In today’s society, it’s acceptable to marry a vampire. A vampire’s bite takes the place of sex – there’s penetration (teeth going into flesh) and an exchange of bodily fluids (drinking blood). The basic monster is the same, what they do is the same, but the issues they’re dealing with are radically different.”Ī good example is how the Twilight books and movies use vampires to deal with sexual repression. The stories of Bram Stoker’s vampires are very different. Modern stories about vampires can be about the exclusion of gay people, things like that. “If you look at the vampire legend,” says Simpson, “which we touch on in episode six, it really shows how the culture has changed. Myths and Monsters also points out that if we look back at our favorite monsters, we can see how the myths around them have changed with each society over the centuries. He is a symbol of “otherness” or that which is marginalized, whether it be someone who’s transsexual, an immigrant, or has a different color skin, he represents those people our culture fears. “You can kid yourself that the monster is outside yourself, but on a deeper level, you’re learning about something inside yourself or society.”Ī good example is the sea creature in The Shape of Water. You take this thing you feel uncomfortable about and you put it over there.”Īt the same time, Simpson says there’s a subversive quality about monsters. Creating that monstrous other being – either to be destroyed or destroyed by – is not only a way to try to understand that fear or emotion but also to try to contain it. “The monsters that cultures create,” says Simpson, “always tell us something about their society or their individuals. All cultures have them and according to the show, monsters reflect the things we fear most inside ourselves. The most riveting topic in the show is monsters.

We spoke with the show’s writer, William Simpson, to find out how stories reveal what it means to be human. From Star Wars to King Arthur to the sagas of the Vikings, the show explores many of our favorite Euro-centric myths and legends. This show is a must-see for any writer, no matter what genre you’re working in. Myths and Monsters is wholly original, astoundingly well-conceived, includes interviews with story experts and is executed with gorgeous animation that brings the mythic stories to life. The show took a deep dive into mythic structure, revealing fascinating and even frightening things about why we tell the stories we tell.Ĭut to 30 years later, we can now thank Netflix and Studio 3DD for Myths and Monsters, a new, gloriously insightful docuseries about storytelling that picks up where Moyers and Campbell left off. If you’ve ever seen an episode of Bill Moyers’ show Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth from 1988, where Moyers conducts intimate, in-depth interviews with Campbell, you probably began to look at stories in a new way.

The power of myth documentary