"She's the Man" - a Quest for Vengeance

One of my all time favourite movies is “She’s the Man”. This movie is a comical chick flick about a high school girl named Viola Hastings who loves soccer.  At the start of the movie, it’s September and school is about to start, and with that the school soccer season. However Viola is in for a surprise when she goes to school in that she learns that the girls’ soccer team at her school has been cut. When she learns of this, Viola attempts to play for the boy’s soccer team but her boyfriend (the captain of the team) and the coach of the team tell her that she is out of her mind and that she can’t play for the team. This fosters a desire in Viola to show the coach and her now ex boyfriend that she is a good soccer player. Viola has a twin brother who is supposed to be entering a new school, which so happens to be Viola’s school’s greatest rival in soccer. However, her brother has snuck away to London to play with his rock band and will be gone for the first few weeks of school. Viola decides to pretend to be her brother, Sebastian, and attend his school where she wants to make the soccer team and then have that team beat her old schools team as revenge on her boyfriend and the coach for not letting her play.

This movie contains many different types of archetypes including character, heroic, journey, and symbolic archetypes. However, I have chosen to focus on one specific archetype in this blog entry, the archetypal journey.

           This movie contains a different, not so common type of archetypal journey. This journey is the quest for vengeance. The definition of vengeance is revenge, retaliation or payback. It is characterized by the infliction of harm or humiliation on someone who had originally done something cruel or hurtful to that person. This movie most definitely contains a quest for vengeance. Viola was deeply hurt in the beginning of the movie due to the boy’s soccer teams coach and her boyfriend’s lack of concern and empathy in regards to the cutting of the girls soccer team. Furthermore, she was hurt by how they laughed at her suggestion that all the girls should be allowed to try out for the boy’s team now that theirs had been cut.  They told her that girls are not as good as boys and never will be and laughed at her suggestion. Viola was humiliated by this and wanted to prove to the coach and her boyfriend that this was not the case. She wanted to get revenge on her now ex boyfriend for saying cruel, hurtful things to her, but more importantly she wanted to prove to him that she could play on a boy’s team. She planned to avenge herself by making the boys’ soccer team at her brother’s school and then having her new team beat the boy’s team at her old school, all the while pretending to be her brother. She figured that beating her boyfriend’s team would humiliate him and serve him right for acting like such a jerk to her. Viola’s motive is vengeance and the plot of the movie and all the struggles Viola endures are all for the purpose of proving her capabilities to her ex boyfriend and avenging herself by humiliating him by beating his soccer team.  However, her quest for avengement creates new difficulties, problems and confusion in her life as well as that of her family, friends, and classmates.

             This type of archetypal journey is very important I think because it is quite obvious in our own lives. There are people in all of our lives who can be cruel and act in a very hurtful way towards us, whether it is physically, emotionally or physiologically. This often can leave us with feelings of payback and retaliation. We want to avenge ourselves, and make the person who hurt us understand that we won’t sit and let them keep treating us in such a way. Often in such a situation, people seek vengeance, much like Viola did in the movie.  Now seeking vengeance is human nature, it has been present in our word since the creation of human beings. You can see it wherever you look, whether it be in a high school where teenage girls reveal the secrets of their best friends as revenge on the friend for doing something to her, or in the adult world where an adult will humiliate someone because that someone did something do them first that they didn’t like.  Seeing this idea of vengeance in "She's the man" as well as in our modern world has got me thinking about the idea of to what extent is acting in a vengeance way ok? Is it ok for people in our world to seek revenge and payback? Or does seeking vengeance just create new problems and confusion in the lives of the two people in conflict as well as in the lives of people around them?

Can Archetypes be found in Archie Comics?

Let’s just say I’m major fan of Archie comics. Ever since I was little I have really enjoyed reading them. Over the past month I’ve been exploring archetypes in different books, movies, and even looking at how archetypes are evident in our own world. This week I challenged myself to find archetypes in Archie comics to prove my idea that archetypes our present everywhere, even in humorous and often silly comic books.

So after reading a few Archie comics, including a “Betty and Veronica Double Digest” as well as an “Archie’s Pal’s ‘n’ Gals Double Digest” many symbolic archetypes really stood out to me.

Color archetypes

1)    Veronica’s Black hair – Black symbolizes darkness, mystery or the unknown. Veronica can be a very plotting and cruel character. She is a very selfish girl, easily overcome by jealousy, who will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. For example, Veronica will go great lengths to ensure that Betty doesn’t have any kind of romantic relationship with Archie because she wants to have Archie for herself. She will even result to sabotage in order to get Archie for herself. You never know what Veronica will be up to next in her schemes and plots. Therefore, the color black obviously symbolizes Veronica`s nature.

