da357

Hero

Our hero is Charlie Price, the fourth-generation "son" in shoe business Price and Son.  Although his father has always assumed that Charlie will work for the family business, Charlie is unsure what he wants to do with his life.  His fiancee, Nicola, is desperate to move to London and Charlie goes along with it, until his dad dies and he returns back home and attempts to save the family business, with some help from a few unexpected friends.

Plot Summary

The main characters are Charlie and Lola, a drag queen who gives Charlie an idea of how to save the factory and helps him accept his new situation and what he wants to do with his life (well, really, they help each other).  With the exception of Charlie's fiancee, Nicola, all the other characters are workers at Price and Son.

Departure

Call to Adventure

Charlie's call to adventure comes in the form of a phone call informing him that his dad has died, which obviously prompts him to return home to Northampton and his family shoe factory.

Refusal of the Call

Although his father always assumed Charlie would take over the factory, Charlie has never wanted to and has just started a new life in London with Nicola, so he is reluctant to return home. But the factory is struggling and if Charlie can't find a way to save it then all the workers, most of whom he has known since he was a child, will be out of jobs.

Supernatural Aid

Charlie's supernatural aid is more fabulous than strictly supernatural and comes in the form of drag queen Lola, who he meets by accident on a visit to London and who is ultimately his inspiration and assistance in coming up with a plan to save the factory.

Crossing of the First Threshold

Charlie crosses the first threshold when he makes his first attempt at designing a women's boot that will stand up to the weight of a full-grown man. Of course, it's not exactly what Lola is after, but for his first attempt we can forgive him that.

Belly of the Whale

After a discussion at the factory when Lola arrives (complete with full song and dance number, of course), they come up with a plan to make some of Lola's high stiletto-heeled boot designs with stronger heels and Charlie commits to his plan. Lola's Kinky Boots are a go!

Initiation

Road of Trials

Charlie plans to exhibit the boots at a prestigious shoe festival in Milan to attact attention (and hopefully buyers) but the road to get there is, of course, not so easy. Lola's presence at the factory causes tension with some of the workers, leading to tears, spiteful words, and a full-on boxing match. Budgeting to get to Milan in the first place causes Charlie a major headache, his relationship with Nicola suffers, and when everything comes to a head Charlie explodes and takes out his frustration, and angry words, on Lola.

Meeting With the Goddess

I think there are two possibilities for the goddess in this story. One is Lauren, one of the factory workers who tells Charlie he should change the product and find "an underserved niche market," develops a major crush on him when he treats her with respect and encourages her to work with him on the project, and stands by him when things go wrong (and, of course, this being a happy musical, gets her man in the end). The other is Lola herself - although not a romantic relationship, there is clearly a lot of affection between Charlie and Lola by the end of the story as they come to understand each other.

Woman as Temptress

Nicola, Charlie's fiancee, has always been desperate to get out of Northampton and move to London, and throughout the show she reminds him that he should be there with her and tries to encourage him to sell the factory, going so far as to set up a meeting with a buyer who wants to convert it into apartments.

Atonement With the Father

Charlie and Lola help each other to come to terms with their individual fathers' expectations for them and how that fits in to what they each want out of life. Charlie also has an atonement with the factory workers, led by one rather belligerent young man in particular, after everything goes wrong.

Apotheosis

The thing that "dies" in Charlie's story is, frankly, his dignity. Everything has gone wrong: he has made it to Milan with the boots, but he has no models, no promoters, and no Lola. So Charlie walks the runway himself (I use the term "walks" very loosely - "stumbles" would be more accurate) in his suit jacket, boxers, and a pair of Kinky Boots.

Ultimate Boon

The ultimate boon in Charlie's mind would be to save the factory. He's found the idea, he's constructed the boots, he's made it to Milan. Now he just needs to get the buyers...

Return

Refusal of the Return

There is no refusal of the return in this story, although it is possible that after Charlie returns home from Milan and must once again face the pressures from people who are against the factory making such an "out there" product he may be slightly reluctant.

Magic Flight

I don't think there is a magic flight in this story, although I bet Charlie wished he could fly away while walking that runway. Actually, maybe walking the runway *is* Charlie's magic flight - certainly the young man we see on the catwalk in boxers and heels is not quite the one we met in Northampton at the start of the show.

Rescue From Without

Just as Charlie stumbles and it seems he is going to be laughed out of the exhibition, the cavalry arrives: Lola and her backup dancers, ready to put on a show. "Don't go thinking it was your sappy voicemail that brought me here.  I've come for one thing and one thing only: adulation."

Crossing of the Return Threshold

Although we don't see it in the show, it is implied that Charlie and Lola return to Northampton and come up with a plan to work together long-term on the boots.

Master of Two Worlds

Charlie accepts that he can run the family business while still being himself and realises that he has found his passion after all.

Freedom to Live

Lola's Kinky Boots are a success, and we assume that Charlie, Lola and the rest of the factory workers live on, secure in their jobs and (hopefully) happy.

Final Thoughts

I chose to study Charlie's journey here, mainly because at the peak of the show one of the other characters accuses him of wanting to be a hero, and I thought it would be entertaining to see if his journey really does fit the hero's journey (and I'm surprised by how well it does). I suspect if I had chosen to study Lola I would also have found many of the stages of the journey in her story as well.

I now find myself wanting to analyse several other stories in the same way (interestingly, most of the ones that have jumped to mind are children's fantasy adventure stores).  Actually, if I'm honest, I did analyse another - I had done most of the project for a fantasy book then saw Kinky Boots and was inspired, so I redid it for this. Ah, if only I had unlimited time!