Week 4 Reflection
Yuanchen Ma
Professor Ansari
Media Theory
February 22, 2021
For me, it is interesting to see how myths could play a role in shaping ideologies for people; and how every myth does not tell its story in a certain way to reshape people’s thoughts. But rather to let people interpret the message behind it themselves. I think it would be meaningful to look at the similarities and differences between the myths from two different civilizations.
As Chinese, in our primary school literature class, we will also learn some ancient Chinese mythology stories. Two of the most well-known myths are Yi shot down the suns and Nvwa patches up the sky. In the story of Yi shot down the sun, he lived in an era when there were ten suns in the sky. Hot weather destroys all plants and animals and makes it difficult for human beings to survive. In the end, he saved mankind by shooting down nine suns with his bow and arrow.
In Nvwa patches up the sky, one day, the sky fell down. Nvwa collected five-colored stones from the earth and filled up the cracks in the sky with them. Thus, Nvwa saved the people. Similar to non-Chinese myths, myths originate from ancient peoples’ understanding of nature. Although different nations come from different regions and have different cultural backgrounds, they all live on the earth, that’s why most fairy tales are about nature. According to my own understanding, one of the reasons why most myths are born is because of human’s ignorance of natural science. So, people like to say that these unexplained phenomena can be attributed to supernatural forces. According to Barthes, mythology is an entry point toward exhuming the deep-rooted underlying structure that makes up culture. This is what makes ancient society function. Of course, each myth also brings a different ideology to its nation.
Most Chinese mythological characters are gods. They are not human and have no desire or temperament. They are perfect in every aspect. But, in most of the western mythology that I read, the characters are more like a person. They have their own personalities; they have their own flaws. This distinction reminds me of the example mentioned in the podcast about the media reporting a celebrity eating hot dogs. This difference may shape the values of people of different nationalities to a great extent. I can even see the difference in recent movies. For example, in the most famous American superhero movie series, Spiderman, Iron Man, and Batman, most heroes have their superpower, just like demigods. But everyone has their own flaws, and everyone has very normal personalities just like normal people (even for Thor when he lost his father and lost to Thanos).
The other thing I want to talk about is the symbol, motif, and theme in a movie. The parasite is one of my favorite movies. I love the irony and the reality of the movie. It is true that the gap between rich and poor is real, but the film shows it in a dramatic way. In my first time watching this movie, I have found that the viewing stone and the smell are two symbols throughout the movie. It is a symbol of poverty, disparity, and humbleness. But I now know that there are other, smaller things in the film that can also send different messages to people. For the poor, rain can be devastating. But for the rich, maybe all it cost is just walking into the room. Wet and dry. Geographical position and the amount of sun exposure can all convey different motifs to the audience. All the different motifs combine together to build up a distinct theme. Green Book is also one of my favorite movies. This movie tells the story of Tony, a bodyguard, who is hired to drive Don, one of the best classical pianists in the world. Don starts touring in New York City, and the two develop a friendship that spans race and class. In the beginning, I thought Symbol only had the Green Book, which stands for racial discrimination. However, when I review the whole movie again, I find that there are many symbols in the whole movie, such as whiskey and fried chicken. These seemingly tiny things form different motifs. These motifs reflect Don’s loneliness and lack of understanding by the people and even from Tony. At the same time, there are their own helplessness and insistence on this unfair society. Thus, a more impressive theme was built up.
