rewriting the bible part 2 - exodus

[Aractus]

No single person wrote the entire corpus of star wars fiction either, and peoples beliefs are writ very large in each and -every- one of them.

That's not a bad example, but it doesn't come anywhere near close to approaching the attributes and complexities of mythology. Star Wars is a story that was invented by a single person, and then expanded upon. Fans and critics and subsequent writers, actors, directors, producers, then go on to put in their own input; but in different capacities. A writer and a director for example choose a deliberate path (or paths) for the story to take.

Why not talk Jurassic Park as there are two distinct branches that exist of that: the two books by the late Michael Crichton, and the four three two films. See for some people some films exist and are a part of the franchise and others are not. But also, knowing what we know today would have forged a different paradigm for the first Jurassic Park novel by Crichton. About that I have little doubt because Crichton was willing to contradict himself on the T-Rex's vision being based on movement in The Lost World: Yet Spielberg was not so willing to contradict the previous work. It's interesting.

We can look at other works. Dario Argento for example. Today he's a washed-up director, but he was once a great director - in fact the greatest director - in the giallo genre. Grappling with this concept is difficult. I know because I've seen some of his later works and I just don't understand where it all went horribly wrong. Paul Verhoeven - now he made some great films. Robocop, Total Recall, Starship Troopers. Basic Instinct - a commercial success if not a critical one. But he also made Showgirls and Hollow Man.

All of this encompasses a broader understanding from the individual works themselves, but that doesn't make them mythological. Mythology is an anthropological concept, as well as a metaphysical one. Fiction is invented, and is some form of art or literature. Myths are more organic, they are not invented and have a metaphysical reality that fictional stories do not. It may seem difficult to grasp, but no one invented the Exodus story - it's organic. That's why, for example, the Pharaoh has no name, even though in a true historical story written down he should have a clear identity.