Great Expectations: The Role of Myth in 1980s Films with Child Heroes

• Main Author: Olson, Eric Lars
• Other Authors: Communication Studies
• Format: Others
• Published: Virginia Tech 2014
• Subjects: Cinema; Spielberg; Monomyth; Myth; Hero
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/32929; http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05172011-113805/

This study performed a mythic analysis on three films with child heroes including E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Stand by Me, and The Goonies. Several unifying themes were extracted and then compared with the dominant values of Reagan America to determine if these films provided a unique cultural outlook. While most of the uncovered themes have been recognized in other films of the era, the theme of childhood as a community in peril is unique. It is purported these films pass judgment on Reagan as a dubious national patriarch, and that it is possible that this is a function that many myths with child heroes fulfill. === Master of Arts