7 - Heroes and their Quests

By: Karina and Kristen 

HEROES AND THEIR QUESTS

Introduction

      The documentaries viewed this week were both shocking and inspiring. Both demonstrate a variety of obstacles that hinder us from pursuing a common goal, but in these cases the heroes are set in extreme and challenging situations. These three men exemplify the true meaning of dedication, through their unstoppable pursuit of their dreams and happy endings, and prove that a hero is not a mythical character depicted in a comic book or fairytale. Heroes are found in today’s society, embodied by everyday men and women. They do not require special powers or abilities like Hercules or Iron Man. A true hero is defined by their ability to overcome challenges and seek out a goal that is inspiring and/or selfless.

Touching the Void- Always Holding on

The 106 minute Canadian film Touching the Void by Kevin Macdonald created in 2003, depicts the heroic struggle of two men who wish to conquer the climb of the dangerous but alluring mountain, Siula Grande. At the beginning of their journey, Joe and Simon are two simple mountain climbers who have dedicated their whole life to mountain climbing, preparing specifically to be the first to reach the top of the Siula Grande. During the initiation of their journey, they encounter many challenges, especially considering they chose to climb alpine style, which consists of little gear strapped to their backs. Joe and Simon encounter many struggles along the way some being minor and others life threatening. The journey begins with smaller issues such as treacherous conditions, leading to a delay in schedule, causing a domino effect of running out of resources, mainly gas, and eventually dehydration. Their choice in climbing Alpine style as well contributed into a quicker decline of resources as this style consists of packing lightly. Although this seemed detrimental these two men had no idea what was in store for them. In the climax of this film, Simon is faced with the ultimate dilemma of saving his own life or aiding Joe who suffered a traumatic break in Any living creature’s primary goal in life is self-preservation, though Simon receives massive amounts of criticism on his selfish choice to abandon Joe, from the mountaineer community, as well as self-guilt and loathing for risking his friend’s life. Joe faces other issues such as the will to live, when hope to escape the treacherous mountain seems bleak, due to his condition and his dangerous environment. 

This week’s topic was “Heroes and their Quests” where we discussed the journey of the hero, their character, and the action of the story. Simon and Joe’s journey began when they separated from their ordinary world and began making their way towards the mountain. In their initiation, they faced the challenges thrown at them by the climate of the mountain, their trust in one another and their trust in themselves, all challenges which are the keys to their survival towards the end. As they return from their life defining journey, they bring their experience and story to the mountaineer community and to us, and more importantly, they learn to never give up and believe in themselves. 

A Heroes Journey

         
   The clip above uses fictional heroes from pop culture and their struggles in everyday life as an extreme example of what everyday realistic heroes may face. As always the hero begins in the Mundane World, an unattractive situation or place that the hero wants to escape from. This is an environment that they have grown accustomed to but seek to flee it, and this is one of the factors that promote the hero to go on their journey. What really entices the hero is their Call to Adventure, which shows the hero of something desirable to strive for, whether it’s treasure, better living conditions, or a chance to help others. In Simon and Joe’s case, they wanted adventure and self recognition in climbing the horrid mountain. Next the hero must Cross the Threshold; they must have the courage to escape from their mundane world to the place that calls out to them. This is where Simon and Joe’s climb begins. This clip shows the Path of Trials that the hero faces which include meeting allies and enemies, developing skills and facing challenges. Simon and Joe were faced with a multitude of challenges to survive, where their survival skills were tested tot their limits. These two heroes returned with new incite and knowledge of the mountain, becoming Master’s of Two Worlds.

Man on a Wire- An Impossible Dream

The 94 minute documentary Man on Wire produced by James March in 2008 in the United Kingdom, describes the life-altering journey of Philippe Petit, on his quest to walk on a wire between the two twin towers. The film consists on a series of interviews with Philippe and his team, reenactments of the journey and some real life clips of Philippe’s life and accomplishments. His story begins with the challenges of preparing for the event: gathering a team, examining the structure of the towers and the possibility of achieving his goal. A very conflicting journey, the consequences of achieving their goal would cause Philippe and his team to face the court of law and failure would mean Philippe’s untimely death. Even with the consequences, this was an opportunity Philippe could not pass. He relied on not only self confidence but the strength and confidence within his team, for it is not a one man operation. They needed a man on the inside, working for the World Trade center, people specialized in securing the ropes and setting all the equipment up, and people to help transport the equipment. Trust within the group was hard to maintain, as many disagreements and fights broke out about how to proceed with getting the equipment up to the roof of the towers and how to ensure Philippe’s safety while crossing the wire. As the day came, the team, mainly Philippe, Jean Francois, Jean Louis and Albert, had close calls with security guards, being forced to hide away under a tarp for many hours at one point to avoid capture. When finally in the clear, the team was faced with getting the rope across to the second tower, which they prepared to shoot across with a bow and arrow, and steady the wire against the wind by adding a cross of additional wires. After Philippe finally lived his dream, and received a grateful audience below, he faced the New York judicial system. Of course his fame prompted him an easy escape from severe consequences, while his team mate Jean Francois, was faced with exile from the United States. The final issue Philippe faced was choosing friends or fame, and he chose the latter, crushing the hearts of his friends and girlfriend Annie.