2)    Betty`s golden hair- Betty is a very sweet girl, energetic and full of life, who is caring, kind and honest. She is smart and genuinely a nice person. The color gold symbolizes life and truth. This color definitely represent Betty`s kind hearted, honest character.

3)    Archie`s red hair- A few of the thing`s red symbolizes is disorder and violent passion. Archie brings disorder with him wherever he goes. When he tries to help people or do something nice, his kind hearted attempts often result in destruction or problems. Archie is also loved by Betty and Veronica, two best friends. The two girl`s compete for his attention and his desire but this often results in problems, and negative consequences for the girls.

I also spotted some nature archetypes

1) The name of the town, River Dale- A river symbolizes life force or life cycle.  Riverdale is the place where Archie and his pals live and the comic books tell the story of their eventful lives in the town. Therefore, the fact that the word `river` is present in the name of their town is symbolic.

2) The presence of trees in many of the images-  Trees symbolize learning and knowledge. A lot of the action in the comics takes place outside and there are always plenty of trees around. Archie and his friends are growing up, learning new things, experiencing new situations, and meeting new friends. Along the way they learn important life lessons through mistakes and experience. Because of this, it is evident that trees are often used for their symbolic meaning in the comic book.

My analysis of the symbolic archetypes within Archie comic books have proved to me that archetypes can be found in everything, even in the most silly, for entertainment only comic books. Are there any other comic books that you know that may contain archetypes?  And is it possible that comic books can contain other archetypes, such as situation, character, and journey archetypes?

Waiting for Prince Charming – an Archetype and a Way of Life?

So after watching countless movies and reading tons of books a specific type of archetypal journey really stood out to me from these sources. This particular archetype was the idea of a search for love. Basically what this means is that our hero sets out to rescue a princess or a damsel in distress from a great danger and along the way encounters many hardships and setbacks. The overall result of such a plot is obvious, the hero will save the girl and they will live happily ever after. End of story. Everything is sunshine and rainbows, good will always triumph evil and the hero will always save the girl and whisk her away to live a perfect life. This idea is evident in all aspects of media today and in the past, in books, movies, magazines, and even advertisements! It can even be said that the idea of “waiting for Prince Charming” is a way of life!

First let’s explore how this idea is shown in movies and books

Movies and books- For example, in the movie and book Sleeping Beauty a young princes is cursed from a young age by an evil fairy that she will prick her finger on a spindle and die.  So the princess is disguised as a mortal and lives with peasant folk in a small town. However, the prophesised events due occur, but the princess only falls into a deep sleep instead of dying.  Her sleep can only be awaken by true love’s kiss .Her sleeping body gets put into a high tower and the prince is alerted of the unfortunate occurrence. Out of his passionate love for her, he comes to awake her but must forge his way through a thorny maze and battle a dragon first. In the end, the prince succeeds his hardships and wakes the princess and they live happily ever after. This is a classic example of the archetypal journey of a hero to save his lover.  

Now let's explore this idea relates to magazines and advertisements-

Magazines and advertisements- I believe that the archetype of having a hero as a lover who saves the princess is evident in magazines and advertisements indirectly. Why do I think so? Well, if you look at how so many movies and books repeatedly use this idea the answer is evident. This idea of a hero whisking in to save the damsel in distress is well liked and that’s why it’s always used in movies and books. We like to hear stories that make us feel good and end happily. Women especially like to hear the happy/sappy story of a hero who saves the damsel in distress from all her troubles and afterwards they end up together and their lives work out beautifully. It’s a feel good story. Women want to meet that perfect someone, that man who loves them unconditionally and will impact and shape their lives for the better. Seeing these perfect love stories in movies and books makes ladies want such an occurrence to happen to them. And that’s where magazines and advertisements come in. Movies and books containing this archetype have shown women countless fairytale love stories and evoked the desire in these girls to live own fairytale story.  The magazines and advertisements foster on this desire through adds that promise that you will find that special someone if you just use this particular beautifying cosmetic product. Or that state that in order to have a fairy life you need to buy a certain style of clothing. Magazines too are involved in this and contain messages that say that if you just diet, dress, or act in a certain way; you will attract that perfect man. Now, how does all this media involved directly or indirectly with the archetype of Prince Charming saving the princess impact women in our world?

