Christopher Vogler The Writers Journey
14
A PRACTICAL GUIDE
hostile force. The Ordeal is a "black moment" for the audience, as we are held in
suspense and tension, not knowing if he will live or die. T h e hero, like Jonah, is "in
the belly of the beast."
In Star Wars it's the harrowing moment in the bowels of the Death Star when
Luke, Leia, and company are trapped in the giant trashmasher. Luke is pulled under
by the tentacled monster that lives in the sewage and is held down so long that the
audience begins to wonder if he's dead. In E. T, the lovable alien momentarily appears
to die on the operating table. In The Wizard of Oz Dorothy and her friends are trapped
by the Wicked Witch, and it looks like there's no way out. A t this point in Beverly
Hills Cop Axel Foley is in the clutches of the villain's men with a gun to his head.
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