Retelling Transmissions - Literature review Example

Retelling transmissions Introduction A retelling transmission refers to a version of a myth transmission whereby something is either subtracted or added to the original version of the myth. There is a difference between a retelling and a version. A retelling is a completely different story with factors such as characters, themes, and lessons being different from those in the original myth. Retelling transmissions are usually done with much consideration to the audience. Creative artists have over the years used classical myths to come up with new stories for films that match contemporary context. This has usually been able to help the audience of retellings to relate the classical myths used to their contemporary lives. However, some of the retellings are so different from the original versions such that it is always very challenging to note that they are actually retellings of the classical myth involved. With reference to the classical myth odyssey by Homer and is retellings: “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and Omeros by Derek Walcott this paper aims at analyzing the relation between myths and their retellings. Retellings Summary “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” is a comedy film that was produced by Joel and Ethan Coen “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” is film based on three friends by the names: Everett Ulysses McGill, ODonnell Delmar, and Pete Hogwallop who escape from a chain gang in search for treasures that Everett claim to have secretly hidden before they were captures by the gang. They believe that they only have four days before the valley where Everett had hidden the treasure is flooded. They go to Petes cousin who helps them with removing their chains. In the process they face many challenges and are not even able to get their hand on the treasures that they go out in search for. On their return Everett, one of the three friends discovers that his wife had remarried the campaign manager for the gubernatorial candidate of their town (Coen and Coen 87). Everett is very disappointed as he had expected to come home and reunite with his wife after his long unsuccessful search for treasure. Omeros Omeros is an epic poem that tries to depict the lives of the people of St. Lucia during the post-colonial period. The main protagonists in this poem are: Helen; Achille; Hector; Mr. Plunkett; and Maud. Both Achille and Hector are fishermen who are struggling to win the affection of Helen, who is described as one of the most beautiful women in the island. Mr. Plunkett a British war veteran who decides to settle on the island. Maud is Mr. Plunkett’s wife. Helen’s beauty has no limits and attracts even Mr. Plunkett, who starts being distant from his wife. At the beginning of the poem Helen is intimately involved with Achille (Walcott 87). However, she later abandons Achille for Hector. However, Helen leaves Hector’s house after she discovers that she is pregnant. When Achille goes to his native land in Africa he comes back and is reunited with Helen just like Odysseus with his wife when he returns from war. Analysis “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” is a retelling of the myth odyssey by Homer. One notable thing about the theme is that it does not tell the exact same story as the myth (Doty 137). In odyssey Odysseus is viewed as a hero who takes ten years coming from a war. When he comes back, he finds that his wife had patiently waited for him and slyly avoiding all the advances from her suitors. However, in the film, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”, Everett is pictured as a man who went with two of his friends to seek riches only to come back and find that his wife had remarried the campaign manager for the gubernatorial candidate of their town. The stories told in the two cases might have some things in common, but are evidently very different from each other. In this case it might be said that the big difference is brought about by the difference in the context and the targeted audience. Just like “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”Omeros does not tell the same story as the classical myth odyssey by Homer. While in the myth Odysseus coming back home from war and get reunited with his wife who has wisely dodged her suitors to keep her chastity, Helen leaves Achille for Hector and are only reunited after her pregnancy. Unlike Odysseus Achille fought for the affection of Helen against the other men who were interested in her. Unlike Odysseus’s wife who keeps her commitment to her husband despite his absence, Helen is not able to do the same even with Achille being around. In fact the reason she leaves his house is because Achille let her know that he was not pleased with her habit of attending night dances. Odysseus is kept away from his wife for ten years due to the fact that he was away on a war mission that takes longer than was actually expected. Achille and Helen are not geographically separated but only separated due to their difference in ideologies and perceptions. The only time that the geographical separation comes in is the period when Achille leaves St. Lucia for his native land in Africa. In some cases retellings of classical myths give very different stories while in some cases. If the setting a the original myth was the Greek culture and