Is a politics-driven Hero's Journey viable?

(Politics in terms of interpersonal relationships, not nation-state ruling.)

From my understanding of The Hero's Journey (meta-)plot, it has the hero enter unknown territory, navigate a series of challenges, and then return to the familiar territory he started off in.

However, in all the examples I've ever seen, those challenges are physical and/or focused on the physical. Star Wars has Luke blow up the Death Star, train as a Jedi, and defeat the Empire. Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone has Hogwarts/the stone and Voldemort, etc.

However, I'm not that interested in writing that, since I don't think I can make action compelling using pure text. Instead, I was considering having my hero go on a "social" hero's journey, where the challenges are in terms of impressing other people, or overcoming some internal hangup*

, and other intellectually-bent things. I'm not entirely sure what the analogue to a Big Bad is in this sort of structure, but I'm also not entirely sure I need one.

Do people think this is a viable idea to pursue, or are relationships hard(er) to make compelling? Or is there another disadvantage to this that I'm not considering?

edited 29th Apr '12 6:06:57 PM by Yej

Da Rules excuse all the inaccuracy in the world. Listen to them, not me.

...so you want to do a high school drama, but not necessarily with a high school setting...?

"Shit, our candidate is a psychopath. Better replace him with Newt Gingrich."

That seems unfair.

My apologies. It was not intended as a value judgement; in fact, I approve of this idea, at least as a concept. That was simply what I interpreted the idea to be, in simple terms.

"Shit, our candidate is a psychopath. Better replace him with Newt Gingrich."

I also find the idea interesting, at least from a theoretical standpoint; what I objected to was the way how you seemed to equate "social drama" to "high school".

edited 29th Apr '12 6:31:22 PM by nrjxll

High school is the quintessential example of long-term, multifaceted interpersonal relationships almost everyone on the board will be acquainted with. Of course, you can have similar dynamics (adjusted for maturity) in nearly any setting. Family sitcoms are another common example, as well as workplace dramas like The Office or House. However, he's describing it as a journey, which makes me think of something less episodic and more structured and linear. Thus, high school also lends itself well as a metaphor, because in it you have a definitive beginning and end and concrete goals in between, though the exact specifics of how you get between A and B are not known until right as or before they happen.

"Shit, our candidate is a psychopath. Better replace him with Newt Gingrich."

Yes.

• Real Life Examples:
  • Any propaganda on current sitting Presidents as democracy is in fashion,
  • Ancient Greeks "For The REPUBLIC!!!" Romans with "FOR ROME!!!"
  • Any Kingdom with "For King/The Crown/Throne/Father/Second Cousin Land!"

Basically, as long as the idea of "Patriot" exsists, there will be a government trying to glamorize the patriot.

• Un Real Life Examples:
  • Captain America
  • Super Man
  • The Dead Super Leaders of North Korea.

Um, did you read the first post? Specifically, this part?

@ Nr. Ooops...editing examples.

Real Life Examples:

• Joe Rebulican VS his former best friend Bob the Liberal in an epic race to Washington!
• Ancient Greeks Heroes, Romans Generals, Kings and Queens of Olden facing the challenges of Work/Slay balance as they carve their bloody place in history and juggle family relationships.

Unreal Life Examples:

• Captain America's quiet moments when he's not being a hero and has to come to grips with the fact that he is alone, a man out of his time and he has to deal with an entire world of young punks who play music too loud, wear stupid clothes and act crazy.
• Super Man: He fights for Truth, Justice and the hopes of find a place as an undocumented alien without a a greencard.
• STILL The Dead Super Leaders of North Korea....

The essence of drama is conflict- this conflict can be anything from physical to aptitude to intellectual.

The Hero's Journey is an archetypical plotline that involves a Quest and a series of challenges/events.

I think that physical conflict is the easiest to represent and show milestones for, so it gets the most play, but you could certainly adapt the cycle to non-physical conflict with some thought (The Belly of the Whale could be represented with a Heroic BSoD for instance), and so long as you avoided Epiphany Therapy it could make for good reading.

"The only way to truly waste an idea is to shove it where it doesn't belong."

Yes, almost all stories can be compared to the heroes journey not just quest stories. The ultimate example of the heroes journey isn't star wars or harry potter but the New testament. Which builds more on inter-personal interaction (to teach lesson) then the quest.

Rarely active, try DA/Tumblr Avatar by pippanaffie.deviantart.com