Archetypes and the Hero's Journey in "Survivor: Heroes vs Villains

Besides the obvious archetypes of the whole 'Heroes vs Villains' setup, this season of Survivor definitely got me thinking about traditional character archetypes. It seems that even without a script, people naturally fall into some incarnation of an archetype.

Russell

Russell stopped at nothing during the game to get to the end, double crossing anyone to get further ahead. He pulled off some notable blindside, and betrayed the leader of the Heroes, JT. He is cast as The Devil Figure, due to his ruthlessness.

Parvati

Using her controversial strategy of flirting to get her way, Parvati made it all the way to the final three by masterfully manipulating those around her. Her main alliance was Russell, though she pulled off some sneaky moves of her own. Her allegiance to the 'villain' side and her use of flirting as a game strategy casts her as The Temptress.

JT

During the season, JT was a charming country boy who excelled at physical challenges. He was likeable and seemed to be the ultimate hero. He was finally blindsided by Russell after a failed attempt to sway Russell to his side. JT's morality labels him firmly as The Hero.

Sandra

Sandra was a member of the Villain tribe, but her alliance was slowly picked off, in a series of moves masterminded by Parvati and Russell. Finally, she was the only member left on the Villain tribe outside of Russell and Parvati's alliance. She was completely isolated from her tribe, but managed to survive and even eventually win the game. This segregation from her tribe marks her as The Outcast.

The game of Survivor has several recognizable elements of The Hero's Journey that reoccur each season.

"Call to Action"- the survivors arrive on the island, leaving behind family and friends to start their quest.

"Road of Trials"- survivors endure challenges, as well as physical discomfort on the island.

"The Ultimate Boon"- one survivor wins the grand prize of $1,000,000

"Return and Reintegration with Society"- survivors return to their families


It's strange that these elements of The Hero's Journey show up in a reality show and begs the question of why we are facsinated with Greek myths and their archetypes. Are these stories based on the human condition, or do we, if given the chance, emulate The Hero's Journey without even realizing it? What I'm trying to say is, in the case of The Hero's Journey and character archetypes, does the journey imitate life, or does life imitate the Journey?

Question:

• What do you think about the relationship of The Hero's Journey/ archetypes to the human condition?

• If you watched this season, can you think of any other survivors who embodied certain archetypes?
  

GI Joe Rise of the Cobra- terrible movie, great Greek references

Okay, first of all, GI Joe was honestly the most ridiculous movie ever (a submarine gets crushed by sinking ice. I mean, seriously?)- but it did have some important attributes of the hero's journey.

So instead of focusing on Duke's (the main character's) story, I want to talk about the Baroness/Anna. The catalyst starting her on "The Call To Adventure" is the death of her brother in Afghanistan, where he was supposed to be under the protection of her fiance, Duke. This cuts off her two closest relationships, her brother and fiance. She joins up with the villain, James McCullen and his henchman, known simply as 'the Doctor' for mysterious reasons. (Also, she starts wearing skintight black leather suits, for reasons unknown). Then, she encounters her 'Road of Trials', when she is pitted against her former fiance, Duke, and deals with her lingering feelings for him. Finally, she enters "the Innermost Cave' (in this case a mental state) when it is revealed that the Doctor is actually the brother she thought died in Afghanistan, who for some reason decided it would be better to inject her with mind-altering nano-robots to turn her evil, instead of revealing he is alive. (Like I said, this movie isn't heavy on logic) At the end of the film, it is presumed she begins her "Reintegration into Society", happily reunited with Duke.

Anna also represents a common archetype in Greek mythology: The Temptress. These women, often evil, use their femininity to gain power over men, much like Catwoman from Batman or Megara in the Disney version of Hercules. Even Anna's clothes further the idea of this archetype- after all, when you first think of this role, you think black, tight clothes- symbolizing evil and seduction. This reminded me of the passage in the House on Mango Street entitled "Beautiful and Cruel". It seems Esperanza was referencing the role of the Temptress.

When recognizing these aspects, it reminded me of something I discussed in my blog about the anti hero- that the hero's journey isn't just for heroes, but can be applied to many different kinds of characters. In this case, Anna is a villain for most of the movie, but because her behaviour is induced by outside forces, she doesn't seem to be a true villain. This begs the question of what classifies a hero- intent or behaviour, something I will do more thinking on and get back to you!

Questions:

• What to you classify Anna as? (Heroine, anti-heroine, villain etc.)



• What are some other examples of the Temptress in movies/books/TV ?



• What is more important to classify someone as a hero/villain- behaviour or intent?
  
  
• (Just for fun) Who do you identify with more, the Temptress or the Damsel in Distress?(I'll talk more about the Damsel in Distress in a later post)