Just as a heads-up: my posts this week will probably be below their usual standards, what with the musical. However, I'll do my best to keep them up to par.
I feel as though The Power of Myth makes the subjects that it deals with far more appealing to people in our society, which, although theoretically secular, is based strongly on Christian ideals. That's a double-edged sword in some ways, but that's an entirely different, highly controversial matter for another time. Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers present Campbell's theory in a way that does not try to discredit religion as a whole; rather, it supports all religions, which makes it appeal to a variety of people with different backgrounds and different beliefs. Among the things that stood out to me were the connections made between Christianity, specifically the Old Testament, and African myth. In both cases, the creator had made man and woman and a variety of animals. In both cases, the creator had forbidden all to eat the fruit of a specific tree. And in both cases, a dastardly talking serpent convinced man and woman to eat said forbidden fruit, and was blamed. The striking similarities of these two stories, which likely developed independently of one another, is another matter entirely. But what made this stand out is that Campbell and Moyer took a well-known Christian story and projected it outside of Christianity in the very beginning, making the largely-Christian-influenced audience more likely to listen to the rest of the documentary.
The other elements of the documentary that stood out to me were those dealing with the Hindu myths and culture. The statue-carving of the "Mask of God" in the cave was particularly intriguing. The shots incorporated helped the audience, or at least me, draw a sense of the scale of the carvings, and their location. The location itself - deep within an underground cave - was enough to grab my attention, although I may not necessarily speak for everyone else. But the whole concept of duality represented by the mask and the two opposite faces - one male, one female - kept the audience listening. The whole concept of good and evil, right and wrong, light and dark, all with humankind smack dab in the middle, is very relevant. Most religions encourage us to do what's right, but we all have darkness in our hearts; some of us more than others. Heck, there are quite a few people that I would kill in painful ways if I thought I could get away with it. And you all thought I was a halfway decent guy...but in all honesty, how many of you haven't wished death upon someone before?
The teachings of the Hindu guru Campbell referred to in the documentary were also highly significant. Campbell asked the guru that, if all the universe was sacred to Hindus, were all the evils of the universe sacred as well? The priest replied that yes, they were all sacred. This is a very different way of thinking than the general western mindset; here in America, we feel that evils should be punished, in accordance to how evil they were. The idea that Hitler's murder of millions of innocents, the horrors of slavery, and the 9-11 attacks are something to be idolized doesn't quite sit well with us. But that's taking things a bit out of proportion; I'm no Hindu (I'm sure you're all shocked by that), but I would guess that these things are relative. Hopefully I'm not offending anyone with my inferences, but I don't think any person in their right mind would be willing or able to vindicate the Nazis, even if they have a respect for all actions. Campbell presented the events in this way, at any rate, saying that it applied to us all, and that our darker sides were just as important to who we are as individuals as our good sides.
The presentation of the myth of Indra and the carpenter god Vishvakarma was particularly notable to me, personally. As religions, Hinduism and Christianity are very similar and very different at the same time. "Like, and yet unalike," as J.R.R. Tolkien put it (although he was referring to a very different topic). Many people here in the U.S. are automatically inclined to be hostile to beliefs that are not their own, and in regards to the deities involved, Hinduism and Christianity are as different as they come. However, the use of the images to portray the myth itself greatly boosted Campbell's telling of the myth; all in all, it simply seemed like storytelling. The gods in the myth simply seemed like regular people, going about their business, trying to get themselves out of fixes. That's an easy story for anybody to relate to, which is why Campbell's choice to utilize it when comparing religions was so affective.
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