Really compelling framing of myths as maps rather than mirrors. The distinction betwen deliberate construction and emergent "tuning" over generations is something I've been thinking about with modern IP franchises tbh. They try so hard to manufacture mythic weight but it just dosent land the same way. Maybe that's why the sequels felt hollow despite having the same creators and characters.
exactly right. “mythic” doesn’t work as an aesthetic choice. it only feels genuine as an organic, emergent phenomenon. modern movies like the MCU have sacrificed substance for scale, and tried pretend there’s no qualitative difference. what makes The Matrix interesting is that the first one almost seemed to happen by accident, which in my mind is usually the hallmark of something genuine. (See also: Night of the Living Dead, as previously explored here.)
It's interesting to read this today, I've been thinking lately of Night of the Living Dead and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and how, maybe these were pointing to something of their time, but also of this time. Maybe all time? Or time as we know it as humans? Is that what makes something mythic too? It's quasi-eternal relatability? I also think it's interesting as tech has sped up and become more "advanced" the zombies in zombie movies got faster, and film and everything in general became more about scale and production than pointing something out or arising organically. Maybe we are losing the organic? the simulacrum is commencing.
the system i've been working with draws from the threefold cosmos that frequently shows up in myths and folklore (which Western thinkers like Jung and Corbin started to dip their toes into). there is the Material (Mundane) Realm, the Liminal (Imaginal) Realm, and the Divine (Cosmic) Realm. "mythic" is where the Patterns that shape the cosmos start to become coherent processes within the Liminal Realm, and thus recognizable to us mortals down here.
a cosmic Pattern like "dissolution" shows up as Death in the Liminal Realm—not *a* death, or *our* death, but the totality of Death as a hyperobject. this is where we get "the Dead" and the Liminal personas (deities, psychopomps, etc.) who manage different aspects of Death, cross-culturally and throughout history.
so for me, what makes a narrative like Night of the Living Dead "mythic" is that it invokes those Liminal personas. when we watch Night of the Living Dead properly, we are in the presence of the Dead. the zombies are the Dead, full stop. they're reminding us of the ritual and metaphysical obligations toward them that we've been neglecting, and the metaphysical consequences that result. (i would say a narrative describing consequences or outcomes in the Material Realm is a "prophecy.")
Really compelling framing of myths as maps rather than mirrors. The distinction betwen deliberate construction and emergent "tuning" over generations is something I've been thinking about with modern IP franchises tbh. They try so hard to manufacture mythic weight but it just dosent land the same way. Maybe that's why the sequels felt hollow despite having the same creators and characters.
exactly right. “mythic” doesn’t work as an aesthetic choice. it only feels genuine as an organic, emergent phenomenon. modern movies like the MCU have sacrificed substance for scale, and tried pretend there’s no qualitative difference. what makes The Matrix interesting is that the first one almost seemed to happen by accident, which in my mind is usually the hallmark of something genuine. (See also: Night of the Living Dead, as previously explored here.)
It's interesting to read this today, I've been thinking lately of Night of the Living Dead and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and how, maybe these were pointing to something of their time, but also of this time. Maybe all time? Or time as we know it as humans? Is that what makes something mythic too? It's quasi-eternal relatability? I also think it's interesting as tech has sped up and become more "advanced" the zombies in zombie movies got faster, and film and everything in general became more about scale and production than pointing something out or arising organically. Maybe we are losing the organic? the simulacrum is commencing.
the system i've been working with draws from the threefold cosmos that frequently shows up in myths and folklore (which Western thinkers like Jung and Corbin started to dip their toes into). there is the Material (Mundane) Realm, the Liminal (Imaginal) Realm, and the Divine (Cosmic) Realm. "mythic" is where the Patterns that shape the cosmos start to become coherent processes within the Liminal Realm, and thus recognizable to us mortals down here.
a cosmic Pattern like "dissolution" shows up as Death in the Liminal Realm—not *a* death, or *our* death, but the totality of Death as a hyperobject. this is where we get "the Dead" and the Liminal personas (deities, psychopomps, etc.) who manage different aspects of Death, cross-culturally and throughout history.
so for me, what makes a narrative like Night of the Living Dead "mythic" is that it invokes those Liminal personas. when we watch Night of the Living Dead properly, we are in the presence of the Dead. the zombies are the Dead, full stop. they're reminding us of the ritual and metaphysical obligations toward them that we've been neglecting, and the metaphysical consequences that result. (i would say a narrative describing consequences or outcomes in the Material Realm is a "prophecy.")