Good Morning Prof,
Sending Joseph Campbell's Monomyth, "Unbroken" Movie Synopsis and My Life Story.
Thanks,
Josh
Application of Joseph Campbell's ' Hero with A Thousand Faces' to the movie Unbroken and my life story
The HERO is INTRODUCED in his ORDINARY WORLD.
Louie Zamperini (Jack O'Connell) from Torrance, California has a delinquent childhood and always gets into trouble just like being escorted home by police officers after defending himself against some bullies and caught in a baseball game under the bleachers and ends up running to avoid trouble.
The CALL to ADVENTURE
His brother realizes that Louie is a fast runner when he saw him running and with his help trained him to be in a track team.
The HERO IS RELUCTANT at FIRST.
At first, Louie was not interested at all since he does not believe in himself and that he is 'nothing.'
The HERO is ENCOURAGED by the WISE OLD MAN OR WOMAN.
During his training, he learns to become resilient and disciplined; his brother's word of advice, 'If you can take it, you can make it. You train, you fight.' His brother is very persistent and always assuring him that he believes in him to be somebody in the future. This pushed him to overcome any adversity.
The HERO PASSES the FIRST THRESHOLD.
After a series of training, he started joining track completion and excelled several times and eventually represented America at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. He ended up in the last place but manages to speed ahead to set an American world record on the last lap.
The HERO ENCOUNTERS TESTS and HELPERS.
When the World War II broke out, Louie entered into the military and became a bombardier and together with his crew was engaged in a bombing mission against a Japanese- held island. Due to flack from enemy AAA ground batteries, many were injured but their pilot, Phil and Louie's skill, they successfully land the plane. Louie continued his passion for running and impresses his fellow army men by beating the four-minute-mile.
The HERO REACHES the INNERMOST CAVE
Again, he his team was sent on a mission to search for a lost aircraft and crew. While on search, mechanical difficulties cause the plane to crash into the ocean, killing eight members of the team and only Louie, Phil and Mac made it on their way onto lifeboats. The three struggle to survive, noting that they have limited rations. On day 3, an airplane flies overhead and they tried to signal it with dye and a flare gun but failed to be noticed. As time went on, their situation got worse and worse. They were dehydrated but continued to fight although Mac became hopeless. After 29 days, another plane flies above and they shoot their flare gun to attract attention but to their surprise the plane fired at them but luckily survived. After more than a month, Mac eventually died and days after, Phil and Louie awaken to both good and bad news. The good news is they were discovered but the bad news is, it is the Japanese who are the enemies.
The HERO ENDURES the SUPREME ORDEAL.
Louie and Phil were taken to a prisoners of war (POW) camp where they were forced to endure constant physical abuse at the hands of sadistic prison-camp guard Mutsuhiro Watanabe who wants to break Louie's indomitable spirit. The sadistic cruelty continues on and on for a long while until one day, Louie was chosen to go on radio and tells his family that he is alive and that he is treated fairly, to appease Americans. He agreed to do it and was heard by his family back in California. After then, he was asked to make another announcement where he applauds Japan as a culture and to live the rest of his life in the country, a traitor but declined to do it and was sent back to the POW camp.
The HERO SEIZES the SWORD
Back to the camp, Watanabe singles Louie out of the crowd and ordered every single prisoner (about 200) to punch him in the face. The first prisoner at first refuses but Watanabe has a weakened Phil beaten. Louie convinces the prisoners to do it and is punched over and over, always fighting to get up to take the next punch despite his face being bruised and battered to save Phil.
One day, he was ordered by Watanabe to pick up a very large steel beam and hold it over his head and ordered to be shot if he drops the beam. Louie struggled but held the beam over his head for hours, much to the admiration of other prisoners.
RESURRECTION.
One day, all prisoners were told to bathe in the ocean and all expected to be executed. After getting into the water, the Allied planes flew overhead and signaled that the war is over. They all cheered at having survived.
RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR.
Louie was flown back home to his family. After years of severe traumatic stress, he made good on his promise to serve God, a decision he credited with saving his life and remained religious throughout his life. Motivated by his faith with God, he came to see that the way forward was not revenge but forgiveness. He has forgiven all the men who wronged him and met all of them in person years later except Watanabe who refuses to acknowledge him. He also returns to Olympics in 1998 held in Japan, this time not to compete but to carry a torch.
