I have never been a big reader, nor have I been a big movie buff. Sadly my childhood was more on the TV and video game side. Therefore, the legend of King Arthur is honestly something that I have never really been exposed to. I did watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but I know better than to take their word as truth. I know basic facts, and a few of the basic characters, but that's about it. Hearing everyone's answers in our trivia game definitely made me feel that I will have a lot of catching up to do on this story. Despite not having a detailed understanding, I did still have some ideas of what it was about and I did my best to represent those in my influence map:
Figure 1: My Influence Map
Most of my photos I'm sure represent the basic facts: knights of the round table, holy grail, Excalibur, Britain, a castle, knights and sword fights. However, I wanted to dig deeper and try to make some "informed predictions" about what else I could expect as I begin to learn about this exciting tale. The three images I have not mentioned are these predictions. My thoughts when picking them was: "If I was making a King Arthur movie, what else would I add to bring all of this together"? I added the flaming hearts for love, although the love will turn out to cause conflict later on. The evil looking Roman is for a villain, which I imagine as the Roman ruler at the time instead of a Saxon or Celt like King Arthur was commanded to fight against. My third image is the small one of the winding dirt road because, to me, it appears that King Arthur and his knights spent most of their time traveling on their horses down dirt paths such as that one.
In just our first week of class I have come to learn a lot about this legend. Most importantly, I think I have finally seen just how large this story has become. This is one of the largest and most import stories in history. It's been represented in multiple countries, across centuries, and it still has such a large presence today. To me, this was always just a cool story, a myth. But the more we dig, the more I think I am going to see the truth in it. Even thought the story itself may be false and have had a lot added to it over the years, what the story represents is what's important and why it has lasted this long. I am truly excited to learn all that this story has to offer because the more I see, the better it gets. Can't wait to find out if that holds true all semester long!
I think that's one of the biggest reasons the legend of King Arthur has lasted centuries. It's the glorification of what he represented-the idea that people want to believe that despite great odds, one can triumph. Arthur's stories seem to be overly inspiring and he's described in such a godlike manner, so selfless and virtuous, that an imperfect being can become an everlasting king--godlike am I right?
ReplyDeleteEric, I like your influence map, it covered a bunch of major elements covered in all of the different interpretations of the Arthurian tales. The theme of love creating issues later on in the story is some good insight and foreshadowing to when Guinevere and Lancelot have an affair.
ReplyDeleteAnd Amanda, I do think you're right. King Arthur is thought of as a symbol of courage, brotherhood, and overcoming all odds. Growing up reading stories like King Arthur instills a belief within ourselves at a young age that no matter how insurmountable something may seem we can work hard and overcome most obstacles.
Amusing tidbit: the "evil-looking Roman" is Brutus from HBO's Rome! He does stab Julius Caesar, so ... he could make a very good villain for your movie!
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