Mar 4
Last night I had a dream in which a dear friend of mine went on an uncharacteristic rent about the soullessness of Walt Disney World. In this dream, I responded. We were at WDW, a place I long to visit (having never been), and our public debate was making cast members uncomfortable. Here is what I realized in my dream:
I maintain that there are two myths at the… Continue reading
Aug 6
A recent bee started buzzing in my bonnet. Something about people who just collect myths and spit them out to prove a point has gotten under my skin, and this has been festering for awhile and it’s part of my current disillusionment with Joseph Campbell. On one hand, it’s a very superficial way to win an argument. But on the other, it does a disservice to the myth. Each myth… Continue reading
Jul 28
When the sun has set over Disneyland, Anaheim, California, and the lights are turned down, one can see the expectation for something about to happen on the face of every person looking at Sleeping Beauty’s castle as the nightly, seasonal fireworks begin. The day has been long. Everyone is tired, children and adults alike. Many are grumpy because of the various annoyances and complications that are involved in securing the… Continue reading
Jul 28
Just as there are different types of literature, there are also different approaches to understanding and interpreting them. One method is the Monomyth as outlined by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which has become a dominant model in recent years. A possible reason for this lies in the importance of the hero in social mythology: during the current major paradigm shift in the Western world. Many… Continue reading
Jul 28
There is nothing natural about Disneyland. In fact, I would say that it is one of the most unnatural places in the United States. From the second one drives onto the Resort or steps off the tram, one is inundated with images, music, and a highly controlled environment designed for the purpose of eliciting a good time. Granted, it can be observed that several people, especially parents and their children… Continue reading
Jun 6
A question was posed over at mythicmusings.com that came to me via Twitter: Are we missing a modern mythology? My initial answer, which should come as no surprise to anyone who either knows me or has been reading this blog for awhile, is an emphatic NO! that is quickly followed with a series of examples (Disney, Harry Potter, Buffy, etc.). Gut reactions aside, this is a… Continue reading
Nov 16
For some reason, when I was at the used bookstore at Halloween, I had an overwhelming urge to re-
read one of my favorite trilogies from Junior High. So I tracked down R.L. Stine’s Fear Street Saga trilogy. They only had the first book at the time, The Betrayal, so I took that one home. It’s set in Colonial New England… Continue reading
Oct 1
I’ve been reading Jean Baudrillard’s America lately. It’s my first encounter with Baudrillard’s work and I sort of wish I’d started reading him sooner. His observations about American culture are clear and, to an extent, spot on, because he makes them as an outsider who wants to have a romance with America, but finds that that romance isn’t quite what he hoped. Somewhere in there, he made a connection between… Continue reading
Sep 29
October 1 is right around the corner. That means hardly anything for you, except maybe a paycheck and a season change, but for me, October 1 marks the beginning of the most difficult project I have ever endeavored: the Dissertation. While I’m confident that my dissertation-writing process won’t be nearly as painful as the fabled stereotypical experience, I am nonetheless intimidated by the process. The original reason this blog exists… Continue reading