Spiderman is a movie that comes to mind when I think of the Hero’s Journey. In this movie the main character, and hero, Peter, acquires super natural powers. I think the general formula was done well in the movie. Peter goes through the departure phase after he learns he has the super natural powers and then he goes through experimenting with them. In one scene in the movie he is in his room testing his capability of using his newly acquired “spidy’ senses, as shown in the picture below.

Another aspect that follows the concept of the Hero’s Journey is the absence of his parents and then his uncle. The absence of a father figure is what sets up the hero. Part of his challenges and temptations is shown when he has to go through deciding if he should use his powers for “evil or good.’

I believe that many movies today do meet the human needs expressed in the four functions of mythology. Movies can definitely meet these needs. I think that many movies fill the need for mystery. One example is Snow White and the Huntsmen. There is a mystery at the beginning of who the queen is and what her motive is. Many movies feel the need to know about our universe, one example is the movie Star Trek. Movies can meet all these need because they are depictions of stories and stories can be made up. Most movies are for entertainment purposes and in order to truly entertain people the movie industry must make movies that meet one or more of these needs.