Word: mythicize
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...turn the Martian terrain into a comic strip, when we reduce a tragic hero to an action figure, we are making things seem tame and familiar before we even know what they are. We are insisting, in our pathetic provincialism, that there is nothing out there--either in the mythic past or the distant reaches of space--that can't be labeled, depicted and potentially marketed by the late 20th century American entertainment culture...
DIED. AMOS TUTUOLA, 77, Nigerian novelist who foraged into Yoruba folklore for his grisly tales; in Ibadan, Nigeria. In prose unfettered by grammatical conventions, Tutuola depicted mythic odysseys. In The Palm-Wine Drinkard, a wino travels to the afterworld and battles a horned monster to appease his hellish thirst...
...mysterious crash, dead extraterrestrials littering the landscape, a government cover-up. Today the incident near Roswell, N.M., is an elaborate tale, growing ever more so with time and mythic imagination. But when it happened, it was almost imperceptible...
...look for this plot in Bulfinch. It's a shaggy-gods story with the requisite Disney theme of adolescent self-discovery: a cub becomes a lion; a mermaid becomes a maid; a geek kid becomes a Greek god. Hercules (voiced by Tate Donovan) is your basic mythic hybrid--half man, half deity--recast as a clumsy teen. Superman-strong and Bambi-naive, Herc is an ideal foil for wily Meg (a subtle siren, wonderfully voiced by Susan Egan). She plays Barbara Stanwyck to his Eddie Bracken, while a gruff satyr (Danny DeVito) acts as Herc's mentor and parries...
DIED. JEAN LOUIS, 89, Oscar-winning designer whose fluid fashions draped Hollywood's most mythic figures; in Palm Springs, California. Louis's rapport with his leading ladies (Marilyn Monroe reportedly introduced herself by disrobing) inspired such creations as Rita Hayworth's come-hither black satin gown in Gilda and the sequined formfitting dress that Monroe wore to serenade birthday boy (and President) John Kennedy...