Abstract:
Mythology has been a part of nearly every culture since the beginning of man. Despite the American culture's move away from myth and towards science, our entertainment is littered with the same stories that existed thousands of years ago. Sports films today and in the early times of the motion picture have successfully kept the classic hero alive. The analysis of six major sports films over the last 64 years gives an idea of how consistent heroic journey stories are and how well patterned the American sports hero is. In Pride of the Yankees (1942), Gentleman Jim (1942), Brian's Song (1971), Victory (1981), Hoosiers (1986) and The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005) the heroic figures are not only similar amongst themselves, but similar to the heroic figures that have been in mythology for many years. I analyze these six films in the eye of the classic heroic journey, and put together a list of characteristics that modem American sports heroes share.
