In the movie “The Village” the myth upon which town is organized is that there are monsters in the forest that are called “Those we do not speak of.” The villagers believe that these monsters are meat eaters and the color red attracts them, while the color yellow repels them. A sign that the monsters have entered the village is a red slash across every door they try to enter. The function of this myth is to control the villagers. The villagers will not enter the forest surrounding their town because there is a ”Treaty” that says if the villagers stay on their territory, “those we do not speak of” will stay on theirs. As a result, the villagers can never leave the village.
This myth was created with the sole purpose of preventing the villagers from entering the forest and ever leaving the village. It can be assumed that the creators of the myth believed that they were protecting the people of the village from the harms of the outside world.
Like in the movie “The Village” many real cultural myths are created by people who thought it would better society. For instance, one myths that has gotten national recognition is “The secret”. This myth states that, if you have positive thinking, positive things will happen to you. Many people now live their lives by this myth in the hopes that they will get rich and all their dreams will come true.
What makes a myth works is fear of the consequences. Fear is an emotion that can control people. For those who believe in the myth, the consequence of not following the myth scares them. In the movie the consequence of not following the “treaty” was death. In the real world the assumed consequence of not believing in the myth of the secret is a life filled with misery. This fear makes large amount of people follow the myth
