An adventure
story often starts out with childishness, but it does not usually end the way
it started. Adventure, as discussed in class, is about going on a journey,
learning about yourself and the world, and coming back changed. Laura in Maidentrip accomplished two-thirds of
that. The film lacks power to be impactful because of Laura’s unaltered
attitude, unlike other adventure films that inspire audiences because of
character development based on the adventures had.
The theme of
this film remains true to the definition found for adventure in class. Laura’s
voyage on the sea is self-directed and one that brings her the opportunity to
commune with nature and herself. She wants it more than ever because she fights
a legal battle to be able to go alone. This is uncharacteristic of typical
journeys because often times there is a “call to adventure.” (See Joseph
Campbell’s Hero’s
Journey.) For example in “Tintin in Tibet,” Tintin has a dream about a
friend in trouble. He responds to that dream by traveling to find and rescue
his friend. In Spirited Away, the
main character Chihiro is forced into a magical world by her parents when they
get lost on a road. Laura chooses her adventure. It is more of a call from
within. She states how ever since she was born on a boat, she has wanted to go
back.
Being in the sea,
she realizes how small she is, commenting, “I really feel like a guppy when I
am on this big ocean.” Laura begins to be humbled when she is alone, but
concludes part way through the journey that she likes it that way. She
experiences her “ordeal” (Campbell) as she makes the longest and most dangerous
stretch of her journey from Australia to South Africa. The ocean tests her, but
she makes it through. This boosts her confidence and her ego. Tintin on the
other hand experiences his ordeal when he faces the Yeti in the Himalayas.
Chihiro faces her ordeal in a bathhouse when she helps a stink spirit, No-Face,
and Haku with their various afflictions. Tintin cultivates confidence and
deeper love for his friend Chang. Chihiro learns selflessness.
The “return”
(Campbell) is characterized by transformation, like Tintin and Chihiro’s
character development: Tintin was taught to doubt himself by the adults around
him, but he perseveres and is validated; Chihiro starts with a whiny attitude
about moving, but recognizes the complexities and problems of the people around
her. Laura, however, never returns—literally and figuratively. She decides
Holland holds nothing for her so she travels on to New Zealand after her trip
around the world, and she remains self-centered. This is made apparent as she
films mostly in a “selfie”-style as well as how she states that she doesn’t
need her Dad anymore.
Laura’s pursuit
of her dream is admirable. She has a goal and she accomplishes it. The
deficiency lies in the ability of the journey to shape her into a new person. I
even watched a Tedx video
of her 2 years later. Her focus on the material world (talking about how she
learned to cook and fix the ship) emphasizes the lack of an inner spiritual
change. Even Max in “Where the Wild Things Are” as young as he is, experiences
a change of heart when he comes back from the forest and appreciates his
family. Laura never reaches this, and so the audience has no place to reach
with her.
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