Gooch- Patriot Games

Families have been described as the core to society, and the corner stone on which society is built. So how does one define such a powerful and important phenomenon? It is not necessarily marked by blood. It is a group of people whose individual members have come to define themselves and their path in life by their belonging to this group. This is the group that knows their every secret, and has most accepted them when no one else would. In the film, Patriot Games, families of all different origins and sizes play a crucial role in bringing emotion and intensity to the film. The involvement of families shows how the characters are so passionate. When the family is attacked, fear is lost and revenge and protection must be achieved at any cost. We see blood families, for example, in the Ryan’s, the royal family, and in Miller and his brother. There are institutional families in the group of Irish terrorists, and the FBI agency. The film consists of constant clashing between these families as they all take their turns passionately attacking and defending. While there are governments, agencies, and countries involved, in the end, it comes down to the interaction between two families that causes the struggle to begin and escalate until on is destroyed. Two of the main families are the Ryan family and Miller’s broken family. These two families could not be more opposite, and the family in which they belong defines each member’s place in life. The plot of the film results from the unexpected encounter between Ryan and Miller. When Jack kills Miller’s brother, the only family he has left, Miller will stop at nothing to destroy Jack’s family. So, of course, the attempted killing of Jack’s family must be the final step that brings the plot to a close. The perspective of the families allows the audience to look more deeply into the individual, and to see where he or she is coming from. Miller, for example, is not just a traitor to us, but someone who has been brought up in a violent family setting and has now lost the one person who defined his existence, the one person who made him human. Without his brother he was lost and desperate and had nothing to hold onto. So, by seeing his family upbringing and connections we see how his rage becomes so incredibly magnified to the point of delusion. Ryan took away his life and so he is determined to take away all that Ryan lives for- his family.

Gooch- Mosquito Coast and Witness

In both Witness and Mosquito Coast we see the young son or grandson lose his innocence and stray beyond what he has been taught and so long believed in. There comes a point where the child, who once lived and breathed revering his father, begins to see there is more he can believe in, more for him to consider before he dedicates his life to the ideals of his upbringing. In Witness, Samuel has been raised in the midst of the Amish people, and has been especially influenced by his grandfather, the quintessential Amish patriarch. His innocence has been easily preserved since he has not been exposed to the outside world and the corruption of the city. It is not until he ventures out into the city and sees the evil of greed and murder that he begins to question what his grandfather stands for. In Mosquito Coast, Charlie is constantly in awe of his father’s brilliance, and even when all others doubt him, he can still do no wrong in Charlie’s eyes. It is only after months of being worked to death and finally realizing that his father has put his whole family at risk and lost his morals, that Charlie begins to see that his father is very dangerous.

In the scene when Samuel sits on his grandfather’s lap, we can see how Samuel’s beliefs have been challenged by the evil he has seen. The character proxemics between the two is very intimate because his grandfather is desperately trying to maintain Samuel’s innocence and faith. And Samuel still loves his grandfather very much, so even though he timidly challenges what his grandfather is telling him he still remains close. His grandfather looks especially like the typical wise, old patriarch in this scene, the light reflecting off his white hair. The gun that lies in front of them on the table catches our eye, reminding us of what has caused Samuel to lose faith in the belief that it is never okay to hurt someone, even a bad man.

In the scene when the Fox family is watching their machine blow up, we see the beginning of Charlie’s disenchantment with his father. He once worked beside him without hesitation and stood up for him when his father was ridiculed, but now he questions all of that the night his father kills the three men with guns. First there is a close shot of his father’s face, the red flames glimmering off his glasses, giving him a devastating and crazed look. Then we see a close face shot of Charlie, who once stood right by his father, standing away from him now, looking scared and unsure. In the darkness, which shows the darkness of their story, we can almost only see Charlie’s eyes, but that is all we need to see in order to know what is going through his mind. He looks at his father in the darkness, seeing him cry for his invention, and realizes that his father’s vision has become more important that their lives and the lives of other people.

