Month: October 2017

 

"The Storm" (Freestyle) https://t.co/QLPjtgS5n3

— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) October 11, 2017

Eminem made a bold decision on October tenth of this year: making a rap that he called, “The Storm.” But this was no ordinary rap, nor was it one to show that he is coming back after a while of not producing anything: a rap about our current president, Donald Trump. Although Marshall Mathers (Eminem) might fit the description of a Trump supporter, this rap discussed how awful of a president Trump is and that we should impeach him. He makes many references throughout the rap, most about Trump but some unrelated and a logical fallacy.

One of the more obvious but very serious references was “But we better give Obama props ‘Cause what we got in office now’s a kamikaze That’ll probably cause a nuclear holocaust.” Mathers was referring to Trump almost starting a nuclear war with Kim Jong Un and North Korea. Obviously, this is not good for the President of the United States to do, so Mathers would definitely criticize Trump harshly for it. However, not everything Mathers talked about in the rap was that serious; he even makes a reference to the Thing from Fantastic Four. “Racism’s the only thing he’s fantastic for (Fantastic Four) ‘Cause that’s how he gets his fuckin’ rocks off and he’s orange Yeah, sick tan.” Mathers concludes his rap with an Either/or logical fallacy, stating that you either support him or Trump (but not both). This indicates how serious he is about his opinion on Trump and that if you do support Trump then he does not want you to support him anymore.

 

The Hero’s Quest Cycle defined what a legitimate hero was due to its requirements that the hero must encounter. Although this initially made me think that heroes were significantly less abundant as my definition of a hero, The sitcom Community in the episode Advanced Dungeons and Dragons made me think otherwise. Every character in that episode fulfilled all or almost all of the requirements stated within the hero’s quest cycle, with Fat Neil being the most obvious; I was able to almost make Chang, who dies very early in the game, line up with the hero cycle. Even the “villain” of the episode Pierce qualified as a hero due to his actions. However, that reveals a flaw within the cycle. Besides Pierce, the rest of the cast were trying to make Neil feel better and reconsider any irrational decisions. Although his decisions, in the end, were heroic, his intentions were not. Therefore, I do not consider Pierce as a hero since I think intentions matter more than the result.

However, that reveals a flaw within the cycle. Although his decisions, in the end, were heroic, his intentions were not. Therefore, I consider Pierce as a hero since I think intentions matter more than the result. The outcome was all determined by luck, chance, and the fact that it was a sitcom, which would obviously favor the high risk, high reward. Pierce’s claimed heroism was literally a dice roll; had Neil rolled anything that was not an 18 or higher, the outcome may have been favored towards Pierce’s liking. Overall, I do think the Hero’s Quest Cycle is a very good way of determining the hero/heroes of the story, movie, etc.; there just needs to be a few more details mentioned.

Matthew Winkler presents a very interesting thing about a lot of heroes in stories: that there is a pattern that exists between each and every hero from their call to adventure to the resolution. Although no trend exists during a hero’s childhood or background, it reveals like an equation to mathematics on how to write a story about a hero. However, this fact correlates to the introduction from They Say/I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. In the introduction, a template was recommended to be used for writing, especially for when learning how to write. In this case, the pattern that Winkler mentioned is an overview of a possible template that could be used to discuss or reveal a new hero. This could also provide evidence regarding professional writers using templates for writing their stories and/or books, further supporting the use of it. Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and many other popular books all contain heroes that follow this pattern. Therefore, this pattern reveals the steps a hero takes or faces that must remain consistent in order to create a popular story. Not every hero has to be Superman or Batman; heroes are more easily relatable when they are imperfect humans that do not have superpowers or the money to make up for the lack of them. Although superhuman heroes will always be popular with children, seeing someone being called to temporary, possibly dangerous situations filled with many obstacles so that he or she may grow and receive fame as a result feels much more reasonable and attractive to a more matured audience.