Monday, May 31, 2010

Examples of character archetypes in Movies

There are one or more examples for each archetype based on characters from well known cinema


The Hero- Superman, Spiderman, Marlin (finding Nemo), Flick (A bug's Life), Robin Hood, Jamal (Slumdog Millionaire)


Young Person from the Provinces- Tarzan, Hercules, Dumbo


The Initiates- Mulan (Mulan), William Turner (Pirates of the Carribean), Daniel (The Karate Kid)


Mentors- Mr. Miyagi (The karate kid), Gill (finding Nemo), Mark Thackeray (To Sir with love), Leigh Ann Tuohy (The Blindside)


Hunting Group of Companions- Sinbad, Kale, Dymas, Rat, Li and Jin (Sinbad legend of the seven seas) , The X-men, and Theodore, Vince, Spinelli, Mikey, Gretchen and Gus from the (TV series Recess), Pony boy and the Greaser Gang (The Outsiders)


Loyal Retainers- Robin (Batman), Little John (Robin Hood), Tantor and Terk (Tarzan), Ponton (The Pink Panther)


Friendly Beast- Spirit (From spirit stallion of the Cimarron), Mice (Cinderella), Forest animals (Snow white)


The Devil Figure- Cruella De Ville (101 Dalmations), Captain Hook (Peter Pan), Scar (The Lion king), Ursulla (Little mermaid), Captain Barbosa (Pirates of the Carribbean), Lord Voldemorte (Harry Potter)


The Evil Figure with an Ultimately good Heart- Ben Wade (3:10 to Yuma), Bartok the Bat (Anastasia), Beast (Beauty and the Beast)


The Scapegoat- Aslan (The Lion, The witch and The Wardrobe), Harry Stamper (Armageddon),
Johnny (The Outsiders)


The Outcast- Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Snow white (Snow white and the seven dwarfs), Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle (Beauty and the Beast)


The Earth Mother- Motormouth Maybelle (Hairspray), Fairy Godmother (Cinderella), Nurse (Romeo and Juliet), Erin Gruwell (Freedom writers)

The Temptress- Megara (Hercules), Eris (Sinbad of the Seven Seas), Delilah (Sampson and Delilah), The White Witch (Chronicles of Narnia)

The Platonic Ideal- Nothing Gold can Stay by Robert Frost (The Outsiders), Joe Fox (You've got Mail)


The Unfaithful Wife- Emily Bradford Taylor (A Perfect Murder), Prudie Drummond (The Jane Austin Book Club), Addison Sheppard (Grey's Anatomy)

The Damsel in Distress- Vivian Ward (Pretty woman), Leticia Musgrove (Monsters Ball), Gray (Catch and Release), Latika (Slumdog Millionaire), Abby Janello (Bounce)

The Star Crossed Lovers- Romeo and Juliet, Danny and Sandy (Grease), Ian and Daphne (What a Girl Wants), Patrick and Kat (10 things I hate about you), Sam and Kate (Holes), Dr. John Prentice and Joey (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner)

The Creature of Nightmare- Freddy Krueger (The Nightmare on Elm Street), The Eye/ Sauron (Lord of the Rings), Poltergeist (Poltergeist)

Friday, April 16, 2010

The hero's journey in Avatar

I chose this movie for because I knew we had all probably seen it so it would be an easily relatable and it's an excellent example of the hero's journey.


Stage 1: Departure- When the protagonist (Jake) originally accepts the mission of going to pandora (the avatar's planet) his brother has just died and he is in a wheelchair and he is very hesitant to embark on the journey. But finally he is convinced and sent away in the time capsule spaceship on the adventure to the new planet.

Step 2: Initiation- Jake arrives on planet Pandora and really undergoes two different initiation phases. The first is when he has to be accepted by his fellow scientists Grace and Norm in the program. As well as to learn about the reasearch they are doing and how to use his Avatar body. The second is when he accidentaly gets left behind in the wilderness and has to learn to fend for himself on a strange planet and later when he must be accepted into the clan he ends up living with. He is taught new skills by the avatar woman who finds him, Neytiri. His trials include learning to speak a new language, how to ride an Avatar horse and flying reptile and to fight in both armed and unarmed combat. These were very typical hero initiation tasks.

Step 3: The road of trials- Jake's road of trials is when he has betrayed the Clan. The bombing of ther Home tree and his banishment lead him to make a decision. He must either desert his new found family or risk his own life and the chance of new legs in his human body. He goes to capture and ride the Toruk, the king beast of the skies. This has only been done once before but he knows that the person who can do this is the true leader ov the Na'vi peoples. He returns to the people at the tree of souls on the back of the great beast. The people as well as Neytiri and Tsu'tey accept him back and he becomes the great leader of the peoples in thier time of need.

Step 4:The innermost Cave- After he is deemed the new leader of the Na'vi people and the Toruk rider Jake must go around to visit all the Native clans on Pandora in order to lead the resistance in the oncoming battle with the humans. With the newly recruited cousin clans by his side as well as his family clan, Norm and one rebel air pilot they go to face the military. They fight to protect the tree of souls but are losing and many die. The outcome looks grim until the wild creatures of pandora join in to protect their home. Then the colonel leading the military goes to kill jake in his human form. Jake is scrambling for breath trying to reach his oxygen mask when Neytiri comes and rescues him. Pandora is saved.

Step 5: Return and Reintegration with Society- All the remaining humans are sent home except for a couple that were loyal to the Na'vi side of the war. Jake is set underneath the tree of souls beside his avatar body and all the people pray to Ewah that his spirit will connect to his Avatar body permanently. It does and Jake can now truly be one of his own peoples forever.