Rite of Separation Films

This blog is a follow-up to the prior one that brought up the idea from John Mosher’s book on The Healing Circle of the four rituals needed to heal from trauma.

In this blog we will be looking at films that have the Rites of Separation in them and what to look for in a film that may identify it as having this ritual. As stated previously some films show give us examples of how to heal different kinds of trauma inflicted in our childhoods. We will be looking at the protagonists that are archetypes of parts of ourselves. As we watch the change in the protagonist from beginning to the end, we will see them give us a model on how and what needs to change in order for us to heal.

     Before we look at the protagonist let’s look at the other elements, we will see in a Rite of Separation film:

1.     Initiation into a new state of being, starting a new chapter in life

2.     Claiming a new identity

3.     Death of the old, birth of something new

4.     Intentionality (concentration, focusing of attention, will)

5.     Relationship with parents, especially mother. (the better the “mother” relationship, the easier the separation)

6.     Themes of betrayal, loneliness

7.     Involves leaving, rather than being left (both are present)

8.     Often a journey

9.     Stripping of clothes, status, belongings, gender, cutting of skin, hair, scars, permanent physical changes

10.  Relationships with peers; often a “companion”

11.  Images of fire, sexuality, intense light, anger, violence, sunrises, mostly sunsets, dragons

12.  Seasons from summer to fall

As in the prior blog I will restate that not all films are ritual films. The following films have Rites of Separation at their core:

1.     E.T.

2.     Stand By Me

3.     The Wizard of Oz

4.     Zorba the Greek and many others

We will now look at key scenes from the first of the Spiderman trilogy from the early 2000s starting Toby Maguire. The movie has themes around becoming adult and leaving childhood behind, summer to fall and the responsible use of power.

Scene #1, “Like any story worth telling this one is about a girl”. This opening voiceover lets us know the film is about learning about how to have relationships.

Scene # 6: Where Peter Parker is confronted by a bully and begins to use his “spider sense” to tune in to the bully’s attack even when Peter doesn’t see it coming. He is developing his intuition in this scene. Also needed to move through the crossing gate.

Scene # 11: Peter confronts the promoter who betrays his trust by not paying him the agreed upon fee. Peter doesn’t prevent the robber from escaping. The robber then, unbeknownst to Peter, shoots his beloved uncle and steals his car. Peter desire for revenge overrides stopping the robber leading to his uncle’s death. He causes great harm to his loved one by being unaware of his wounding. He is betrayed and then betrays others.

Scene # 28: The final scene at the cemetery after the funeral for his uncle. This shows us the theme of grief and loss and the death of his old life. We see the leaves blowing (seasons from summer to fall). Peter faces his love, Mary Jane. She says, “I love you, Peter Parker.” He replies, “I can’t.” He speaks against his heart because he needs to separate from her and establish his own identity before he can pursue a relationship with her. An adult thing to do.

As he walks away his voiceover says: “Whatever life holds in store for me I will always remember these words: With great power comes great responsibility.” In this statement he acknowledges the powers granted to us as adults that need to be used responsibly.

Finally, he says, “This is my gift (his superpowers) and this is my curse.” The curse being that his powers have taken a terrible toll on his personal life. But he is also embracing his ambivalence. Which a healthy way to move his life ahead instead of waiting for it to somehow become easier.

We will next look at films with Rites of Transformation in them.