are meant to be the hero of your story, or just a casualty of someone else’s?

[00:22:15]Here again we do see how the norms and expected patterns created by stories subconsciously inform us into answering this question.

[00:22:24]As you may have noticed, the historical overview of heroic adventures is heavily biased to a particular type of hero.

[00:22:32]One that is primarily straight, white, and male.

[00:22:36]As a consequence, women, people of color, and people of different sexual orientations were often regulated to supporting roles, portrayed as villains, or erased altogether.

[00:22:49]Sink.

[00:22:57]To this day, straight white men often remain the default main hero, Morning.

[00:23:03]even in stories that deal with different cultures, are set in foreign countries, or are based on non-Western fables.

[00:23:13]We can however observe a trend towards better inclusivity, and better representation.

[00:23:20]Everyone is fighting their own battles, Diana.

[00:23:22]Just as you are fighting yours.

[00:23:24]Women for example increasingly get to be the main characters of their heroic adventures.

[00:23:30]But even here, we see how our assumptions still color our biases as we continue to discuss how femininity must be portrayed.

[00:23:39]Is it something that must be ignored?

[00:23:42]Or does portraying a woman in a traditionally male part only erase her womanhood?

[00:23:47]Is femininity then something that has to be incorporated meaningfully into the story?

[00:23:53]And if so, why?

[00:23:55]Is masculinity always a purposeful part of men’s heroic journeys?

[00:24:00]Doesn’t the whole idea that heroic women demand a reaction of any kind suggest that we still adhere to the underlying idea that this is some kind of subversion of the status-quo, of what was assumed to be normal?

[00:24:15]So, who does she marry?

[00:24:19]Despite our best efforts, we still, at least for now, seem to be bound by the limitations imposed on us.

[00:24:27]Limitations that determine who is meant to be a hero, and who is not.

[00:24:33]This also becomes problematic on the collective level, on which the norms and expected patterns of heroic adventures, and the hero’s journey as a whole, can create the illusion of cosmic purpose based on some common attribute, be it an ethnicity, a nation, a religion or an ideology; something that gives a group of people an imagined destiny that not only makes them heroic, but also makes everyone else unheroic.

[00:25:03]This, at best, leads to stereotypes about those outside of the group.

[00:25:09]But at worst, as we’ve unfortunately seen unfold so many times throughout history, it can lead to dehumanization, hostility, and violence.

[00:25:25]So what is the answer to all this?

[00:25:28]Should we just do away with all heroic adventures?

[00:25:31]Are we better off believing that they are not meant for us?

[00:25:35]That they mostly result in hurt, both to ourselves, as well as to others?

[00:25:41]That they are just pipe-dreams that only work out for the privileged few?

[00:25:45]A marketing strategy that exploits our dreams and desires for material gain?

[00:25:51]Can we even imagine ourselves without these stories?

[00:25:55]For who are we if not the stories we tell about ourselves?

[00:25:59]The stories that give our lives order and coherence, significance and purpose?

[00:26:05]Can there be an identity without storytelling?

[00:26:11]To be continued.

[00:26:16]In the final episode, it’s time to examine what can be reconstructed out of the deconstructed.

[00:26:22]I will discuss how the adventure isn’t just a cornerstone of our stories, but also of our perception of the world, and of ourselves.

[00:26:31]Finally, I will explore possible ways of better relating ourselves to the hero’s journey, and creating a better balance between stories and reality.

[00:26:43]While you’re waiting, you might want to check out Simone de Beauvoir’s groundbreaking book The Second Sex, which was an important source for this video.

[00:26:52]The Second Sex presents a powerful analysis of how women have historically been given a secondary role in heroic stories, and therefore been denied the role of main hero.

[00:27:03]The book is available in its entirety on Audible, the world’s largest audiobook service.

[00:27:10]With the Audible app, you can listen to audiobooks anytime, anywhere, and on any device.

[00:27:16]And if you go to Audible.com/likestoriesofold, or text likestoriesofold to 500 500, you can do so as well with a 30-day Audible trial that lets you listen to one audiobook, and 2 Audible Originals, for free.

[00:27:32]So if you want to dive deeper into the history on inequality and otherness, or simply explore Audible’s vast collection of audiobooks, be sure to check out Audible.com/likestoriesofold, or text likestoriesofold to 500 500, and start listening today.