The Legend of River Phoenix
American Origin
The Legend of River Phoenix
American Origin
“Laura, I’m having a little problem with my Mythology and Folklore project. I have nine stories, and I need a tenth, and I was really hoping to find something from modern American culture to use, you know, to kind of tie everything together.” Evan, a junior at the University of Oklahoma, often turned to Professor Laura Gibbs, as he had three classes with her in one semester.
“Well, Evan, I have all kinds of great references in Greek and Latin, but nothing really from American pop-culture.” Prof. Gibbs was obsessed with Greek and Latin.
“OK, OK, I have something in mind, I just didn’t know if you would like it or not. I was thinking about telling the story of River Phoenix, the actor, and just explain, how he has been immortalized by film.” Evan tried to use sophistry where he could to make his ideas look better.
“Yes, Evan, I am very aware of the “Immortality” of River Phoenix, but what does he have to do with your storybook topic?” Prof. Gibbs wasn’t sure what Evan had in mind, but saw straight through his sophistry. “I mean, he’s certainly not a bird.”
“Alright, here’s the way I see it. The single thread that ties all of my stories together is that the birds, whatever culture they may be from, are, or at least were immortalized in the minds of the people of their originating culture. They were symbols of an idea or a hope that the people could hold on to, and look to. I think that is why almost immediately, Christ was compared to the Phoenix. It’s that “taking the worst thing that could happen and making the best out of it” mind set, that effected people the same way with the story of Jesus, as it did with the myth of the Phoenix. There are so many different myths about the Phoenix because the particulars don’t matter. It’s the idea, the concept, the hope that matters, and that’s what people cling to. Which leads me to River Phoenix. When I was searching through the plethora of sites dedicated to River Phoenix, and the varying different approaches people took to honor him, I began to realize that it’s not River Phoenix people obsess over, its his image, his idea, his hope that people love. One particular site was explaining that they didn’t want to give “the same old River Biography that you see on every page,” but that they would leave it at, “River Phoenix (1970-1993) was a film actor.” That is the kind of immortality I want to write about. What do you think?”
“It sounds great, Evan, we’ll see what you come up with.”