Gooch- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Although each of the movies in the Indiana Jones trilogy is meant to show Indiana’s journey through each stage of knightly formation, The Last Crusade has elements of all three stages in one movie. This last mission of the trilogy is the perfect mission for him to fully transform into the Aristocratic, or Spiritual, Knight because it is personal. The journey with the father he barely knows challenges Indy to search more inside himself for what he believes. He is challenged to confront his

past and the resentment he holds against his father. The first part of The Last Crusade explains where Indiana’s love for escaping death in the pursuit of ancient artifacts was first born. In this back story, we see so many reasons why Indiana Jones is the way he is: his fear of snakes, his belief in preserving artifacts, why he has little belief in the law, and the distance between him and his father. In the ending scene of the back-story he is confronted with his pursuers and the sheriff, being forced to give the crucifix back. In this scene we see how he is formed into a Mercenary Knight. He no longer believes the law can help him, so instead he works on his own fighting without belief in the cause, but simply to achieve the artifacts and achieve

the thrill.

Then as Indiana finds out that his father is in trouble, he becomes much more invested in his mission to save him. This personal connection attaches Indiana to a bigger cause and transforms him into the Indentured Knight. We see how much he lacks spiritually still when we compare him to his father. His father is on this journey not for the thrill or to retrieve an artifact, but to protect the artifact from evil and find “illumination.” This is shown in the scene where Indiana is at the cross roads with his dad arguing about where to go. His father explains why he has searched for so long for the Holy Grail, but Indiana still won’t believe because he has suffered from his father’s dedication to his mission.

We see Indiana reach his final stage at the end of the movie when he has to retrieve the Holy Grail in order to save his father. He has to go through three stages that are no longer based simply on cunning, like his previous tests, but on spiritual kn

owledge. We see him accept his role as a Spiritual Knight when he is hanging from his father’s arm trying to reach the grail. He is faced with the choice to risk his life one more time and retrieve an ancient artifact, or simply appreciate what it had done to save his father and leave it behind. In his refusal to reach for it and walk away with his father, he proves his worthiness to be a Spiritual Knight.

Gooch- Princess Leia's role for the Hero

In the entire Star Wars trilogy Princess Leia plays a pivotal role in continuing the journey of the hero. She is both the inspiration for his mission and a distraction from his destiny. Unlike the heroes, Luke and Han, Leia remains constant in her conviction and her bravery for the cause. Through out the history of film, women are often portrayed simply as the damsel in distress. In Leia’s case, while she may be introduced in this fashion her character grows further and we come to see the power that she holds as a great authority figure in the fight against the empire. This empowerment gives her the ability to be more than just a girl to save, but also the woman who inspires the work of an army, and who especially sparks the action of the two leading men.

Her role as the goddess, especially for Luke, is the most obvious role she plays. The audience is constantly reminded of her importance and purity as she is almost always shown in her glowing white outfits. Despite her constant fight against the evil of the dark side, she remains pure and unwavering. It is the vision of her calling for help that first intrigues Luke to embark on his journey, and once they meet, his love is one of the inspirations for him to keep going. Although, her relationship with Han is not as glorified as it is for Luke, through her constant challenges for him not to give up the fight and her bravery in their journey together (especially in “The Empire Strikes Back”) she is his goddess and inspiration not to return to the man he was before.

Her role as the temptress is one that is slightly more hidden. It seems inconceivable that such a strong and brave character could ever serve as a contributor to the hero’s doubts, but it is not by her flaws that she becomes the temptress. It is through the weakness of the hero that she becomes, as Campbell explains, a symbol “no longer of victory, but of defeat.” In his failures, Leia becomes Luke’s reminder of all that he has left to learn. While Luke has to save her from danger in all three films, it is in “The Empire Strikes Back” that Luke abandons his training and his call to be a Jedi in order to save her. In the final film he also risks his mission to defeat Darth Vader so that he can save her from Jaba’s cave. All of these efforts distract Luke from his mission and in each challenge he becomes weaker and doubts his ability to be the Jedi he is called to be.