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a) The suggestion at the meeting that the trapped six have to leave the
Canadian Ambassador's home.
b) Tony Mendez insisting that the only way to get the six out is through
the airport.
Implicitly, it is a call to exit the Ordinary World and State.
Implicitly, it is a call to find out who the hero is ("who is
this?").
The Refusal of the Call in Argo (2012) is:
a) The resistance at the meeting to get the six out through the airport.
b) The lack of a plan to get them out through the airport, which keeps
the six contained within the Ordinary World. This is a form of interdiction.
There are multiple Supernatural Aids in Argo (2012) - Jack O'Donnell
encourages Tony Mendez to go to the New World; John Chambers and Lester Siegel
assist acquire Magical Gifts etc while he's there.
The physical Crossing of the First Threshold in Argo (2012) is physical
movement into a New World - Tony Mendez's arrival in Hollywood.
The Belly of the Whale is a general term and better understood by
examining it's constituent components.
The Belly of the Whale in Argo (2012) is:
a) The beginning of the trials and sentences, which drives the urgency of
the journey into the deeper new world (the journey into Iran).
b) Tony's loss of contact with his wife and child, referencing the need
for the deeper journey leading to repair and wholeness and the return home.
The Road of Trials is where the old self begins to dissolve away ("I
think we're going to die here").
Death symbolism reinforces this (the man shot in the street).
Road symbolism demonstrates physical movement from one place and state to
another (Tony making his way through Tehran).
Trials lead to the acquisition of magical gifts (Tony acquiring visas,
permission from the ministry of culture etc).
There is no remaining as is or going back (the Canadian Embassy is being
closed down - there is nowhere for the six to stay anymore).
The New Self begins to materialize (the six have to learn their new
identity).
The hero / archetypes begin to learn who they are (Tony reveals his real
name to earn Joe Stafford's trust and to get him to play along).
The Meeting with the Goddess is a metaphor for a number of things.
Commonly, there is forced choice into the domain of innermost fear (the six are forced, unwillingly, to walk through the bazaar; the housekeeper is forced to lie to one of the secret police).
Archetypes are halfway to their new selves (the six know what their roles
are; the housekeeper finds that she cannot betray).
Archetypes acquire tangibles, which represent intangibles (the secret
police take photos etc).
The Woman as the Temptress is a metaphor for a number of things,
including forced discovery of who one is.
Tony Mendez is forced to discover who he really is, after the operation
is cancelled. He discovers that he's responsible, that he won't abandon the six.
The Atonement with the Father is the confrontation and surpassing of
parent archetypes. Jack O'Donnell has to get past the President's backstop; get
past the Chief of Staff.
Apotheosis is the psychological and physical passing of limitations.
Tony knows who he is.
Tony loses his dependence of the CIA.
The six the leave the world in which they've been contained, the Canadian
Ambassador's home.
The Ultimate Boon is readiness - the six are ready to leave.
The Ultimate Boon is the set of magical gifts acquired as a result of
journeying through the New World.
The six's tickets are miraculously confirmed.
Refusal of the Return
here is literal - the final blocks preventing the return - the checkpoints; the
revolutionary guards, who take Tony and the six into a side room to be
questioned.
The Magic Flight can
be literally and most simply described as escape with the boon.
Tony is attempting to
escape with his boon - the six.
Rescue From Without
can be described as the overcoming of limitations, which prevent the return.
Tony and the six get
past the checkpoints and onto the flight.
Physically, the
Crossing of the Return Threshold is literally the crossing back to home.
Tony and the six in
the aircraft flying away and crossing out of Iranian air space.
The Master of the Two
Worlds is literally master of the ordinary and new worlds.
Joe Stafford shakes
Tony's hand on the aircraft back (New World) and is awarded the Intelligence
Star (Ordinary World). He becomes a "Great American."
Freedom to Live can be described as freedom from limitations - Tony is
awarded the Intelligence Star; he will not be prosecuted.
Freedom to Live can be described as freedom from ones innermost fear -
the six no longer live in fear.
Freedom to Live can be described as freedom to return home - Tony is allowed back home; he is allowed to become whole with his family again.
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by Kal Bashir