The Incompetent Hero: Psyche

A fight over the throne of Wakanda represents two opposing ideas of justice. Revenge can be sweet but effective leadership requires more substance.

Clarice Starling doesn't have experience, but she has instinct and determination. She's going to need both to catch a killer even with help from a cannibal psychopath in this analysis of Silence of the Lambs.

Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained touches on the harsh realities of human nature and the difficulties of going undercover.

Sometimes taking one's "place" in society requires breaking with tradition. In this adaption of an ancient Chinese tale, Mulan carves a place for herself but sets her aims low. Still, she serves as an example of courage in the struggle to be one's self.

Can a woman in ancient Greece win an argument and remain living? Sophocles has us pondering the ambiguity of right and wrong as the gods remain silent over human disputes.

Ancient Roman author, Apuleius, makes his heroine in Cupid and Psyche the butt of a joke, but is Psyche as pathetic as she seems?

The hero's journey can be used for villains, too, and it may have you rooting for the bad guy.

Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda makes strategic storytelling choices to keep viewers entertained as opposed to well-informed.

Before George Washington and King Arthur, Theseus created a democracy and pulled a sword out a stone. He also made the Labyrinth famous.

You think you know someone until you do a background check... A look at Hercules's punishment after killing his wife and young children using Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey.