An orphaned boy was raised by his adoptive parents. One day, a tragic incident killed the kind couple who had taken care of him. The grieving young man embarked on a journey to fight evil. He then was trained by a special teacher who taught him spiritual values. The young man was ready to take on the evil overlord, only to discover that his enemy was none other than his own biological father. Sounds familiar? Of course.
Finding patterns in Hollywood movies is not difficult. Like myths, tales, and folklore, movies often repeat the same basic plot over and over again. The basic pattern of the character’s history, personality, or behavior has psychological explanations.
Carl Gustav Jung (1875 – 1961) advanced the concept of psychological archetypes. The archetype is an original model of a person, an ideal example or a prototype on which others are copied, modeled or emulated. The archetype served as a symbol that everyone can recognize. Some archetypes appeared often in the stories, such as the archetype of the Child, the Hero, the Great Mother, the Wise Old Man, the Trickster, the Devil, the Scarecrow and the Mentor. The archetype as a model of person, personality or behavior is easy to detect in Hollywood movies. For example, The Archetype of the Hero.
The character explained at the beginning of the article is Luke Skywalker who appeared in star wars trilogyand possessed traits that can identify him as the archetype of the Hero.
In his book, The hero with a thousand faces, Joseph Campbell (1904 – 1987) identified an archetypal plot within ancient myths that told the same recurring story about the hero as the main theme. These characters usually follow these patterns:
– Born under unusual circumstances. The Hero is often born into royalty, or in times of danger.
– At one point in the Hero’s life, he leaves his family or land, and lives with other people.
– The Hero is involved in an event that leads to an adventure or quest. The event is often traumatic.
– The hero has a special weapon that only he can handle.
– The Hero found supernatural help throughout his adventure.
– The Hero must prove himself many times during this adventure or quest.
– The Hero experiences atonement with the father.
– When the Hero dies, he is rewarded spiritually.
We like to identify ourselves as the hero character in a movie, so finding an example of this archetype in Hollywood movies is relatively easy. Of course, the character doesn’t always have to meet all of the criteria listed above to be classified as the hero archetype. Many examples of the hero archetype can, of course, be found primarily in superhero movies. Superhero movies are currently flooding the big screen, symbolizing hope and the return of ideals to society. A superhero is seen as a character who will do things right, and the audience always loves them.
Examples of the hero archetype in superhero movies are Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, and Iron Man. In other movies, there is Aragorn (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Indiana Jones, John Connor (terminator), and Harry Potter. These characters had proven themselves to be true heroes through their dedication to enduring pain and sadness for the sake of many and for themselves.
Although The Hero archetype is not limited to action and superhero movies, most of the samples we could find are mostly from both genres. Perhaps, because it is easier to act like a hero in a circumstance that requires a lot of action and dynamics.
The archetype is a part of our collective consciousness. Experiencing the story as the hero archetype, we see ourselves fighting evil and bringing peace to society. Although the recurring patterns may bore the audience, the character of the hero still plays an important role. They instill positive values in the audience and remind them that good things are still worth fighting for. Maybe not by killing the evil overlord or slaying dragons, but there are many ways to be a hero. And we can all be one.
