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?