The Hero’s Journey in Episodic Television – Part 1
by Diana Black
Before we explore the concept of ‘The Hero’s Journey’ in relation to episodic television, let’s first define ‘The Hero’ and the nature of the ‘Heroic journey’.
It’s generally hard to be heroic while doing the laundry, the weekly grocery shopping, shaving or any of the other mundane day-to-day things we occupy ourselves with…hence we unconsciously yearn for more – to experience ‘living on the brink’ , in fear of losing that life, so as to test ourselves on ‘the battlefield’ where we hope like hell to prevail. Perhaps this is the reason why high-intensity sport is so popular – for the adrenalin rush it provides. Perhaps it’s also why for more than a few, there’s a desire to reminisce with cherished comrades who also survived the insanity of ‘the’ war.
So if ‘normal’ life falls short of providing us with self-validation, what can we do? Among other things, we can experience pain and triumph by proxy – ‘experiencing’ being a hero via the big or little screen.