Because I Believe!!!

If you're familiar Joseph Campbell, you are familiar with his well received book The Hero with 1,ooo Faces.  I myself have not read it, but I am familiar with Campbell's thorough exploration of the hero myth. In scanning the book, I have learned one or two ways in which the hero originates.  

Transformers 2, perhaps unlikely candidate to wax philosophy about heroes, showcases the hero as one reluctant to adopt his destiny.  Optimus Prime says something significant as the film's rising action starts to reach it's climax...

FATE RARELY MEETS US IN THE MOMENT OF OUR CHOOSING.

This theme is often mirrored in our tales we have seen throughout literature, later depicted on film.  Take for example Frodo of Lord of the Rings, in which Gandalf reassures Frodo that none of us wishes the fate we might be given, but what is important is what we do with the time that has been given us. Or examine Harry Potter. His life is more or less filled with more choices, though he chooses the more difficult path....which leads to struggle and sacrifice....

These elements are subtle in Transformers 2, but towards one scene, I was reeling because it made me wonder what it would be like if Michael Bay directed the last installment of Harry Potter! I mean come on!!! Battle at Hogwarts Castle!!!! Bring it on baby! Explosions and ....well, we all want to here Mrs Weasley yell, "Not my daughter, you bitch!" at Bellatrix Lestrange! That would totally rock....

But I've been digressing. Transformers 2 has great subtle lines that one might miss among the cluster&^%$ that is explosions and fighting splattering on the screen.  For instance, Tyson Beckford's character says as an aside, "They say God made us in his image; who made him?" when referring to Optimus Prime....

I always like to milk out some form of lesson from all the films I watch. I cannot say I learned much in the first 2/3rds but the last is enormously beautiful.  Sam must do something impossible and when his girlfriend asks him how he thinks it can be done, he simply says with great conviction: "Because I believe....I believe!"

I got sort of emotional, and it really was a great testament of faith in some respect.

For further comparisons of the hero myth, reanalyze The Matrix and then read The Gospel of the Matrix. I find you will be surprised how much our movies are peppered with so much references of resurrection and redemption. In the end, we are all heroes of our own destiny!

We only have to believe!