The Proposal: Movie Analysis

In every story ever told Joseph Campbell’s concept of the Hero’s Journey works its way into the plot. Of course most people only notice Campbell’s concept when the author of a story clearly states that the protagonist is a hero. What most people don’t know is that you could be watching a sappy love story and still be following along with the concept. I recently put the Hero’s Journey to a test by watching The Proposal. The movie started out with, Meredith, the hero of the movie. I consider Meredith to be an antihero. She lacks most heroic qualities, and she has obvious flaws. Every hero’s journey starts off with a call to action. In this movie the call to action was when Meredith learned that she is going to be deported back to Canada. She knows that if she doesn’t …show more content…
She has realized that she can’t take advantage of Andrew and his family anymore, and she has to face the consequences for herself. She has also reached the atonement phase of the hero’s journey. She has come to terms with everything that has happened and is finally okay with the changes. While she is busy packing up to leave, Andrew's grandmother is giving advice to him about how if he truly loves her then he will go back to New York and tell her before it is too late. He takes the advice and soon heads back to New York. Now we are at the point of the return. Andrew tells Meredith how he feels and she tells him that she feels the same way. They decide to actually get married for the right reasons this time. Meredith completes her journey by getting to stay in America.
Joseph Campbell’s concept of the Hero’s Journey applies to every story that has been told. Just because the story doesn’t contain dragons, witches, or other supernatural elements, doesn’t mean that it can’t apply to the concept. It doesn’t matter if it is a horror movie, drama, comedy, or a sappy romantic movie, the Hero’s Journey will always