Page 171 - Šolsko polje, XXVIII, 2017, no. 3-4: Education and the American Dream, ed. Mitja Sardoč
P. 171
. gutman ■ the morphological and archetypal traces in the american dream
and moved to Milan [Departure]. The trip to New York followed soon
afterwards [Spatial Transference between two Kingdoms – The Hero
flies through the air (G1)], where Charlize lived in her friend’s window-
less basement apartment. Living in the city was hard for Charlize who
worked several low payed jobs to make her ends meet, while attending
much desired ballet classes. Again, one can see how the city plays a role of
the Donor and how the heroine gets interrogated and tested by it. Ther-
on continued working in the city, until the knee injury abruptly ended
her career path22 [The First Function of the Donor – The Donor tests the
Hero (D1)]. After realizing her ballet career was over, Theron became se-
verely depressed [Hero’s Reaction / The Hero does not withstand the test
(E1)]. She got visited by her mother, who flew from South Africa to help
her. Her mother bought her a one-way ticket to Los Angeles [Provision
or Receipt of a Magical Agent / Various characters place themselves at
the disposal of the hero (F9)]. The turning point of her career occurred at
the bank in Los Angeles, when the teller refused to cash the check sent to
Charlize by her mother. Charlize went into an argument with the bank
representative. This verbal fight episode with the bank (which represents
a symbol of material existence) corresponds to the function of [Struggle].
The argument was witnessed by a talent agent standing behind her. Im-
pressed by her character, he offered her several casting options. The func-
tion of an agent corresponds to [The First Function of the Donor]: Char-
lize had to prove her acting skills in the initial roles that were offered to
her [The Hero’s Reaction – The hero withstands (or does not withstand) a
test (E1)]. After proving herself in minor roles, Theron took her chance by
starring in more demanding roles that required extreme preparations and
body transformations23 [The Difficult Task – Test of strength, adroitness,
fortitude]. The key element of the American Dream can be seen in over-
coming the Difficult task, more precisely in a lower level function of the
strength and fortitude that characteristically corresponds to the value of
hard work. Strategically, the efforts and hard work also correspond to the
function of [Solution]. Convincing performance of difficult roles brought
Theron financial success in the movie industry [Victory], followed by
high ranking awards and nominations (Academy Award for Best Actress,
Golden Globe Award) which can be attributed to the function of [Rec-
ognition] and overall transformation – from South-African traumatized
teenage girl to Oscar-winning Hollywood actress [Transfiguration]. This
example demonstrates a very solid structure of narrative functions that
22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlize_Theron
23 http://w w w.eton line.com/news/164171_cha rlize_theron _on _shock ing _f ilm _tra ns-
formations
169
and moved to Milan [Departure]. The trip to New York followed soon
afterwards [Spatial Transference between two Kingdoms – The Hero
flies through the air (G1)], where Charlize lived in her friend’s window-
less basement apartment. Living in the city was hard for Charlize who
worked several low payed jobs to make her ends meet, while attending
much desired ballet classes. Again, one can see how the city plays a role of
the Donor and how the heroine gets interrogated and tested by it. Ther-
on continued working in the city, until the knee injury abruptly ended
her career path22 [The First Function of the Donor – The Donor tests the
Hero (D1)]. After realizing her ballet career was over, Theron became se-
verely depressed [Hero’s Reaction / The Hero does not withstand the test
(E1)]. She got visited by her mother, who flew from South Africa to help
her. Her mother bought her a one-way ticket to Los Angeles [Provision
or Receipt of a Magical Agent / Various characters place themselves at
the disposal of the hero (F9)]. The turning point of her career occurred at
the bank in Los Angeles, when the teller refused to cash the check sent to
Charlize by her mother. Charlize went into an argument with the bank
representative. This verbal fight episode with the bank (which represents
a symbol of material existence) corresponds to the function of [Struggle].
The argument was witnessed by a talent agent standing behind her. Im-
pressed by her character, he offered her several casting options. The func-
tion of an agent corresponds to [The First Function of the Donor]: Char-
lize had to prove her acting skills in the initial roles that were offered to
her [The Hero’s Reaction – The hero withstands (or does not withstand) a
test (E1)]. After proving herself in minor roles, Theron took her chance by
starring in more demanding roles that required extreme preparations and
body transformations23 [The Difficult Task – Test of strength, adroitness,
fortitude]. The key element of the American Dream can be seen in over-
coming the Difficult task, more precisely in a lower level function of the
strength and fortitude that characteristically corresponds to the value of
hard work. Strategically, the efforts and hard work also correspond to the
function of [Solution]. Convincing performance of difficult roles brought
Theron financial success in the movie industry [Victory], followed by
high ranking awards and nominations (Academy Award for Best Actress,
Golden Globe Award) which can be attributed to the function of [Rec-
ognition] and overall transformation – from South-African traumatized
teenage girl to Oscar-winning Hollywood actress [Transfiguration]. This
example demonstrates a very solid structure of narrative functions that
22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlize_Theron
23 http://w w w.eton line.com/news/164171_cha rlize_theron _on _shock ing _f ilm _tra ns-
formations
169
