The Wise Imagination

Our culture loves to tell stories—we, however, now have another medium in which to relate them. Last month, our friend Rachel featured a series of posts about film selections for “movie nights.” While Rachel’s posts emphasize the entertaining nature of films, I want to explore this month a topic that I find most interesting. In fact, I wish I could have explored it more in depth in grad school when I numerous resources at my disposal. However, a series of blog post will have to do. Some of my closest friends will recall numerous conversations about mythology and its presence in film. We have also discussed at length the mystery of the American myth. Of course, I find the two almost invariably connected.

Stories carry the framework of a culture. Specifically, myth and fairy tales mainly perpetuate the divine reality or the culture identity respectively, and both have evolved…