Impacts of this archetype on women in society-

As said above, the presence of this archetype in movies and books initiates a desire in women to live their own fairy tale lives. Furthermore, magazines and adds egg on this idea by saying that you need to buy a certain product to have that particular life. But I think most importantly, this archetype creates a specific lifestyle for women and even young girls. Seeing a man come to save the girl or princess from all her troubles and hardships and creates the idea in women that that a man is going to save them. It fosters dependence in girls; that they need to depend on a man to come save them from all their troubles. It abolishes all independence in girls which is fundamental in order to thrive in our increasingly modern and capitalistic society. Instead of working hard to better her own life, some girls have the false dream that they will meet a Prince Charming who will swoop in and impact their lives for the better. This dream is only going to lead to sadness and despair as it is very unlikely that it will ever occur.  In the book “The House on Mango Street”, Esperanza words this archetypal idea of “Prince Charming” in a very simplistic way.  She says that her friend Marin “Is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, and someone to change her life.” Marin like so many other young woman in our world, waits for man to improve her life. She doesn’t take any personal measures in regards to improve her own life, she only waits and waits.  Waiting for her “Prince Charming” has become Marin’s way of life.

 The relentless use of the archetypal journey of a hero as a lover in books and magazines has without question resulted in this archetype being present in magazines and advertisements as well as in the lives of women in our world. There are many opinions as to whether or not use of this unrealistic idea to such an extent is harming the woman in our word. What do you think on this issue? Is it ethical for advertisements to bombard woman with products and advice on how to attract their “Prince Charming”  who will never come and is it ok for young girls to dream of “Prince Charming’s" and “Happily Ever Afters”?

Why are References to Greek Gods and Myths used in our Modern World?

Studying archetypes in English at school has resulted in me pondering the fact of why we see the names of Greek gods so commonly in our society today. Like come on, these gods were worshipped thousands of years ago, why in the world are these gods and the myths that go with them evident today in our increasingly modern and urban society?

I think that one reason why the names of god’s are still used in our society as names for consumer products, shops, restaurants, and transportation methods, is because of the power, identity, and ultimately the image, associated with a particular god. Greek God’s were powerful beings because they were god’s obviously and therefore often had superior powers, knowledge, and abilities in comparison to a human. This creates a desirable image of a product or store or whatever the object /place is in the eyes of a consumer. I mean, who wouldn’t want to buy a cosmetic product associated with the goddess of beauty, Aphrodite? Such use of the names of Greek god’s is for marketing purposes ; that is to attract consumers by using the name of a Greek god to instil a powerful, superior image of the god in the consumer’s mind, in the hopes that they will transfer their positive image of the God to the product.

Examples-

 1) Venus Razor- Venus is the Roman name for Aphrodite the goddess of love and beauty. This razor is advertized for woman and the association with the name of the god Aphrodite proves that the association with “Venus” is to create a positive image in the consumer’s mind in regards to the razor.

2) The brand Nike – Nike was a winged goddess in Greek Mythology. She was the goddess of victory. Associating a brand of sports where with the goddess “Nike” shows that the company wants their clothing to be associated with the idea of victory and therefore influence customers by creating a positive image in their mind of the product.

3) Argus Security- Argus was a guardian giant with a hundred eyes in Greek mythology. Naming a security company after the giant “Argus” associates the company with a positive image of the Greek giant Argus and attracts consumers by making them think that since their company is named after Argus the guardian giant, who is always watching, they must be a good security company.

4) The movie “Poseidon” – In this movie, the name of the boat is Poseidon.  Associating the name of the boat with the god of the sea functions to create positive impressions about the boat in the minds’ of potential passengers. Poseidon was the God of the sea, created/controlled the waves in the ocean, earthquakes and sea monsters. Naming the boat “Poseidon” would lead people to believe that the boat is very safe because it is the ‘ ruler’ of the waves and will not be taken down by any storm or wave. Ironically, in the movie the ship capsizes after being swarmed by a rogue wave and many passengers die and the remainder need to struggle to escape the quickly sinking boat.

In conclusion, the powerful image and identity behind a Greek God motivate people to use such references in our modern society. This is evident in the naming of companies, consumer products, restaurants, and modes of transportation.

Do you believe that there are other reasons as to why references to Greek god’s and myths are used in our modern world? Is it possible that they are sometimes just simply used due to the fact that Greek mythology is well known and liked?