45 Master Characters (54 page)

Will she stay in this old world as a new person? Or will she walk out on the old world altogether?

Will someone be willing to listen to her story? Or will they be angry at her for changing?

Does she even want to return?

T
he masculine journey is a journey in which the hero gathers allies and tools to set out toward a goal. He rejects the feminine journey of inner exploration, faces death and either endures the transformation toward being reborn and is victorious, or he rebels against inner growth and finds failure. In victory his journey ends with questioning authority and his role in society and by finding his authentic self. In this new story model the hero is given a chance to awaken in Act III, but it's a chance he may not take. The nine-stage process is represented in three acts mirroring classic story structure.

The nine stages of the masculine journey are:

Act II: Obstacles

Act III: Transformation

Stage 1: The Perfect World

A man named John stands looking up at Mount Everest. “I know I can climb this mountain,” he thinks. “Many men like me have died here but I'll succeed. Everyone's counting on me.”

John has spent years dreaming of climbing this mountain. He has the power, stamina and the whole of the world behind him, cheering. He takes out his equipment and climbs.

The whole world seems filled with opportunities. The hero has only to decide what he wants. Society tells him to succeed, to be a real man. He hasn't asked himself what success means to him yet, so he follows society's lead.

If the hero starts out asking, “What's this all for?” and takes steps to immediately change his life, as in
American Beauty
, then he's going on the feminine journey. If he's not willing to examine himself and face his inner demons, then he walks right past the stage of descent and focuses on his outward goal only. He'll get the girl, kill the bad guys and save the town instead of facing his symbolic death and transformation.

As discussed in chapter 23, there are three main societal expectations that may push men to succeed: performing, providing and protecting. These expectations unconsciously motivate the hero and serve to keep him from seeing and exploring other directions in his life. He gets tunnel vision as he pursues the ideal that's been laid out in front of him instead of pursuing what he truly wants for himself. Jed Diamond discusses this in his book
The Warrior's Journey Home: Healing Men, Healing the Planet
: “Not having a center to resonate from, we men take our cues from the outside. Our greatest fear is that if we lose or let go of external forms — the house, the spouse, the rules, the status — we will fall into a terrifying emptiness.”

The three expectations:

Performing:
A real man is concerned with career accomplishments or performs hard labor for a living. This man believes that career accomplishments equal success and manhood. “If I get that promotion, raise or partnership I will have made it,” he thinks. “I just have to hang in there, network like a dog, and it will come.” Becoming a team player goes hand in hand here and that further suppresses his true desires as an individual. Relaxing and just “being” aren't allowed; he must go go go no matter the cost to his family and health.

The hero can have a job in manual labor and also be seen as a hardworking successful man. The more hours he works the better.

Providing:
A “real man” must make lots of money and be able to provide for his family whether his wife works or not. This hero believes that if he has money he's made it. How he gets that money isn't the issue, only that he has it. He's been told that it's OK for women to work or not to work, but he has no choice in the matter.

Sometimes the responsibility of being expected to provide for his family can drive a man to do crazy things. This isn't to say that women don't provide and face the same stress; society demands that men fall into this role. Men don't feel they have the option to stay home with the kids as a career, and if anyone should be providing it should be him.

Protecting:
A “real man” protects the weak, seeks revenge and doesn't show his emotions. This hero lives by a tough guy code. He sees it as his job to protect the innocent and be the rock for everyone to lean on. Even the Woman's Man archetype can fit here, thinking he has to protect women from bad marriages and open their eyes to the world. Does he ever get to see how his obsession to protect, be tough and emotionless deprives him from living a free life himself?

In most shoot-'em-up action, western and karate films we never get to really know the hero beyond his muscular exterior or dark stare. We never get to see the person he is or what he cares about, beyond revenge and duty.

The New Story Model

In the new story model for these heroes we see a change in Act III where the hero can veer off course and take a part of the feminine journey toward self-discovery and self-analysis and growth. The better action films have this stage.

In Act III of
Three Kings,
the three heroes find their emotions getting the better of them as they decide to give up the gold to save the people they've come to understand. They don't use guns and toughness to try and save the people in an impossible situation.

In Act III of
The Matrix,
Neo is reawakened by love (emotion and feeling) in the end — like Sleeping Beauty — and he wins not by using weapons but by believing in himself and “letting go.” Essentially, Neo awakens in Act I and is on the feminine journey, but he also goes through a second awakening in Act III.

So while your hero may be set up as a typical tough guy, everything can change later on to allow for a strong character arc to take shape even though he isn't on the feminine journey of inner transformation.

Stage I also shows his support system. He may:

Seem to have everything.

Have a lot of friends around him.

Be told that he's the best, given awards, etc. Gilgamesh the King is called “Supreme over other kings, lordly in appearance … he walks out in front, the leader.…” Usually this type of opening sets the hero up for a big fall by the end of the story. His ego is so inflated he can't let go of the power it brings him and he suffers for it.

Have a wonderful career ahead of him and a solid bank account.