In 2018, I was researching ways to become a better designer when I stumbled upon something that would up-end my entire world view and transform how I understood humanity. It's a technology as old as humanity itself.
It all starts with story.
I had been watching a livestream led by Chris Do on his YouTube channel, The Futur, when he started to describe Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey."
After blowing my mind, I realized that story was more pervasive than I had thought—and more dangerous. But first, let's look at what this Hero's Journey is.
The Hero's Journey
It is a model of the most common story structures (at least in Western culture). Choose your story—any story—and you can find an almost perfect mapping of the Hero's Journey in that story.
As Joseph Campbell summarized it in his book, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces":
"A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man."
There are several parts within the hero's journey, but the largest themes are:
- Leaving the normal world
- Finding a mentor
- Going through trials
- Some sort of calamity or death
- Hero finds a way to win
- Returns home and helps others
Let's look at Harry Potter, since most people are familiar with the story even if they haven't read the books.
We meet Harry living a mundane life—perhaps less than mundane, since he's an orphan living with abusive extended family.
He is suddenly thrust into the world of magic when Hagrid, a half-giant, tracks him down and tells him that he is actually a wizard and has been accepted into Hogwarts, the school for young witches and wizards.
At Hogwarts, he meets his mentor, Albus Dumbledore, who is absolutely key in helping Harry understand (or at least, develop the skills necessary for) the role Harry will play in saving the wizarding world from Lord Voldemort, the force of evil.
At long last, Harry is killed and then resurrected (that's actually a typical part of the Hero's Journey), allowing him to ultimately defeat Voldemort and save the wizarding world.
We Are Heroes
Obviously, there is no "perfect" model, and some stories don't have all of the elements outlined in the Hero's Journey, but the basic structure is still there, because it's really our story that's being told.
We all go through our own journey of transformation in this world.
Journeys and transformation: that's our most basic, common thread through humanity. It can be seen on a macro scale, looking at civilizations or, arguably, the entirety of human history. It can be seen individually, where each person is making their own way, even among others doing the same.
We encounter the "other" world at times, finding ourselves in circumstances previously unpredictable. We often find mentors to help us navigate this new space. After trials or challenges, we emerge as a new creature because of those experiences.
And, quite often, we return to help others.
Stories and Systems
Outside of (and, perhaps, within) the Hero's Journey, there are still other kinds of stories that are told. Monster stories are one of the most common that I hear today.
Yes, monster stories.
I find them lurking under disguises of seemingly normal or, at least, human circumstances (kinda meta, if you think about it).
It is very difficult to recognize these monster stories without some understanding of the relationship between humans and monsters. This is something I owe to Dr. Emily Zarka.
Her YouTube series, Monstrum, was the next step in my journey of understanding the impact of story. She has been my "mentor" in sorting through painful experiences, fears, doubts, and even helped me find relief from a monster that I was deeply afraid of since learning about it as a twelve-year-old.
Dr. Zarka's work is something I believe every human needs to be familiar with, and I'll do my best to summarize for this email (but go check it out).
Monsters are humans. Humans are monsters.
We use monster stories to process difficult emotions or situations.
In Dr. Zarka's most recent audio book, Serial Killers: Real and Imagined, she explores how serial killers end up as monsters—whether conflated with fictional monsters like vampires and werewolves, or literally receiving the label, "Monster."
It's actually quite common to call violent criminals, "monsters," especially when a person kills others. Just look at the title of one of Netflix's documentaries: Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
Whether it's a title or a comment from police in an interview or even the gossip we engage in with our friends, that little label comes up frequently. It can also shape-shift to include labels or words like, "devil," "demon," "satan," "inhuman," "jinn," "evil spirit," and more.
What this means for us is that we are engaging in separation. We are, in a way, defining humanity by excluding violent humans.
It's exceedingly uncomfortable to see the humanity in a person that commits horrific murders. If they are human, and I'm also human, what does that mean about me?
No, no. That's too scary to consider. Better to just call them a monster. They're not like me. They're not like us.
Not Like Us
Social systems are all around us, and they're not easy to identify until they start to collide with your world.
Like a rope that starts to fray after so much friction over time, the systems at play are rubbing on us, but it's oh, so subtle.
Here are the warning signs that the systems in our world are dangerous:
Us versus them: A group you're a part of uses this framework frequently to simplify the out-group. We ignore the humanity and the complexity of the "other side."
- Republican vs Democrat
- Pro-choice vs Pro-life
- Good vs Evil
- Christian vs Atheist
Demonization: Unfounded claims about other people that make them sound even worse, or try to elicit a disgusted response from you, rather than engaging in thoughtful critique.
- "They eat children—how can they possibly be on the ballot?"
- "Should boys and girls just share the same bathrooms at school now?" (Demonizing trans people by blowing out the actual issue into something larger and more absurd.)
- "Queer people are unnatural."
- "Immigrants are lazy—they're just looking for hand-outs."
Making people into monsters is a cop-out, a shortcut. It's a way to soothe ourselves from the discomfort of engaging with difficult topics—not just the abhorrent violence, but other things like maintaining systems of oppression.
If we can just make these people seem like monsters, we can exclude them without consequence.
As Dr. Zarka put it in her video about the Cyclops, "Marginality often equals monstrosity."
Just Like Us
The stories with which we surround ourselves become a part of ourselves.
Stories are a deeply rooted technology of communication for us humans. It is how we have passed down knowledge through generations. It's how we sell products in our businesses today. It's also how we perpetuate harmful ideas and prejudices.
When I started to learn about story, it was with the intention of improving my effectiveness in communication and in being able to manipulate people to see something in a certain way.
Stories are powerful, which means they have access to positive and negative effects.
As a marketer, it's been easy for me to become disillusioned for periods of time, seeing people be so easily manipulated with psychology and story.
Context is the only thing that keeps me afloat. Good products need to be marketed, just as much as bad products will be marketed. Everything we do as humans is an exchange of influence.
It's not necessarily manipulation if it truly provides value to a person. That doesn't mean the ends justify the means. At the same time, you can't avoid influencing other people. It's an ethical line around which we dance.
That's why I think story is not just something for marketing and sales to know about. It's especially important for the masses to understand, because we'll be aware of the forces at play on us.
Politics, business, religion, culture, and every other type of group or interest will have stories built up around and through them. If we cannot recognize the themes inside of those stories, we will be blindly influenced by them.
While it is impossible to avoid the gravitational pull of stories, I've been able to be more comfortable with the influences around me. I can see through tactics or I can appreciate the story and then decide what to do with it.
Knowing all of this about story gives us the pen of authorship. We can decide to adopt a story or adapt a story. It all depends on the attention we pay and the intention we have as we approach the topics that matter to us.
If you want to change yourself, change your story. If you want to help others and dismantle systems of oppression, start telling better stories or stop telling monster stories.
It all ends with story.