You've definitely heard of "The Hero's Journey", the narrative structure found in countless stories dating back to Homer's Odyssey in ~7th century BC.

A great way to learn the framework: comparing scene-by-scene images from "The Matrix" and "Star Wars".

Check it out🧵
0/ The "Hero's Journey" was coined by Joseph Campbell, an American literary prof.

He studied ancient myths and found many shared a similar character arc (AKA the "monomyth").

It follows 12 stages, with a hero venturing from an "ordinary world" to a "special world" and back.
1/ Ordinary world

The hero's normal life before the adventure begins:

◻️ Luke Skywalker lives on a farm in Tatooine
◻️ Neo is a corporate slave in the real world
2/ Call to adventure

The hero is faced with an event, conflict, problem, or challenge that starts the adventure:

◻️ R2D2 flashes a hologram of Princess Leia asking Obi-Wan for help
◻️ Neo is sent a message to "follow the white rabbit"
3/ Refusal of the call

The hero refuses the adventure because of hesitation, fears, insecurity or other:

◻️ Luke tells Obi-Wan he has to stay on Tatooine farm to help his aunt and uncle
◻️ When agents come to his office, Neo won't escape by stepping outside the window
4/ Meeting the mentor

The hero encounters a mentor that can give them advice, wisdom, information, or items that preps them for journey:

◻️ Luke's aunt and uncle murdered by stormtroopers, he agrees for Obi-Wan to train him
◻️ Neo meets Morpheus, who soon trains him
5/ Crossing the threshold

The hero leaves the ordinary world for the first time and crosses the threshold into adventure:

◻️ Luke follows Obi-wan to the Mos Eisley spaceport (a "wretched hive of scum and villainy", Luke no longer safe)
◻️ Neo takes the red pill, leaves Matrix
6/ Test, Allies, Enemies

The hero learns the rules of the new world and endures tests, meets friends, and confronts enemies:

◻️ Luke meets Han Solo / Chewy, starts journey
◻️ Neo meets the team on the Nebuchadnezzar Ship, learns about the "real world"
7/ The Approach

The initial plan to take on the central conflict begins, but setbacks occur that cause the hero to try a new approach:

◻️ Luke to meet Rebels on Alderaan, but the planet is destroyed
◻️ Neo meets The Oracle, who says he's *not* The One
8/ The Ordeal

Things go wrong and a new conflict is introduced, incl. a potential life or death situation:

◻️ Luke and Co. save Leia but Obi-Wan sacrifices himself to Vader
◻️ Morpheus abducted during ambush, Neo and Trinity return to save him
9/ Seizing the Sword

After surviving The Ordeal, hero gains a reward (knowledge, physical item) to take on the biggest conflict:
◻️ Luke saves Princess Leia and has Death Star plans
◻️ Neo saves Morpheus and has confidence he is The One after fighting Agent Smith
10/ The Road Back

The hero sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but they are about to face even more tests and challenges:
◻️ Luke and Co. bring Death Star plans to rebel base and are chased by Empire
◻️ Cypher betrays team and Neo is unable to exit The Matrix
11/ Resurrection

The climax. The hero faces a final test, using everything they have learned to prevail:
◻️ Luke, Co. and rebels take on the Death Star (Luke uses the force to aim the kill shot)
◻️ Neo is killed by agents, resurrected by Trinity..he's The One and stops bullets
12/ Return With Elixir

The hero brings their knowledge or the “elixir” back to the ordinary world.
◻️ Luke is a f*cking Jedi and gets a fat medal for it
◻️ Neo can f*cking fly, is The One and is gonna cause some havoc in The Matrix
13/ Star Wars' creator George Lucas credits "The Hero's Journey" for improving his original script.

Prior to applying the framework, Star Wars -- as composer John Williams explained -- was "a Saturday morning space movie."

Lucas clearly saw his own hero's journey, too ("Luke")
14/ Since Star Wars, countless other films have used the framework (obviously The Matrix); structure varies.

I use a Sheets template to map out other Hero's Journey (like for MJ and Lebron 😂).

Sheet link here and def SMASH that follow: @TrungTPhan

🔗 bit.ly/2QoTh7c
15/ Sources

Star Wars: thescriptlab.com/features/scree…

The Matrix: thescriptlab.com/features/scree…

George Lucas: starwars.com/news/mythic-di…

How The Matrix updated Hero's Journey for 1990s: escapistmagazine.com/v2/the-matrix-…

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More from @TrungTPhan

24 Apr
A Redditor gives 12 examples of Barnes & Nobles failing to innovate or improve its business.

It’s scathing and none of the reasons are “blame Amazon”
PS. Smash that FOLLOW for someone that loves pulling gold from Reddit @TrungTPhan

Like here:
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23 Apr
tax accountants finding new loopholes when the 39.6% capital gains tax hits
OR: Billionaires on their yachts living in non-national waters so they can never be taxed
For more tax advice (but NOT investment advice), check this out this non-podcast open.spotify.com/show/0Pogh5lcy…
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21 Apr
1/ Since the end of 2018, Apple's market cap has increased by $1.5 trillion.

While often mocked under the leadership of Tim Cook, Apple's product strategy over the past few years has delivered outrageous results.

Here's a breakdown 🧵
2/ First, let's ignore the memes and acknowledge Apple for the cash printing machine it is.

In the past 3yrs, Apple's *free cash flow* totalled $191B.

Apple has the world's most profitable:
• smartphone
• tablet
• laptop
• desktop
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• wireless headphones
3/ Apple analyst @neilcybart says *no one* has a more well thought out product line than $AAPL:

"Computers small and light enough to be worn on the body are sold next to comps so large that built-in handles are required. All products are designed to work seamlessly together."
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20 Apr
The CFA just pinged me for not paying dues.

So, instead of paying this year, I'm removing the designation from Linkedin and investing the $275 fee into Dogecoin.

Will make way more money from this than the designation.
Before After
The CFA Institute is f**king relentless.

No wonder they make $300M+ a year.

F it. Gonna create a new finance designation based around memes and movie quotes.
Read 5 tweets
18 Apr
Found a great Reddit thread putting historical dates into perspective.

Some gems 🧵

1/ "The moon landing was only 66yrs after the first manned aircraft flight (1903-1969). Within a lifetime, humans went from not having flight technology to travelling 239,000 miles from Earth."
2/ In fact, Orville Wright and Neil Armstrong overlapped, with Wright passing away when Armstrong was 17 years old.

On his 1969 mission to the moon, Armstrong brought fabric and propeller pieces from the Wright Brother's 1903 Kitty Hawk flight.
3/ On a related note...Cleopatra (b. 69 BC) lived closer in time to the moon landing (1969) than the construction of the pyramids (~2600 BC)
Read 16 tweets
15 Apr
Jeff Bezos’ laugh def changed as he got richer:

🔗
On a related note, here’s the story of how Amazon Prime was founded (when Bezos’s laugh wasn’t very menacing):
when Elon found out that Bezos’ laugh got more ominous as Bezos got richer
Read 4 tweets

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