Archetypes In Movies

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Films have a successful universal story that represents different kinds of people in American society. You may feel you are only average, and not much of an interesting person to even share a story about your life but, “We live the same stories, whether they involve the search for fulfillment, going after an ideal, achieving a dream, or hunting for a precious treasure” (Seger 334) we all live, and share a similar life experience. These hero stories we can relate to break down into different categories because everyone is different, however we all have a story that defines us. Myths which are stories that involve people living more than a life of a common folk, but live a more intense life with a destiny that determines the fate of their world. …show more content…

It is anything repeated in storytelling from ancient times to the present. “Some researchers have put efforts towards elaborating symbolic meanings on modern movies according to Jung’s theory” (Hauke and Alister 2001). Jung discovered many types of archetypes such as the hero, shadow figure, animal, mentor (old man), and mother. These characters can have a positive or a negative effect in the films myth. Mythologist Joseph Campbell was able to extend Jung’s concept of the hero archetype into the Hero Myth which is “a common structure in all mythical hero stories in different cultures and religion” (Chang 101). “They show who the hero is, what the hero needs, and how the story and character interact in order to create transformation” (Seger 335). The hero starts off as an average person living a normal life, but once something changes in the hero’s life, he begins his journey and becomes a changed man by the end of the story. “Out of the interaction between warrior and institution development the particular American archetype of the anti-hero, the character who rejects social codes in favor of his own” (House 67). Almost every film created has a good guy, and a bad guy which is the anti-hero archetype character who is the opposite of the hero due to them having a different view on the conflict that takes place in the film. Another version of the hero archetype is the heart of gold archetype which are heroes with a little more darkness than normal heroes. George Lucas was one of the first film makers to be inspired by Campbell’s work, and credited him for the making of Star Wars using many of his archetype

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