Napoleon Dynamite

Over the weekend I was asked to write a film analysis using the hero's journey method.  In the movie Napoleon Dynamite, the call to adventure for Napoleon is constantly changing over the course of the movie.  The main journey I want to focus on is at the ending of the movie.

The hero receives the call when his friend, Pedro, wants to become the president of the student body. There is no real refusal to the call but crossing the threshold is when they start to put up the posters and start to come out of their comfort zone.  The mentor could be the principal because he talks to Pedro and tells him what he can and cannot do.  Lafawnda was a mentor to Napoleon because she gave him some music to dance to and he learned to dance to it because of the way she treated him.



Uncle Rico is most definitely the shadow because he keeps coming into Napoleons life and saying that Napoleon can't do anything.  The villain at this point of the story is Summer because she is running against Pedro and trying to win.  One of the tests and trials is the beating of the pinata.  Pedro then learns that you can't make, and destroy a pinata of the person you are running against.

Another test at this point of the story is when Napoleon goes on stage and helps Pedro with his campaign.  Napoleon can be both a hero and a mentor because he was willing to go out and show the world what he's made of.  When Napoleon wins the election for Pedro that is when he is "resurrected" and starts on the road back(quite literally).  The enlightened state is when Pedro is at the picnic with his family and Napoleon plays tether-ball with Deb and they are all enlightened and prepared for the year to come.

Napoleon Dynamite was one of the funniest movies I've seen, but it is full of the hero's journey and that's what makes it so great to watch.