Yutubaketa
Clone of Mewtwo
Posts: 43
(11/21/05 11:10 pm)
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Mewtwo Report
I had told Aitwo about a term paper I did over Mewtwo Strikes Back and she suggested I post it on the internet. My english professor said she had liked it about five times to me during class...so I guess it would be worth to post it here...enjoy.
Pre-Advanced Placement English II
October 17, 2005
First Hour
The Romantic Present
OUTLINE
Thesis: Mewtwo from Kunihiko Yuyama’s and Michael Haigney’s film, Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back, embodies several characteristics of the medieval romantic hero.
I. Evolving Romance
A. Romance’s evolution
1. Tales of romance
2. Legends of King Arthur
3. Significance of Malory
B. Modern romance
1. Emerging from mysterious origins
2. Possessing mysterious forces
3. Overcoming opposition
4. Bearing modern similarities
II. Emerging from mysterious origins
A. Mewtwo’s predecessor
1. Mew
2. Hair sample
B. Mewtwo’s creators
1. Giovanni
2. Alexander Fuji
III. Possessing mysterious forces
A. Innate powers
1. Psychic abilities
2. Telekinetic abilities
B. Technical powers
1. Vast knowledge of technology
2. Cloning
3. Manifesting
IV. Overcoming opposition
A. Internal confusion
1. His outlook on humans
2. His purpose
B. External conflict
1. Giovanni
2. The concept of Pokémon trainers
3. Ash
V. Bearing modern similarities
A. Emotional developments
1. Confusion
2. Destructiveness
B. Universality of themes
1. Searching for a purpose in life
2. Learning lessons of morality
In the Middle Ages of Europe, wandering storytellers retold adventurous tales of knights and other noble heroes. Such tales were known as romances. Many of the legends of King Arthur, a main source of chivalry in the literary world, were gathered in the fifteenth century by an imprisoned knight named Sir Thomas Malory. Accordingly, many cultures have some type of romantic literature which offers a parallel to the Arthurian legend: a character emerging from mysterious origins, possessing mysterious powers unbeknownst to him, overcoming internal and external opposition, and is familiar even if the cultural motivations are different. For example, Mewtwo, from Kunihiko Yuyama’s and Michael Haigney’s film, Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back, embodies several significant characteristics of the medieval romantic hero.
Mewtwo, a genetically enhanced Pokémon, was created from Mew, the rarest Pokémon of all, on a remote island dubbed New Island with the help of two intelligent people, Giovanni, the notorious boss of Team Rocket, and Dr. Alexander Fuji, an intelligent scientist with a grudge against death. At the beginning of the film, a team of scientists explore a location known to once have Mew inhabitants and find a “fossilized hair sample…of an ancient, catlike Pokémon called Mew” (Arnold 1) and “extracted” (1) from it it’s DNA. Mew is an energetic, playful, catlike Pokémon that uses psychic abilities to levitate itself and manifest bubbles for playful purposes; Mewtwo is an absolute foil to Mew. The hair sample the team of scientists found is just enough to create their enhanced clone and marks the origin of Mewtwo. Mewtwo had two “creators” (Gates 2) that “[brought] [Mewtwo] into the world” (2), the boss of Team Rocket, Giovanni, and the head scientist of the whole project, Dr. Alexander Fuji. Giovanni is the man who funds the project and gives Dr. Fuji freedom to spend it as long as Giovanni recieves Mewtwo. Dr. Fuji, who has lost his daughter, gladly takes the funding and attempts to clone his daughter in secret along with Mewtwo. Mewtwo lives and grows within a life of secrecy; Mewtwo tries his hardest to not let his powers be used by humans.
