Personal Narrative: The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Movies have the ability to transport people to different times and places and distract them from ordinary everyday reality. They allow for a range of emotions to be experienced. At their core, movies examine the human condition. There are plenty of deeper truths woven into screenplays and plenty of lessons to be learned, even when an individual is solely seeking entertainment.

To play a role given to us, isn’t fun once we learn of it, however, breaking away pushes us further into the journey. The Hero's Journey, a repetitive process that seems to be in the basic natural structure of every human, and despite any efforts are often replicating it ourselves. Following the journey is simple and sometimes unavoidable. The whole journey is mapped out by Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey. Then seen in Dracula, Bedazzled, and Noah. Also, in a easier way Howl's Moving Castle and The Game.

Joseph Campbell has a theory called The Hero’s Journey in where an individual is shown in a mundane world, called to an adventure, and goes on the adventure. In the adventure, the individual goes on the path of trials that consisting of making new friends, new mentors, new enemies, facing new challenges, gaining new skills, and new knowledge. When the individual comes back to their mundane world, they are the master of two worlds through their new experiences they've gained in the adventure. The Hero’s Journey has been repeated in literature and films through many years: two examples that have The Hero’s Journey are the films, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

Joseph Campbell is a leading mythology expert and philosopher who studied all myths from around the world and found the “Hero’s Journey,” a pattern or algorithm that appears in common in myth, religious ritual, and storytelling. The Hero’s Journey has three elements, separation, initiation and return. If I think about myself, coming to Hawaii by myself was a separation from my comfortable zone where I was surrounded by my supportive family. First time when I came here, I could not say anything and became quiet because I thought people would think I was a stupid and not understand me. I was afraid of how people think about my language skills. However, I tried to speak from myself, asked people to collect my mistakes, accepted what I cannot do

The art of storytelling is a primary foundation for human communication and understanding. Whether it is through myths — Greek, Roman, Egyptian, you pick — or wives tales or even Grandpa telling his old war stories, stories have power. Through technological advancements in the last 150+ years, there are multiple mediums to tell stories; film being the most potent medium used. Film has the power to not only entertain but enlighten too. Filmmakers have the ability to challenge and manipulate the power of the story through creative resistance; by exploring other elements of storytelling: location, voice, color, angles, rhythm, language, filmmakers can create dramatically different films out of the same story.

G. Willow Wilson once said that “there's a burden of representation that comes into play when there aren't enough representatives of a certain group in popular culture.” The articles “Opinion: “Black Panther" gives me a personal reason to cheer for a new superhero” by Brandon T. Harden, “Opinion: "Black Panther" and the beauty and strength of black women” by Mary-Jean Nleya of Al Jazeera, and “'Black Panther' inspires more than African Americans” by Dean Obeidallah illustrate why movies such as “Black Panther” have impacted Hollywood and its viewers. Despite the fact that there are some people who do not attend the movie theater and may not care about renown movies such as “Black Panther” or “A Wrinkle In Time”, it is clear that these movies with diverse casts will impact and support accurate and inclusive representation in Hollywood.

Films should be both entertainment and should also tackle challenging ideas. It’s good to have varieties of films, because we watch film depending on what we are in the mood for. Sometimes we watch to learn about history we never knew about and

I looked at Emma. She was still on the floor. Staring at me. Like she was going to kill me. Her eyes looked a darker blue. It looked weird.

Sea gulls bickered on the warm, morning breeze over head. The waves lulled the vessel boat to-and-fro as it skimmed through Blackwater Bay. The water sparkled like sapphires, clear and bright under the sun. From the bow of the boat, Alayna peered out towards the Narrow Sea. Beyond the bay, adventure called her like a siren song. She longed to explore the lands beyond Westeros. However, this voyage wouldn’t ferry her towards that dream. She’d continue to dream of that journey. The schooner wouldn’t be sailing beyond the bay.

Films have the power to both influence and reflect society. The stereotypes prevalent throughout American culture are reflected in most films. While the United States is becoming an increasingly diverse country, this diversity is not portrayed within American cinema. Minority figures often occupy

We all have visited the cinema once or twice in our lives to see just released movies with family or friends. Some rather watch romantic movies, others action or horror. There are so many different movies out there, each appealing to different people, but there’s one thing most movies seem to have in common: the main cast consists mainly out of white actors. There are barely any movies with a diverse main cast. Even when the character in the movie is a non-white person, there is a white person playing that role.

I experienced my pop culture moment when I was a senior at my high school. My transportation to go to my school was buses. I took the same buses to school from freshman year, but I have never noticed what I notice in my senior year. Every morning I wake up to go to school at 8 a.m. I would see people going to work, schools etc. but one day I notice there was a group of white women who is going to their work wearing sari (sari is a garment which is long and usually it’s draped around women’s body. Asian women mostly wear it). I found that very odd because they didn’t look like to me that they would know anything about the roots of sari or the culture. I thought they were mocking the culture because the saris that they wearing weren’t 100% correct. I used to see them wearing traditional Indian cloth and I

First there was nothing but darkness. It felt like an endless void for one man. But as quickly as the darkness appeared, it disappeared into the light of day. The man dubbed ‘Hero’ quickly looked around the lush hills consisting of trees, rabbits, birds, squirrels and… slimes? He slowly walked over to one, still not trusting his legs, and as he drew closer the slime jumped at him. The slime impacted Hero and sent him stumbling backwards. Hero looked for something to fend off the attacker and found a copper short sword at his hip. He pulled it out of the sheath and stabbed at the slime. To his surprise the slime exploded into a pile of copper coins and a few balls of slime. Walking toward it he was surprised when the 2 objects started to float

Diversity in films is important because representation matters. Viewers are drawn to shows with ethnically diverse lead cast members. Mostly all viewers love to watch shows that reflect and relate to their own experiences. Reddigari, a freelance writer, also expresses the question of why we lack diversity in films. “Hollywood has been producing inspiring films intended to capture the beauty, joy and sorrow in everyday life. As much as we love our favorite movies, we can’t help but notice that many of them fail to capture the life experiences of all moviegoers, leaving the voices of millions of Americans from diverse backgrounds underrepresented” (This Tumblr Shows the Startling Lack of Diversity in Film). Diversity in films is an important topic in society because it represents equality and people of color to look up to.

Every so often a movie is released with such tense anticipation and glamorous visual art that the public is drawn to this dramatic rendition of life in the theatre. For even just two hours or so, you are put into a different lifestyle. Action, drama or comedy it may be. We are thrust into a different way of thinking. We are forced to learn the characters thoughts and feelings. The hard work and artistic skill that goes into these magnificent films is not an easy thing to mimic. Out of the thousands of movies released worldwide each year only a handful are truly worthy of the label film art. Most of the great movies are either produced by a multi million dollar