I’ve been encouraged to post my Thesis on modern media mythology. This is my thesis, please do not plagiarize it. If you wish to cite it, please do so. I will cite my bibliographic information at the bottom of the paper. I am printing it here as I originally submitted it to my professor, though there are things which I would change.
Man is, as Geertz said, “An unfinished animal.” (46 Geertz) We lack instincts showing us how to build nests or attract mates, a man without culture is not a man at all. There was a time when man could choose what kind of animal he would become by choosing scrupulously the stories he believed in. Man could plant a garden of ideas within the walls of his own mind, suited for his climate and his culture, with only a few errant dandelion seeds drifting in from outside. Sometimes these “weeds” would take root, making the garden even more vibrant and beautiful. Today, the minds of people are cultivated from birth with ideas which sweep across broad areas of people.
I ask you, Is a man not entitled to have his own faith? “No,” cries the evangelical, “Listen to my sermon and change your mind.” ”No,” says the man on the television, “My images will provoke your subconscious, the lines I draw will make you lust.” “No,” whines the liberal, “Separation of church and state.” I had a different answer. I chose the impossible. I chose to say that All is Religion, every image and every idea has the potential to change the world, to create greater cohesion within societies, and grant meaning to a life. To deny that something is faith is to give it the greatest power. The greatest trick the devil ever played is convincing the world that he does not exist.
Ideas don’t die, they merely twist and change, and grow more potent with age. The ideas we find in our modern media are like a heady wine passed down over the centuries. Some ideas have turned to vinegar, while others have become even more potent.
Through this paper, I hope to examine the roots of these idea and see what thoughts are being planted within the gardens of the mind. I will examine syncretism and the changes which occur in ancient faith. I will show that fictional heroes and advertisements in the Information Age are incredibly similar to the heroes and beliefs of the ancients, and by highlighting these similarities we can see more clearly the messages conveyed by these ideas. I will examine the power of masks in both an anthropological and modern context, to show their power. (additionally, I will add a piece concerning the Occupy Wall Street Movement: This thesis was written in 2010, and deserves to be updated.) I will look more closely dualism, how it relates to us as humans and in Evil Doubles in superhero films. Finally, I will examine the mechanization of man in popular culture, and how to process it. Hopefully, this thesis will allow people do begin to deconstruct and reexamine the modern mythology and become their own gardener.
Much of this paper was gathered from consumption of media from various points in history, and my own reactions to them. I’ve also read a lot of interpretations of culture while superheroes were being created, specifically Durkheim, Campbell and Frasier. I’ve taken a Geertzian approach to my analysis to attempt to shed light on the meaning behind the images that flicker across our screens. I’ve also taken some of the knowledge gained through a “participant observation among the Nacirema,”. Additionally, most of the books I read were pre-1970, and tend to use the term “primitive culture.” I don’t know what term I should used for pre-civilized society, therefore I’m going to separate it into primitive and cultured, with no negative context on either side.
As a young Westerner growing up in the later half of the 20th century I cannot escape bias, especially while writing this paper. I’ve been raised in a media soaked culture. Rather than devote themselves to arts or literature, my entire culture has devoted itself to consumption, and I have to accept that I’m a product of that. I still enjoy consuming media with friends, but watching it fills me with a great sadness.
Stop for a moment and think about how much of one’s values come from media. Television generally has a black and white view of morality. In fact, the modern MPAA rating system evolved out of a code of conduct denoting what could and could not be put into films. Art is often very dualistic in it’s nature, and songs instill values into the people who listen to them. Media in the pre-historic era was quite different than the media we have today. We have seen media make great leaps and bounds, even within our lifetime. However, prehistoric man did not. Technology appears to grow exponentially, so a primitive man could only see what sprang directly from the minds of one or two people. So where we see the film Avatar and are amazed by the graphics, it’s not to hard to believe that to primitive man, who had little experience with two dimensional objects, was just as fascinated by the cave paintings on walls. (After writing this essay, a film came out exemplifying the beauty of cave paintings) Elders were important in a pre-farming world, since trade was limited and wisdom accumulated like no other good. Oral tradition was one of the few ways that the stories could be passed on, and as most children know from the game “Telephone,” stories can change when whispered across the years. So the hypothetical story of a man who killed a bear a hundred years ago can become a metaphor for the inevitability of death, though it is impossible for us to know what stories these people told.
One thing we do know, however, is that many of them venerated animals. The caves in France, particularly Lascaux are great evidence for this. While man is a tiny, nearly featureless shape in the corner, the animals are mighty, powerful beings with incredible accuracy. It is possible to tell the gender of the animals from some of the pictures. (Campbell)
In ancient times, caves were probably seen as holy places. There were no Men Who Lived in Caves. The beautiful images we see on the wall were telling stories and engraving ideas into the mind of the hunter. Imagine, if you will, what life would have been like for the primitive hunter-gatherer. So imagine entering the darkened, sacred cave as a child for the first time. Hypothetically, the adults of the tribe have never permitted entrance to this cave, and now that you’re a man at thirteen snow-melts they’re going to show you the secret, that you might become a man. You crawl after your peers through the tiny entrance to see a smoky cave, barely lit with flickering torches. Through the smoke, you see a beautiful painting of a bull. Keep in mind that as a member of a fairly mobile group, you don’t usually get to see intricate art, and this might even be the first painting you’ve ever seen. The paints used were fragile, and wouldn’t withstand the outdoors. You might even wonder how the spirit of the bull got trapped in the cave walls. Imagine what an impression this would make on you. Data transmitted without words from the cave walls into your mind. Suddenly, you knew where to stab the mighty bull to kill it
“I know Kung Fu”
Similarly, the Cult of Chavin had an elaborate underground passage for those being initiated into the cult, with cracks carved to create eerie whistling noises. At the end of the chamber was the “god,” a well lit stone carved statue. It is a mystery what secrets the cult of Chavin attempted to reveal to it’s adherents, but it’s spread was explosive to assume that it was a good idea. I wonder if the cult of Chavin is a direct mythological descendant to the cave, or if the similarity is merely a coincidence.
Movie theaters share much of the same patterns as the cave. After entering the darkened room and snacking, the viewer transports himself away from the reality of the moment and gets swept up in a world that doesn’t exist. The world within even teaches people how to navigate through the strange and complex social world, with its layers of meaning. This makes the film Inception even more tantalizing. The darkened room itself is like a dream-state, leaving me wondering what thought Inception was trying to plant.
Movies and Cave-Rituals both share one value: the dreamlike state that people enter within. In a movie theater, the area is darkened, snacking becomes automatic, and the projection on the screen is immense and loud. When one watches a movie in the theater, all else tends to be blocked out. Anything that removes people from that trance-like state is immediately “shushed:” loud talking, cell phones, and inappropriate giggles are all culturally prohibited. We can’t know what happened in Cave-Rituals, but I expect that the receptive, welcoming state within people’s minds as they enter movie theaters and dreams wouldn’t be too dissimilar to the state entered by participants in cave rituals.
Author’s Name: Christopher Lamere, Institution, SUNY Plattsburgh, Year written 2010
