Hello! I would like some guidance on a good direction to go for my weekly student presentation for a class called Religion and Popular Culture.

Hello!

I would like some guidance on a good direction to go for my weekly student presentation for a class called Religion and Popular Culture.

I appreciate any help or suggestions!

The assignment is:

Your presentation topic for this unit is good and evil in popular culture.

Find an image or video that will help the class understand the relationship between religion and popular culture and the topic above. Your presentation will include the image and a summary (no less than two hundred and fifty words). Your presentation summary should include information that will help the class understand your online sample and how it relates to Religion and Popular Culture. Remember to list your sources.

Below I've copied and pasted all 4 of the module contents that my professor provided. I was not able to upload the documents directly. These can provide reference and information to what has been taught and what I am expected to know.

Overview - Popular Mythology: Good and EvilObjectives

• Make a connection between the mythological framework of "The Hero's Journey" and Star Wars.
• Define secular humanism, mythology, and pantheism.
• Recognize how many fictional tales in popular culture work much like sacred stories in traditional religions.

Introduction

Star Wars (1977) Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew. LUCASFILM / 20th Century Fox / Album / Universal Images Group.

In the chapter on cultural religion from America: Religions and Religion, Albanese said, "Traditional sacred stories tell people who they are, where they have come from, what their tasks ought to be, and what their world means. In other words, sacred stories are creeds in narrative form; they tell people the basic beliefs they hold about their human condition" (Albanese 293).

In the United States, the American Sacred Stories of popular culture unite us by providing a common core of mythology from which we can draw meaning. In an era in which Americans have lost heroes in whom to believe, Lucas has created a myth for our times, fashioned out of bits and pieces of U.S. popular mythology but held together at its most basic level by the standard pattern of the adventures of a mythic hero.

Read

• Lecture - What is Pop Culture?
• Lecture - Concepts to Know
• Lecture - American Sacred Stories
• "Star Wars: A Myth for Our Time" from Screening the Sacred
• Lecture - The Hero's Journey

Watch

• "The Mythology of Star Wars with George Lucas and Bill Moyers" (56:51), from the 2009 Bill Moyers Collection, a Films On Demand video
• Watch a Star Wars film of your choice (you must find your own source)

Video Lectures

The Origins of Evil Part 1:

Video Transcript

(click to expand or contract)

The Origins of Evil Part 2:

Video Transcript

(click to expand or contract)

Lecture - Concepts to Know...

Mythology

Mythology is a sacred story which explains how the world and humanity evolved into their present form.

Pantheism

Pantheism comes from Greek word "pan" meaning all and "theism" meaning God. It is the belief that the impersonal God is one essence with the universe; God inhabits all things; God is not separated from the universe but is contained within it.

This is the foundation of most Hindu, Buddhist, and New Age religions, and it is the worldview of Star Wars.

Atheism

Atheism is the belief there is no god.

Agnosticism

Perhaps the most popular belief today is agnosticism, which comes from two Greek words: a, meaning "no," and gnosis, meaning "to know." So, an agnostic is one who doesn't know whether or not there is a god. In some cases, agnostics believe that no one can know whether or not there is a god or ultimate being.

Secular Humanism

Secular humanists accept a world view or philosophy called naturalism, in which the physical laws of the universe are not superseded by non-material or supernatural entities such as demons, gods, or other 'spiritual' beings outside the realm of the natural universe. 

Typically they would describe themselves as atheist or agnostic, and they may have become comfortable with Secular Humanism after a period of deism. 

Secular Humanists do not rely upon gods or other supernatural forces to solve their problems or provide guidance for their conduct. They rely instead on reason, history, science, and personal experience to form an ethical/moral foundation and to create meaning in their life.

The Happy Human icon above is used by some humanist organizations as a symbol of their philosophy.

Lecture - American Sacred Stories

"Traditional sacred stories tell people who they are, where they have come from, what their tasks out to be, and what their world means. In other words, sacred stories are creeds in narrative form; they tell people the basic beliefs they hold about their human condition" (Albanese 293). 

In popular culture, these narratives unite us by providing a common pool of meaning for all to share. 