My "Unbroken" story…
By the time I was already conscious about life, I also started to doubt myself and believe that I am 'nothing,' just like Louie, being born from a big and poor family. But the struggles in life at an early age taught me to fight and move forward step by step and made me believe that poverty is not a hindrance to pursue my clear vision in life. Born out of comfort is not a handicap but rather a challenge to hold on to work harder for a better life. I will relate the movie with my leadership journey from my first job up to the present.
The HERO is INTRODUCED in his ORDINARY WORLD.
I got employed in November 1992, six months after graduating college from UP Los Banos with the degree of BS in Chemical Engineering. The company is Filipino owned, manufacturing synthetic resins as raw materials for paints and adhesives. I started out as Shift Engineer being responsible for the whole operation during the shift and for the whole plant at night shifts and holidays. This is where I started to earn my own and was able to give a better life for my parents and send to college one of my nieces. After 4 months, I was regularized which is normally given 6 months after just like my colleagues and given a 50% salary increase. This is a confirmation that in deed, I was doing a great job. I was able to establish myself and made a name in every corner of the company being upfront and brave enough to introduce changes. After then, I transferred to a multinational Japanese company wherein I was on the pioneers and establish Yokohama Tire Philippines Inc. here in Clark in 1997. I got a promotion year after year that built my confidence.
The CALL to ADVENTURE
After almost 8 years of stay in Yokohama, another multinational company (Dunlop Slazanger Philippines) offered me a job which is irresistible in terms of compensation and benefits. I don't know if that is called destiny or just a coincidence since that time, I was really thinking of a greener pasture to fulfill my dreams for my family which is to provide a more comfortable life.
The HERO IS RELUCTANT at FIRST.
Honestly, I had a second thought of accepting the job considering that I already got the top post among Filipinos and the next level will be Assistant Vice President. A second thought that I might not be able to deliver the high expectations. A second thought that this is a totally new environment.
The HERO is ENCOURAGED by the WISE OLD MAN OR WOMAN.
With the help of my two older brothers and my mentor, they encouraged me to explore this new opportunity. They kept on telling me that they have faith on my capabilities.
THE HERO PASSES THE FIRST THRESHOLD.
Finally, I decided to step into another door. The first 3 months was exciting trying to understand the business. I started to formulate improvement plans from safety, quality, cost, productivity including morale of the people.
The HERO ENCOUNTERS TESTS and HELPERS.
But 6 months after, I already felt the challenge that turned into frustrations after seeing the strong resistance of the people to changes. Some members of the management is bullying and belittling me even in front of my subordinates. I got so embarrassed that at times I cannot focus anymore but other members of the team are very supportive and keeping my morale at my lowest point.
The HERO REACHES the INNERMOST CAVE
Two more months after, I decided to quit the job even without any assurance that I will be able to get another job soon. I was asking myself, what went wrong until finally I got the answer. I find it unfair to stay with the company just for the sake that I have job and being paid good enough.
The HERO ENDURES the SUPREME ORDEAL.
The HERO SEIZES the SWORD.
More than a month after, the product was well accepted by the people then more and more orders are coming by volume day after day. We were able to sell thousands of units per month and able to establish small distributors per area. One day, I also received a call from Yokohama after I sending a letter to the President my intention to go back. They hired me again but this time I was assigned in Japan Headquarters as Project Engineer for the construction of a new plant in Thailand.
RESURRECTION.
With my employment back to Yokohama, I was able to regain my confidence and myself as a whole. Moreover, Dunlop with a new management offered me again the same position I left 3 years ago and reunited me with my family. I was challenged again since I know that I have an unfinished work left and to prove to myself that I am capable. This brought back my career into life again.
RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR.
Currently, I am working with Viskase Asia Pacific Corp. as Plant Manager armed with faith, strong determination, commitment and passion to continue my journey to serve. All decisions made are based on what is best for the company and not for anybody else.
The movie capture something we all hope is true about ourselves—that we too are unbreakable. That when faced with struggles, life-threatening situations, we would respond in similar fashion to Louie Zamperini, finding a new well of courage within ourselves and surviving the unimaginable. It is the resilience of the human spirit that has drawn us to films based on true stories again and again to experience pain and triumph.
Thank you, 3
Josh
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