Blog Post #9
https://www.ted.com/talks/matthew_winkler_what_makes_a_hero/transcript#t-1449
What makes a hero?
The summary behind this ted talk is that every single hero, whether it be from modern day movies to ancient greek heroes, that they are all the same. They all embark on what Matthew Winkler calls a Hero's Journey. In this journey, there are twelve phases, or cycles, that the hero follows on his path. Each hero starts out in their own familiar world, and during their quest they go in an unfamiliar world to them. The twelve cycles that it passes through are as follows. The first is status quo, which is who the person is and what they're known for. Next, it is their call to adventure. The hero is given some type of adventure, challenge, or invitation to leave their day to day life. Next is assistance. Every hero is given some type of assistance, usually from an old and wise person, where they either learn how to do something or they are given advice. After assistance there is the departure, where the hero actually leaves their normal life into the area of the unknown. Next are the trials. The hero has to prove he or she is worthy by competing in riddles, working hard, or escaping from a trap. Their approach follows. This is where the hero faces their worst fear and hardest ordeal yet. Next comes crisis. The hero is faced with death, either one of the hero's close companions or the hero themselves but is then reborn and kept alive. After the crisis, there is the treasure, where once the hero defeats the evil, they are rewarded with special powers, recognition, or riches. Next comes the result where the hero gains closure on defeating the enemy so that they will never be bothered by that enemy again. After this, there is the return of the hero into the normal world and back into the normalities of his old life. He now feels as if he has outgrown his old life and wants a new life. Next comes the resolution where everything that was confusing about the plot or movie is revealed and everyone understands everything. Lastly, the status quo is upgraded of the hero and nothing is quite the same. Winkler goes on to show how The Hunger Games follows this exact formatting of Katniss Everdeen. The Hero's Journey exists in all human cultures because of symbolic symbols from our own lives. We face problems in our every day life that we have to overcome.
Winkler uses the techniques of logos and pathos pretty noticeably throughout his ted talk. However, there was nothing on who he is to prove any sort of credibility. With logos, Winkler is able to use the logic of having a Hero's Journey through the different examples he used with Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen in their own respective journeys into the unknown. His reasoning makes perfect sense in how almost all heroes have to use each of these steps to complete the movie or quest. The weakness that I saw during this presentation, however, is very subtle. While the logic all makes sense, this is only because of how broad each term is that he uses to describe the Hero's Journey. The terms and definition is so broad that the movie can be interpreted into this journey even if it doesn't fit. It is another example of a horoscope where the wording in the horoscopes are so broad that once people feel that it can apply to them they instantly believe it. I believe this is another instance where the plot will kind of connect to this journey and once people think that there is a slight similarity then it can be linked to a certain part of the journey. In terms of pathos, Winkler uses emotion in his ted talk when connecting the heroes of Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen to that of the obstacles and hardships us normal people face on a regular basis. He connects our own lives with those of who we almost idolize and wish that we had their special abilities and instincts.
My connection to this ted talk is that I feel Winkler is correct when he relates these heroic figures in movies to our own lives. I believe that is why I personally feel so compelled to watch movies and the reason why I enjoy them so much. They play into what I am going through in my own life and this harvests interest in continuing to watch the shows. I picked this ted talk because I was interested in the caption 'What makes a hero' and how it seemed to objectify heroes into a set list of qualities. I initially thought of this article as bogus and fake news since all heroes are very different, and my attitude didn't change in the end. I do not think that heroes can be defined in all the same characteristics. This would make watching movies repetitive and not enjoyable to watch. All heroes face obstacles just like I do, but the other side to these heroes are all so different that I do not think it would be appropriate to classify these other sides as similar to that of other non related movies.
What makes a hero?
The summary behind this ted talk is that every single hero, whether it be from modern day movies to ancient greek heroes, that they are all the same. They all embark on what Matthew Winkler calls a Hero's Journey. In this journey, there are twelve phases, or cycles, that the hero follows on his path. Each hero starts out in their own familiar world, and during their quest they go in an unfamiliar world to them. The twelve cycles that it passes through are as follows. The first is status quo, which is who the person is and what they're known for. Next, it is their call to adventure. The hero is given some type of adventure, challenge, or invitation to leave their day to day life. Next is assistance. Every hero is given some type of assistance, usually from an old and wise person, where they either learn how to do something or they are given advice. After assistance there is the departure, where the hero actually leaves their normal life into the area of the unknown. Next are the trials. The hero has to prove he or she is worthy by competing in riddles, working hard, or escaping from a trap. Their approach follows. This is where the hero faces their worst fear and hardest ordeal yet. Next comes crisis. The hero is faced with death, either one of the hero's close companions or the hero themselves but is then reborn and kept alive. After the crisis, there is the treasure, where once the hero defeats the evil, they are rewarded with special powers, recognition, or riches. Next comes the result where the hero gains closure on defeating the enemy so that they will never be bothered by that enemy again. After this, there is the return of the hero into the normal world and back into the normalities of his old life. He now feels as if he has outgrown his old life and wants a new life. Next comes the resolution where everything that was confusing about the plot or movie is revealed and everyone understands everything. Lastly, the status quo is upgraded of the hero and nothing is quite the same. Winkler goes on to show how The Hunger Games follows this exact formatting of Katniss Everdeen. The Hero's Journey exists in all human cultures because of symbolic symbols from our own lives. We face problems in our every day life that we have to overcome.
Winkler uses the techniques of logos and pathos pretty noticeably throughout his ted talk. However, there was nothing on who he is to prove any sort of credibility. With logos, Winkler is able to use the logic of having a Hero's Journey through the different examples he used with Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen in their own respective journeys into the unknown. His reasoning makes perfect sense in how almost all heroes have to use each of these steps to complete the movie or quest. The weakness that I saw during this presentation, however, is very subtle. While the logic all makes sense, this is only because of how broad each term is that he uses to describe the Hero's Journey. The terms and definition is so broad that the movie can be interpreted into this journey even if it doesn't fit. It is another example of a horoscope where the wording in the horoscopes are so broad that once people feel that it can apply to them they instantly believe it. I believe this is another instance where the plot will kind of connect to this journey and once people think that there is a slight similarity then it can be linked to a certain part of the journey. In terms of pathos, Winkler uses emotion in his ted talk when connecting the heroes of Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen to that of the obstacles and hardships us normal people face on a regular basis. He connects our own lives with those of who we almost idolize and wish that we had their special abilities and instincts.
My connection to this ted talk is that I feel Winkler is correct when he relates these heroic figures in movies to our own lives. I believe that is why I personally feel so compelled to watch movies and the reason why I enjoy them so much. They play into what I am going through in my own life and this harvests interest in continuing to watch the shows. I picked this ted talk because I was interested in the caption 'What makes a hero' and how it seemed to objectify heroes into a set list of qualities. I initially thought of this article as bogus and fake news since all heroes are very different, and my attitude didn't change in the end. I do not think that heroes can be defined in all the same characteristics. This would make watching movies repetitive and not enjoyable to watch. All heroes face obstacles just like I do, but the other side to these heroes are all so different that I do not think it would be appropriate to classify these other sides as similar to that of other non related movies.
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