Example research essay topic: Mythic Patterns In Movies - 1,146 words

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Mythic Patterns Within Movies Often in literature there are mythic patterns that can be seen throughout stories and fairytales that make reading more interesting. However this is also true for many movies. It may not be apparent to avid movie viewers that there is a similarity that can be linked to most movies that are available to watch. A considerable amount of them contain one, if not more, mythic patterns that make the movie more interesting and provide a higher level of insight to the viewer.

This is obvious in action movies where the star of the film almost always experiences a heros quest and in romantic movies the star undergoes a loss of innocence. Not surprisingly, the movie The Mighty directed by Peter Chelson, depicts mythic patterns that provide further insight into the characters in the film. The Mighty is a drama about a smart handicapped boy who befriends and oversized, awkward seventh grader who needs academic help. Both children help each other through their weaknesses by sharing their strengths.

Within the contents of this recently released movie, there are numerous situations that can be analyzed to prove the presence of a mythic pattern. Therefore the mythic patterns of loss of heros quest, dualities, cycle of life and loss of innocence are exemplified consistently through the movie The Mighty. Indeed, from the very beginning of the movie there are examples of the heros quest vividly depicted through the character of Max Kane. The Origin or history of this character is not given early in the movie and there is nothing to judge the character by except or the fact that he is an gawky, oversized seventh grader with a reading disability. As the story progresses, Max is depicted as neither foolish nor invincible. This is displayed through the fact that Max can not read as well as most children in the seventh grade making him not impervious to lifes hardships.

However at the same time Max is being tutored by Kevin freak Dillian, an extremely bright young boy with a physical handicap. As a result of this tutoring Max begins to see that every word is part of a picture and every sentence is a whole picture (The Mighty), which helps the process of overcoming his reading disability quicken. This improvement in literature denotes that Max is no fool. For the most part Max is very unclear as to what his goal is as a young adolescence but the preaching of Kevin helps to give direction to Max's life. A knights worth is determined by his deeds, is what Kevin always says and these words give strength to Max. Max then realizes that his goal is to be a kind hearted Samaritan and to help those in need just like a great knight would.

To reach this goal Kevin and Max embark on numerous journeys where they intend to do good deeds. Firstly Max and Kevin order a man in a coffee shop to stop harassing a young lady. This seems very dangerous for the two young boys because the man is older and probably stronger but in the end the boys overcome the danger and emerge victorious when the man decides not to cause a seen and leaves the young woman alone. Another adventure the boys have is they attempt to recover a stolen purse from a local gang, the doghouse boys, who are known for their violent actions. Even when beset with the danger of fighting this gang and tempted by keeping the purse which contains several hundred dollars, the boys once again overcome their obstacles and return the purse to the owner. Through all of these ordeals Kevin not only acts as a friend but also acts as the guide for Max and gives him help to beat the adversaries he faces whether it be a new book or another gang member.

Soon afterwards Max's bright world fades into darkness when his father is given parole and comes to take Max from his grandparents. After Max is taken into the evil world of his fathers, he begins again to believe that he is the spitting image of his father and that he will never ascertain his goal. However, when Killer Kane begins to beat up on a helpless lady Max gains the courage to stand up for himself and tells his father that he remembers how is mother was brutally murdered. This was a break through for Max because he had never admitted to his father that he had remembered the scene of his mothers murder which he had blocked out so to let go of the pain. As a result of this emotional breakthrough Max realizes that his true goal was to cast out the probability that he would be like his father even though everyone believed he was. After escaping the dark realm of his fathers, Max goes home and celebrates Christmas with his companion Kevin but a final emotional wound is inflicted on Max when Kevin suddenly dies.

This wound helps Max to put life in perspective and be more assertive when it comes to living life to the fullest. All of these events coincide with the trials found in the heros quest. Furthermore, the film The Mighty also contains many dualities found between characters. The most evident duality is good and evil depicted through the characters of Max and his father. Max is a kind hearted boy which is easily seen by the fact that he becomes friends with Kevin when no one else will.

Also Max fulfills many good deeds by saving Kevin's life from the doghouse boys, returning a stolen purse and helping a young lady who is being harassed. On the other hand is Max's father, Killer Kane, who obviously is evil just by the fact that he is in jail for the murder of his wife. As if that was not enough, Killer also kidnaps Max from his grandparents, almost kills another woman after picking up Max and makes fun of Max for having a handicapped friend. Without a doubt the qualities described in these characters vividly depict good versus evil.

Another duality evident is intellectual versus learning impaired seen through Kevin and Max. Even though Kevin is physically handicapped he is a very gifted young boy who excels far beyond the expectations of any normal grade seven student. This is quite apparent through the fact that he is tutoring Max. To the same effect, it is seen that Max is not as bright by the fact that he is being tutored by Kevin. This does not insist that Max is intellectually insufficient, it just means that he learns at a much slower rate then other students. This intellectual difference portrays a very common duality found often with children this age.

Finally, a duality that can be inferred is bravery versus courage found in...

Research essay sample on Mythic Patterns In Movies