There are thousands of plots enacted on the stage or are developed in novels and short stories, but they can be reduced to a few often repeated plots. One is boy and girl meet, boy and girl win each other, a triangle complicated the romance, a trusted friend betrays the family, and other family tales. We almost always know how they are going to end. Why bother to watch? Because we are being told what the world means and how it means.

Superman (1978)

These fictional tales in popular culture work much like the sacred stories that are so important to religious traditions. 

There is one favorite plot that dominates these dramas: trouble in paradise with eventual redemption for a hard-pressed community. Typically, the story turns on a wholesome and innocent society invaded from outside by overwhelming evil. Members of the society are caught off guard and unable to defend themselves because of circumstances. Just in the nick of time, a powerful stranger, also from outside, comes to save them. His past and his background are impressive but unclear. He seems to want nothing, not even sexual favors, from members of the community. 

Once he has conquered evil forces through acts of sudden and righteous violence, he leaves members of the redeemed society to continue their peaceful lives as before. (Star Wars, Superman)

Lecture - Monomyth: The Hero's Journey

 "When I started out making the movies, I was working toward making it modern mythology. I had studied anthropology in college, and social sciences was my major before I got into film...I did more research before I wrote the screenplay for Star Wars. I read and reread The Hero With A Thousand Faces."~George Lucas

The Hero's Journey

Joseph Campbell, an American mythological researcher, wrote a famous book entitled The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In his lifelong research Campbell discovered many common patterns running through hero myths and stories from around the world. Years of research lead Campbell to discover several basic stages that almost every hero-quest goes through (no matter what culture the myth is a part of). He calls this common structure "the monomyth."

What Makes a Hero - Matthew Winkler YouTube video

What is the Blueprint for Stories about Heroes? (podcast) transcript

Act 1: Departure / Separation

The Matrix (1999)

The first section of the story is about the separation of the hero from the normal world. Separation has symbolic echo of infant transitioning away from the mother and so has a scary feel to it.

• Call to adventure
• Refusal of the call
• Supernatural aid
• Crossing the First Threshold
• Entering the belly of the whale

Act 2: Initiation

Frodo and Galadriel, Lord of 

the Rings: The Fellowship of 

the Ring

In the main part of the story the hero is initiated into true heroic stature by various trials and rites. Through daring and battle, his true character emerges. 

• Road of trials
• The meeting with the goddess
• Atonement with the father
• Apotheosis
• The ultimate boon

Act 3: Return

Dorothy's Return 

The Wizard of Oz 1939

After initiation the hero can be cleansed and return in triumph to deserved recognition, although this in itself may not be without its trials and tribulations. 

• Refusal of the return
• Rescue from without
• Crossing the return threshold
• Master of two worlds
• Freedom to live 

Star Wars reworks a multitude of old stories.

• The reluctant hero
• Warrior-wizard
• Brave, beautiful princess
• Monstrous villain

Star Wars is a modern fairy tale, a myth... space fantasy... space opera...

Is it a monomyth?

Star Wars: The Epic Myth

Mythical patterns: Different eras. Different heroes. Same mythic qualities.

Luke Skywalker, 

Star Wars (1979)

Typically, the hero is the orphaned son of royalty. Unaware of his true identity, he is consigned to a life of drudgery and exile. He is first called to adventure by a herald, signifying that "the time for the passing of a threshold represents a rebirth into adulthood; the hero or heroine must overcome the parents, who stand as "threshold guardians."

"Along the way, the hero often encounters a protective figure, "some wizard, hermit, shepherd or smith, who appears to supply the amulets and advice that the hero will require...The Call, in fact, was the first announcement of the approach of this initiatory priest."

Once he leaves the safe boundaries of the farm, Luke can never go back. As the attack of the Sandpeople shows him, the world is a desert place filled with danger, but only by abandoning the security he had known, leaving the womb of his childhood, can he enter the adult world. Luke at first refuses the call to adventure, but joins Ben when he discovers that , in his absence, Darth Vader's Stormtroopers have burned the farm and killed his aunt and uncle.

Again, any insight or help is very much appreciated and I will rate well and tip! Thank you!