Philippe began his journey, separating from his old life with to plan his lifelong dream with his friends. Similarly to Joe and Simon, Philippe was faced with challenges of teamwork, trust, self preservation, but also choosing selfish needs over loved ones. He and Simon and Joe yet again demonstrated the strive for greatness within themselves. They took their passions and made dreams out of them and from that made goals that in the end were rewarded as life achievements something that only themselves could have done.  As he returned to his life, he was blessed with fame and popularity, isolating himself from his friends. This film really allowed to viewers to see what it truly takes for a dream to come true. It demonstrates the years of practice and dedication that is necessary to achieve any goal. 

the Oscar that “man on a wire” received

 Sundance Studio Interview with James March and Philippe Petit on the documentary and Philippe’s story.

Sundance Studio Interview with James Marsh and Philippe Petit

          This video really gives us an insight on the producer and tightrope walker’s thoughts and comments on creating this film. Petit goes into depth about his determination and love of his achievement in “marrying” the Twin Towers together. He believes that in conquering the towers, he has lived through his own personal fairytale. Even James Marsh compliments Petit on his careful planning and plotting and the time he dedicated to make his dream possible.

Our Thoughts and Comments on Touching the Void and Man on Wire

          The film Touching the Void, educates us of the importance of self preservation, maintaining close relations with others, developing trust with others, and having faith oneself. These topics are similarly raised in Man on Wire, though the issue of fame vs. friendships also arises, when Philippe is faced with aiding his friends who were being harshly prosecuted and living out his fame and fortune at the risk of losing those friendships.

           Both filmmakers effectively showed the life threatening struggles the heroes of the films had to face and the ways overcame them, even if they sacrificed their friends for either their own life, or fame.  Both filmmakers seemed to hit the right angle considering they wanted to clearly make it inadmissible that what these men were doing was nearly the impossible. They showed the most life threatening scenes and built up to the moment of most distress yet we knew that these men were still alive we were still left in awe of what was occurring in front of us. Both films were successful in allowing the viewers to experience the emotion necessary to understand what these men really encountered and also achieved. By switching from reenactments to interviews, to real life footage, viewers get to witness a balance of dramatization and realization that these are real people who have overcome many challenges.

          Touching the Void was an extremely eye opening film to those of us who have never experienced a life threatening situation as this documentary demonstrates the power of the human will to live. Humans although a seemingly a weak race, we all have a will inside of us that is stronger than we can imagine and do not know it until it is tested. This documentary is a testimony of what we are truly capable of if we are willing to survive. After viewing the film is clear that you must “keep on making choices, right and or wrong” this will always have a better outcome than just sitting and waiting. This documentary demonstrates how we can make an impact on our own lives and continuously strive towards greatness; we just need to push ourselves to our farthest limits.

          These films show us the key to survival, whether on a dangerous journey, or simply our demanding society, we must form alliances and gain trust with those around us, and use tools, whether material or mental to overcome daily obstacles. Even in the workplace, of the average citizen or school. Projects are accomplished through trust and teamwork, and combining the skills of different individuals. Humans are interactive beings. We need others to survive. The two films show us the paths that we choose define who we are, both storylines involve people who find the dream they wish to pursue and then they actually do it. They show us how we the human race are all capable of being our own heroes and engaging in our own quests and in fact achieving what we want to succeed in. However we a clearly shown that these dreams to not come by for free, this is why we are not all heroes, not until we can prove ourselves worthy. Moreover, we cannot get anything for free, everything in life must be worked for, no matter where. It requires time, commitment, practice and work. These two films show us that the impossible can be made possible however it will not just happen overnight, it will only come through hard work and determination of reaching our goals.

Heroes don't stop

Conclusion: Someone Who Fights for What They Want Deserves What They Get

As a result it is clear that both films inquire of how we may improve our own lives: how we as a whole can be our own heroes and follow through on our dreams. These men, Philippe, Joe and Simon all faced different yet consequentially similar challenges, proving that you can be your own hero and overcome anything, as long as you set your mind to it.