the retelling targets people of the united states of America it will not be prudent to stick to the same story. If one sticks to the same story, then the retelling might prove to be highly irrelevant, especially in the section of the audience with minimal knowledge of mythology. The film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” is likely to have targeted a general audience while the original myth seems to have targeted people of the Greek culture. This can be seen in the choice of context. In the original myth the context is a typical Greek community while in the film the context is a modern community. The choice of characters also tells allot on the audience that the producers of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” were targeting. Some meaning of the stories presented in the retelling also often differ from those presented in the original classical myth. The meaning that mostly arises from the new context is individualism where everyone does things for their own benefits including Everett, his friends, the man who removed their chains, and his wife. This must have been a depiction of the result of capitalism in the western contemporary society where everyone has become so focused on things that benefit them and ignoring most things that have communal benefit. Betrayal is also another theme that is brought out in this film. This is seen in the way Everett’s wife agrees to marry the campaign manager for the gubernatorial candidate of their town despite the fact that she knew that she was already married. This is that opposite of what is seen in the original myth where faithfulness and trust are some of the themes highlighted. Odysseus’ wife ignores all the suitors and decides to wait until her husband returns from war. There are some meanings in the classical myth that are definitely different in the poem Omeros by Derek Walcott. In the poem Omeros the meaning that mostly comes through is the lives of the people of St. Lucia during the post-colonial period. Apart from that the meaning of the slave trade and slavery is also brought through in the poem. Achille’s father’s name is Afolabe which is the same to a certain slave in St. Lucia. In the classical myth one will be able to get some details of the culture and the gods of the Greek while in the poem, one will get some of cultural practices and the gods of Africans. This is seen during the period when Achille goes back to his native land in Africa and his father tries to let him know more about their culture and gods. However, Achille appears not to be interested in being conversant with their culture. However, some meanings from the original classical myths are never lost. In the film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” The meaning that is reserved in the retelling is the presentation of the challenges of keeping ones chastity when their intimate partner is away for a long period of time. The difference is that Everett’s wife is not strong enough to go through the challenges while Odysseus’ wife waited till he came back. This shows the difference in the societies that were being depicted in the classical myth and the film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”. The other meaning that are reserved is the challenges that intimate people usually face when they are geographically separated from each other. In both cases, Fill realizes that the wives have many men asking for their hand in marriage despite the fact that they are already married. There are some meanings in the poem Omeros that are same to the meanings that are depicted in the classical myth Odyssey by Homer. In the end, in both cases two people who were previously together are reunited. Odysseus is reunited to his wife while Achille is reunited to Helen after a very long time. Just like the suitors are seen in the myth trying to attract the attention of Odysseus’ wife Achille, Hector, and Mr. Plunkett also fight to win Helen’s affection. Conclusion It is clearly evident that the two retellings of the classical myth odyssey are in many ways different from the original myth. The railings are not only different from the original myth, but also different from each other. The difference is brought about by the difference in the audience targeted. Many artists have always interested in the richness of classical myths, but have to retell them in different contexts, messages, media, and forms so that they can make sense to the audience that they target (Perfection Form Company 87). Some of the myths are deeply set in certain cultures and contexts that telling them to people of other culture might make them highly irrelevant. Therefore, most cases retellings of myths are always very different from the myth in many ways. However, some traces of the original myth usually remain evident in the retellings. These traces are what make it possible for retellings to be linked to the original classical myths despite them being different in very many ways. Work cited Coen, Joel, and Ethan Coen. Selections from O Brother, Where Art Thou?: Easy Piano. Milwaukee, Wis: Hal Leonard, 2003. Musical score. Doty, William G. Myth: A Handbook. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2004. Print. Perfection Form Company. Retold Classic Myths: Volume 1. Logan, IA: Perfection Form Co, 1990. Print. Walcott, Derek. Omeros. New York: Noonday Press, 1992. Internet resource. Read More