Mewtwo is given a variety of psychic and telekinetic abilities while created along with a mind to manipulate human technology and machines to his will. Mewtwo is created with “awesome psychic and telekinetic powers” (Vice 1) which allow him to blow away opponents with energy spheres, bend their will in whichever way he pleases, lift objects and move them, and even activate machines without touching them. Mewtwo’s psychic powers are similar to Mew’s, being able to levitate himself, but also has a few more tricks such as being able to create energy spheres and barriers. Mewtwo mostly utilizes his telekinetic powers, destroying the lab without touching anything, lifting people up and throwing them, and even the ability to activate nearby machines without even the slightest movement. After a provoking conversation between the scientists and Mewtwo, Mewtwo becomes “angry with its creators for bringing it into the world with no purpose” (Gates 2) and destroys the lab completely but afterwards rebuilds and learns everything that went on in the laboratory even cloning and a trick he picked up from Mew, manifesting objects. Mewtwo learns everything about himself through scientists’ reports and audio recordings: he learns about Mew and all sorts of technology such as holograms, lighting, etc. Mewtwo also learns an important piece of his creation, cloning, and he uses it to create super clones of any Pokémon he captures. Like the bubbles that Mew can create, Mewtwo can create Poké balls from nothingness to capture the Pokémon he wants. Mewtwo wields a variety of powerful abilities and never holds any of them back.
Before and during Mewtwo’s mission to flood the world, Mewtwo experiences many conflicts within and outside of himself. Once Mewtwo was completely grown in the laboratory, he overthrew his so-called “masters” (Arnold 1) and begins pondering his purpose in the world. Mewtwo from the start was mistreated by humans as a tool rather than a living creature. Mewtwo does not believe that serving humans is a purpose for a creature of his power so he seeks out a more befitting position for himself in the world. Along with internal conflicts there are also external ones; Giovanni using him to fuel his own ambitions, the embarrassment Pokémon under Pokémon trainers give him, and the “12-year old hero’s,” Ash Ketchum’s, need of righting wrongs and becoming the greatest Pokémon trainer ever. Mewtwo goes quietly under Giovanni’s control, but he learns of Giovanni’s fake trust and decides he no longer needs him. Mewtwo escapes from him and learns of Pokémon trainer which he soon disgusts but challenges a variety of Pokémon trainers to a Pokémon duel on New Island. During a brutal fight between clones and real Pokémon, Ash Ketchum gives an attempt to stop it all by sacrificing himself for Pokémon. Through all this conflict, Mewtwo finally understands that a clone such as himself has no place in the real world and realizes that he must find a place where his world could never interact with the real world.
Mewtwo bears many similarities with the common romantic hero such as emotional development and a universality of themes. Mewtwo goes through many emotional developments such as confusion and destructiveness which lead up to the moral of the movie. Born under a secretive environment with a highly intelligent mind, Mewtwo ponders constantly his reason for being in this world much like heroes who search a meaning for their power or existence. Mewtwo also becomes a destructive monster out of fear of his life and for being used by his superiors. These emotions show that Mewtwo is not just a mere monster but a round character that just needs direction. Mewtwo’s actions and decisions such as searching for a “purpose” and learning right from wrong are two of many themes in a romantic hero’s actions. Mewtwo searches for a purpose the moment he is created and seems to be the only thing he can think about. In this search, however, he does find it along with a moral: “Fighting is wrong.”
WORKS CITED
Arnold, William. “Pokémon Arrives on the Big Screen.” Review of Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back directed by Yuyama, Kunihiko and Haigney, Michael. Seattle Post-Intelligencer 10 November 1999: 1-2.
Baumgarten, Marjorie. “Pokémon the First Movie.” Review of Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back directed by Yuyama, Kunihiko and Haigney, Michael. Austin Chronicle 11 November 1999: 1.
Ebert, Roger. “Pokémon the First Movie.” Review of Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back directed by Yuyama, Kunihiko and Haigney, Michael. Chicago Sun-Times 11 November 1999: 1.
Gates, Gates. “Pokémon the First Movie.” Review of Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back directed by Yuyama, Kunihiko and Haigney, Michael. The New York Times 10 November 1999: 1-3.
Vice, Jeff. “Pokémon the First Movie.” Review of Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back directed by Yuyama, Kunihiko and Haigney, Michael. Deseret News 1 July 2004: 1-2.
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