Page 236 - A Handbook Genre Studies in Mass Media

MYTHIC APPROACH

human life, built civilizations, and informed religions over the millennia,
have to do with deep inner problems, inner mysteries, inner thresholds
of passage, and if you don’t know what the guide-signs are along the
way, you have to work it out yourself.” Many of these elemental themes
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are raised within the framework of popular genres. For instance, reality
shows dramatize the mythic themes of betrayal, personal transformation,
success, and failure. Alan Wurtzel, the president for research at NBC,
observes that “for many viewers, reality is just a fresh way of telling a
familiar story.” 13
In the Western genre, mythic themes revolve around a series of
conflicts:

Man (Woman) Versus Nature

The conflict involving the hero in confrontation with the wilderness re-
quires the imposition of order on a state of primitive chaos—including
his own nature. John Cawelti explains that Westerns are “a common,
shared fantasy” that enables the audience to “re-enact and temporarily
(vicariously) resolve widely shared psychic conflicts.” 14

Man (Woman) Versus Man

Western villains are considered as a force rather than individuals. For
instance, in Western films and television programs, Indians attack the
wagon train in waves. Evil is an absolute force that appears in opposition
to the good cowboy hero. There is no integration of good and evil—no
rationality or motivation, but merely an existence of chaotic energy to
be contained and controlled by the hero.

Man (Woman) Versus Civilization

Other Western themes revolve around the encroachment of civilization
on the wilderness. The town reflects a somewhat ambiguous view of the
values of civilization, an ambiguity that is invariably resolved in favor of
social progress, but not without some reluctance and sense of loss.
Beyond a simple retelling of mythic themes, genric programming often
explores different dimensions of these themes. For instance, in classic hor-
ror films like Dracula (1931 original), Frankenstein (1931 original), and
The Exorcist (1973), absolute evil appears as an external agent, in the form

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