Vogler...

In this week's reading of Vogler, we read the sections of "Crossing the 1st threshold," and "Tests, enemies, allies." Our hero is now past accepting the the challenge, and is crossing the 1st threshold. It can be a physically natural barrier with considerably difficult terrain, or a passage guarded by a being, into the new world. But be the challenge either of the two, they truly test the hero's worth of being fit to be on the journey in the first place.
In the tests, they can be of how well the hero judges the beings in the new world or of how he conducts himself for survival in the new, strange world. Allies can be made to lighten the burden of a task, especially if they survive long enough to "defeat the final boss," as us gamers would describe it. Upon acquiring training to defeat the "final boss," heroes often run into characters that are standoffish towards them. Not everyone will like the hero. And some of these standoffish people may become the "final boss" over time, or at least become his/her henchmen.
Personally, the second part of this section is my favorite part of the story. I like seeing the hero develop as he trains himself in whatever way to defeat the evilest of evil creatures. Every story has a different sort of training, it seems, too.
1.) Who's the worst "final boss" and why?
2.) What's the most difficult threshold, and why?
3.) What's the weirdest training you've ever witnessed a hero do, and describe.

5th Vogler Reading

So for this week's Vogler Readings, he discusses meeting with the mentor and refusal of the call. In refusal of the call, there are actually several ways that heroes can react by not answering the call to adventure. The hero can either "Avoid" the call, and simply answer it later after something even more tragic happens to compel the hero to answer the call. The hero can make "Excuses" as to why they cannot possibly answer the call because of "a pressing series of engagements." On page 108, Vogler states "These are temporary roadblocks, usually overcome by the urgency of the quest." But the hero can react so fearfully as "persistent refusal leads to tragedy." (page 109) Vogler also stater that there may be more than one call and that the calls can be "conflicting calls." There are even "positive refusals," in which Vogler describes some calls as being are summoned by the villains and the hero refusing these calls is "a wise and positive move on the part of the hero." There are also artistic heroes that "are refusing the Call of the world in order to follow the wider call of artistic expression." (page 110)Also discussed are the "willing hero," the "threshold guardians," and "the secret door." The secret door deals with human curiosity, where it is almost human instinct to find out the secret's that life has to offer.
The other section described in this reading is "meeting with the mentor." I meeting with the mentor, the hero usually trusts them. But Vogler states that "sometimes the mentor turns villain or betrays the hero." (page 121) He say that by questioning the mentor's motives, "it's one way to distinguish good from bad advice." (page 122)
I particularly enjoyed this section because we have finally moved forward in the readings. We've moved past the different character descriptions and into more of the bulk of the story, not just the beginning. This section really made me think of all the stories I've ever read or been told.
1.)Who would you consider questionable mentors in stories you heard of or read in the past?
2.) In which stories did you think the hero or mentor did a good job?
3.) Who would you consider to be the worst heroes?