Fearless Analysis by Eli Williamson-Jones
Fearless is in my top 15 movies of all time and I've always wanted to break it apart and uncover its deeper meaning. Even though it might be a martial arts epic, the story is incredibly profound on a spiritual level and ultimately about the journey out of ego into true spiritual vision. And after watching this film I couldn't help but find a metaphor for modern times that I must share.
Part of the premise of this film group is, "When people's stories are shared, they can become like medicine, giving us healing experiences so we do not have to witness repeating the same mistakes or not following the same lines of thought already traversed before a higher truth was reached.”
In fact, a lot of our stories are about the journey of a main character from a state of ignorance into a state of new knowledge and awareness. There could be many things obstructing or getting in the way of this process and the one described in this analysis is ego. There are always efforts to break through the ego, but the spiritual side seeks to do this gently without weapons and the violent intentions employing them. Once the obstruction of ego is dissolved and true spiritual vision attained, gifts that were used to wage war, are redirected, educating and setting others free. This is the path of Huo Yuanjiaa in Fearless and I believe it is the story of all those taking the hero's journey.
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Heroes from real life often show the same range of transformation as heroes from fantasy. |
| The question I ask through this analysis, "can this process come about without the corresponding nightmare?" It is the perspective of many Buddhists and even some in secular circles who believe higher states of consciousness can be attained through deep reflection and meditation. If Huo Yuanjiaa combined his martial art with a practice of meditation, would his ego have dissolved enough to catch glimpse of the true spiritual vision capable of preventing a nightmare?
After watching Fearless, I couldn't help but think of America's hero's journey. Like Huo Yanjiaa in fearless, the USA is threatened by the blindness of ego that keeps us from having the true spiritual vision that can save us from a nightmare and reach our highest potential. Even though direct confrontation usually fails, luckily, there are other means of breaking through egos that don't rely on meditation or some kind of disaster. And this is where the power of film comes in.
Films can help anyone in their personal hero's journey by breaking down the ego and waking us up to a higher truth. I would attribute film to helping me reach higher states of consciousness and I've heard other people say the same thing about their experience with film. The spritual side of America has been using the power of films to try and raise our consciousness and set us moving towards a more beautiful destiny if we would only do what's necessary to avoid the nightmare.
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