The Life and Authenticity of Cinematic Myth

The Life and Authenticity of Cinematic Myth

     When a myth is portrayed in the audio-visual format in a cinematic setting, the story being told goes through a process unique to this medium of storytelling. The most distinct effect film has on myth-telling is the tangible life the stories are given; being able to engage our sight senses in a story allows the audience to absorb the tale to a new level unattainable by other forms of storytelling. For example, devout followers of the Star Wars film series are able to deeply connect to the mythology, and each other, because they are able to see uniform evidence of the scenery, individuals, and objects in the myth, rather than leaving those details up for their own imaginations. Without the visual aspect, audience members all interpret the story differently because of the diversity of their individual imaginations: visual imagery allows everyone to see and comprehend exactly the same thing.
     However, while cinematic story-telling gives myths more "tangible" life, it hinders their authenticity. Part of the beauty of reading, and verbally telling tales over generations is the act of wishful wonder they inspire. Stories that are told verbally, or read, follow an "innocent until proven guilty" principle. Because there is no physical evidence for why these stories couldn't have occurred, there is just as much evidence for why they may have actually occurred. Myths told in the audio-visual format lose that sense of wonder because the story unfolds right before the audience's eyes, exposing the story's fraudulence.