Will

One of the most important conversations depicted in Will is a meeting Smith has with Steven Spielberg during which Spielberg describes the hero’s journey, otherwise known as the monomyth. Joseph Campbell coined the concept of the monomyth in his 1949 book The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Campbell drew on the work of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and folklorist Arnold Van Gennep to synthesize the fundamental structure underlying hundreds of myths from various (mostly Western) cultures. Campbell concluded that the stories of ancient heroes almost always follow a “formula represented in the rites of passage: separation—initiation—return”:

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder (x): fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won (y): the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man (z) (Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With a Thousand Faces. New World Library, 2008, p. 23).

During the hero’s journey, the hero must confront obstacles in the world and within themselves, win allies to their side, and learn lessons that transform them and endow them with knowledge and abilities that they employ to help their loved ones, often through a final battle with forces that threaten their family, clan, or nation. The hero’s journey has been influential in academic analysis and creative writing since Campbell introduced it in 1949, but it gained greater influence in cinematic storytelling when George Lucas relied on the monomyth structure to create the first Star Wars trilogy. Other examples of popular hero’s journeys in film and literature include The Wizard of Oz, The Hunger Games, and The Lord of the Rings.

The hero’s journey is important to Smith’s memoir for two reasons. First, it influences which movies he chooses to do. He respects the hero’s journey and understands its power, and as such, he prefers stories that follow the monomyth’s arc. Second, it is important because the hero’s journey provides the narrative structure for his memoir. Like the hero in the monomyth, he sets out on his quest to become the most famous movie star in the world to help his friends and family advance. He encounters obstacles along the way in both his personal and his professional life. He learns from these obstacles that he has to allow space in his life to those closest to him, and that lesson transforms him and his behavior. He achieves his quest to become the most famous movie star in the world, and along the way, he also grows and matures as a person, a father, and a husband.