In the film Bilal: A New Breed of Hero, resistance is a prominent theme that the hero portrays and which helps him cope with challenges as he fights for his values and beliefs. The proposed research aims to comprehensively analyze the theme of resistance in the film Bilal, comparing it with the ancient Greek legend Myth of Sisyphus. The study uses a comparative analysis of the two texts from a psychological perspective, which also involves a qualitative analysis of additional research that has previously examined the texts’ themes.
Based on this method, the current study finds that as Bilal fights to protect his sister and personal values, he resists multiple forces. Furthermore, the study finds that Bilal is comparable to the ancient Greek legend of Myth of Sisyphus, an individual whose deeds are characterized by an inner force of motivation and resistance that helps him overcome challenges. Nevertheless, as both characters portray, resistance cannot emerge without reason. Instead, an individual needs an internal stimulus to start counteracting. From a psychological point of view, any hero who struggles, such as Bilal or Sisyphus, has a specific inner force making them act in this way. Freud and Lacan tried to understand the peculiarities of resistance and the causes that impacted its emergence. Applying their concepts to the movie and the myth of Sisyphus, one can understand the psychology of heroes and the things they symbolize. Based on the psychological approach, this research concludes that Bilal and Sisyphus’s resistance is the main manifestation of their internal values, freedom, and an attempt to oppose external pressure and defend their egos.
Works Cited
Bilal: A New Breed of Hero. Directed by Khurram H. Alavi and Ayman Jamal, Barajoun Entertainment, 2015.
Camus, Albert. The Myth of Sisyphus. Translated by Justin Obrien, Penguin UK, 2013.