MacGuffins Lost

Ace of Spades HQ: "And this isn't a new phenomenon, either. Since the beginning of this movie, the fanbois have cared very little for MacGuffins (notice they don't care how many thousands of Americans have died in Afghanistan), but have been intensely interested in the Hero's emotional response to it all.

You root for the Hero to win because you like the Hero -- not because you're particularly invested in the Hero's actual goals. And you despise the Villains simply because they're standing in the way of the Hero's triumph.

Chris Matthews sums up, neatly, his only genuine interest in American politics for the past five years:

“We have real people in this country with real power and status who have used that status of power to hurt the country so they could hurt the president.”

Only the Hero matters. The MacGuffin never does.

The Hero is our hopes and dreams. And the Hero has come to us; he has come amongst us."

RTWT ... Did I forget to mention you should RTWT?

UPDATE: And then I found this which has just appeared from Bill Whittle.  What a powerful compare and contrast exercise:

It seems that virtually every culture has independently invented, on their own from the depths of the Collective Unconscious (which is likely hard-wired into the human brain) the same exact story -- the same myth – told again and again and again.

It’s The Journey of the Hero, and it is amazing to me how perfectly it is retold and re-invented and yet remains exactly the same, because the Journey of the Hero speaks to the deepest heart in each of us.

Also RTWT of course.  And let me guess, you haven't read Le Bon's "Psychology of Crowds" yet have you?