"Know, O Prince, that between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities, and the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars..."
-Robert E. Howard
About 5 years or so ago, I found myself far away from the home that I had known since my birth. I was lost, no friends, no job, living in my parents house in the desert. I did not like the person that I was and needed a change. One night, I was browsing through movie titles at the local rental place and came across the 1982 version of Conan the Barbarian. From my delving into pulp era literature I knew that the creator of Conan had been dear friends with my favorite author H. P. Lovecraft. I was not huge into fantasy but I picked it up, popped it in the DVD player and then my life had changed. A lot of people will laugh and wonder how a shirtless Arnold Schwarzenegger from the 80's change how I viewed the world, and isn't this a blog about exploration? I am getting to that, so hold your horses.
Many people write off this film as testosterone driven fantasy, however they are sorely mistaken. This movie tells the story of how a boy becomes a man, how a man becomes a hero, and how, in the end pain and failure are learning tools. The film starts with a quote from Nietzsche, "That which does not kill us makes us stronger...". This is the film's major theme. Director John Milius (who also made Jeremiah Johnson), uses the character and back drop of Robert E. Howard's pulp era fantasy to tell a Nietschean parable about becoming the best man you can be. It was simply me being in the right frame of mind, and willing to accept the lesson that the story was trying to tell. Along with the brilliant cast and masterwork score by Basil Poledouris, the movie is a cinematic masterpiece that many write off as cheesy and pure fluff without ever taking the time to think about what is on the screen.
The movie drove me to seek adventure and meaning in the world, to push my limits and discover who I am. After all, isn't that one of the main reasons we explore our universe? To discover who we are, where we came from and what we are meant to be, as a species as well as an individual. This film also led me to the actual writings of Robert E. Howard, another facet in how a barbarian from a lost age changed my life for the better. I bought the Del Rey edition of "The Conquering Sword of Conan" shortly after I had watched the film. For any who have both seen the movie and read the short stories, you already know the difference. For those of you who haven't, the 1982 Conan is the barbarian in name only. Robert E. Howard wrote of a man of the wilds, head strong, intelligent, intellectual and daring. He roved seas, traversed mountains and jungles, was a thief, a pirate, a general and the best king to have ever taken the Aquilonian throne.
These were stories of adventure, something I so desperately needed in my life. Conan saw places and things that those of the civilized world only dreamed of. That is what I yearned to do. This is how my love for adventure and exploration was born. It is kind of funny how some things can be so meaningful to some. There are many lessons to take from both the movie and the stories and I highly suggest to any who love adventure to seek these out and find out for yourself the greatness of Robert E. Howard and Conan. Perhaps they will inspire you to seek out the dark corners of the Earth and
unseen places like it has myself.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082198/?ref_=sr_3
www.conan.com
