Abstract
The Protagonist sets aside their reliance upon old behaviors to embrace what they are discovering of their authentic nature. As these dynamics emerge, the Protagonist becomes empowered as they align themselves with their true self. The challenges the Protagonist confronts no longer seem overwhelming and they begin to turn the tide of events in their favor. This represents the reconstruction phase of the metamorphosis process and is typically experienced by the Protagonist as a positive change. This chapter includes several movie and television examples along with continued analysis of the respective Protagonist arcs in The Silence of the Lambs, Breaking Bad, Shakespeare in Love, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Commemorative ed.; Bollingen Series 17; (Princeton University Press, 1968), p. 24.
- 2.
Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have (Conari Press, 2011), p. 257.
- 3.
The Verdict, screenplay by David Mamet, based on a novel by Barry Reed. Movie script, dated November 23, 1981.
- 4.
See Chapter Three: Disunity.
- 5.
In a February 13, 2018 92Y interview, Rachel Bloom noted about the writers’ approach to Season 3: “We said this season was going to be like funny Fatal Attraction,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62sDq2jzPI0.
- 6.
Ibid.
- 7.
In S3, Ep12 (“Trent?!”), he tells Rebecca, (“I’m one scary scary sexy man”) which is a callback to the song Rebecca sang “Scary Scary Sexy Lady” from S3, Ep4.
- 8.
The fact Miles spray paints and creates his own Spider-Man outfit symbolizes how he has embraced this new identity as his own.
- 9.
Ibid., pp. 42–43.
Further Study
On Story: Episode 208—Ted Tally and The Silence of the Lambs, Austin Film Festival, May 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzRDP253eXE.
Anatomy of a Script: Vince Gilligan on Breaking Bad, Writers Guild Foundation, August 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx8ETtHxO9o.
Times Talk: Tom Stoppard, New York Times, April 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKiYH7kW_eA.
Conversations with Rachel Bloom, Aline Brosh McKenna of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, SAG-AFTRA Foundation, June 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UmexJGMGnE.
Interview: Into the Spider-Verse co-director/writer Rodney Rothman, Schoolism Interviews, December 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qf7tPfeSIg.
References
Bloom, R. and Brosh McKenna, A. (creator) (2015–2019). Crazy Ex-Girlfriend; The CW Network.
Campbell, J. (1968). The Hero With a Thousand Faces, Commemorative ed.; Bollingen Series 17; Princeton University Press.
Gilligan, V. (creator) (2008–2013). Breaking Bad; American Movie Classics (AMC).
Lord, P. and Rothman, R. (screenplay), Lord P (story) (2018). Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; Marvel Entertainment / Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Nepo, M. (2011). The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have; Conari Press.
Norman, M. and Stoppard, T. (written by) (1998). Shakespeare in Love; Miramax Films.
Tally, T. (screenplay), Harris, T (novel) (1991). The Silence of the Lambs; Orion Pictures.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Myers, S. (2022). Reconstruction. In: The Protagonist's Journey. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79682-2_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79682-2_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-79681-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-79682-2
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)