Universal Archetypes and the Hollywood Formula
Universal Archetypes Defined
Universal archetypes are images and motifs stored in the collective consciousness, or the realm of mythology. Fairies and cyclops are universal archetypes, as are gigantic sea monsters and mermaids. All cultures have their own version of these mythological creatures, which humans have invented collectively with the use of our creative imagination.
The concept of universal archetypes is kind of like electricity. Electricity has always existed, but it wasn't till the mid 1800's that people started experimenting with it, labeling it, defining it. Thanks to these experiments, we discovered we could use this great universal light power as a source of energy to help with our survival.
In other words, we didn't create electricity. We simply discovered a mighty natural power that was already there to begin with.
In the same way, universal archetypes have always existed. They are like a cloud of images that float above us all, a world of imagery we all share and know well. From the moment we dream in the womb, we have access to this collective database.
The human race creates the physical world out of this shared consciousness. We dream in the language of universal archetypes, the language of the imagination.
The human race creates the physical world out of this shared consciousness. We dream in the language of universal archetypes, the language of the imagination.
It is not clear whether this cloud of images and thoughts actually occupies a physical space in the universe. What we know for sure is that these symbols are known to everyone, regardless of birthplace, language, culture or religion.
We all dream, think and communicate in symbols. These symbols are concepts or definitions usually represented by images or words.
We all dream, think and communicate in symbols. These symbols are concepts or definitions usually represented by images or words.
We see archetypes painted on prehistoric caves. They reoccur in all forms of storytelling and art around the world. People don't need books, TV or lessons to know about them. We understand them innately.
Someone from China who doesn't speak a word of English looks at a picture of a tree and they instantly know what it is. I look at the same picture and, even though I don't speak a word of Chinese, I know that's a tree. The picture of a tree is a universal symbol that everyone understands. It is a universal archetype.
Universal archetypes are an intuitive database of knowledge we all possess from birth, or maybe even before birth, as it has been said that babies already think, dream and respond to the world around them while in the womb.
If we could ever prove that babies already think in images before they've even seen the world, then we can know for sure that this archetypal world of the imagination is where we all come from. What we see in dreams and our imagination could easily be memories of the time when our soul pre-existed in a non-physical realm.
Maybe there are ogres, dragons and unicorns somewhere out there. Maybe those distant lands we hear about in fairytales are truly collective memories of the human experience. What if babies came from that realm of the collective imagination?
What if that's where we all return after our physical death? What if that vast ocean of images were heaven and hell? What if that's the realm where all the gods, witches, demons and aliens come from?
What if that's where we all return after our physical death? What if that vast ocean of images were heaven and hell? What if that's the realm where all the gods, witches, demons and aliens come from?
We can't pinpoint exactly how far back we can trace the history of the human imagination, but what we do know is that universal archetypes come from this mysterious realm of the unconscious.
It is the world of mythology, a world created and maintained by our shared creative imagination. It is very possible that our souls return to the archetypal realm after death, and it is also possible that this is the same place where babies await their next incarnation.
It is the world of mythology, a world created and maintained by our shared creative imagination. It is very possible that our souls return to the archetypal realm after death, and it is also possible that this is the same place where babies await their next incarnation.
Carl Jung and Universal Archetypes
Universal archetypes are the most basic form of imagination we have as human beings. The power of the creative imagination is what gives life to these archetypes. The Hollywood Formula builds stories using these archetypes as its characters because they appeal to what is most familiar to us as a species. It's what we relate to, because, ultimately, it's really our own story.
These mythological symbols are sometimes also referred to as Jungian archetypes because they derive from--you guessed it--Jungian psychology.
Carl Jung was a psychoanalyst. Born in Kesswil, Switzerland, in 1875, he developed theories that were largely influenced by Sigmund Freud, the Father of Modern Psychology.
Yet, even though both men worked together in the early 1900's, Jung eventually ended up breaking free from Freud due to irreconcilable differences in their views on certain issues they were studying at the time.
All we have are bits and pieces of the story, but apparently one of the major differences between Freud and Jung was the realm of the supernatural. Freud tended to disregard anything he didn't have physical evidence to prove scientifically.
Because the supernatural realm was made up of beliefs, superstitions, myths, legends and oral traditions, Freud disregarded it in his studies of the unconscious.
Jung, on the other hand, took the mythological realm, or the realm of the supernatural, very seriously. Jung would listen to the rants of his psychiatric patients and study them as important symbols of the unconscious mind. Ghosts, apparitions, UFO abductions, near-death experiences.
These are all universal archetypes that recur not only in Hollywood movies, but also in video games, comic books and digital art all over the Internet.
As a result of this notorious split between Jung and Freud, Jung ended developing his own body of psychoanalytic theories.
He devoted quite a bit of his studies to the archetypal realm or the realm of the human unconscious. By studying the common themes and archetypes that many primitive world cultures share, Jung identified four main archetypes said to be universal:
The Self, the Shadow, the Anima or Animus, and the Persona.
Each of these archetypes are, according to Jung, integral parts of the human personality. The Self is the highest part of us, the godhead, everything that is divine and that connects us with the rest of the universe.
The Shadow is a part of us we usually keep in the darkness of the unconscious. The Shadow is usually repressed material that we don't want to confront, the part of us we want to disavow because it contains the instinctive, primal part of our nature. The Shadow is also known as the Shadow Self, the doppelgänger or the evil twin.
The Anima or Animus is the soul, and it is one of the most difficult parts to define, as it often has religious connotations of salvation, redemption and damnation. As for the persona, it is our social self, the part of us we present to the world. The persona often changes a lot in order to conform to different social settings, so it is a very dynamic part of our personality.
The Hollywood Formula is basically synonymous with the Hero's Journey. Joseph Campbell developed the model of the Hero's Journey based on his studies of comparative mythology and religion. After tracing several patterns in the myths of different world cultures, Campbell discovered that all stories told are one and the same.
They might seem to be different on the surface, but once we start looking at the universal archetypes shared by all these world myths, we will realize that they all conform to the same pattern of storytelling, the monomyth.
We were all born to become epic heroes, and each person's life is ultimately their hero's journey. It is a monomyth that is universal because it is everyone's story.
We can all relate to it, because we all recognize it. The monomyth is the story that comes from the realm of mythology, where we all have our origins, and where we all return after death.
The Hero's Journey tells the story of an ordinary person who has an extraordinary experience. As a result of this experience, the ordinary person goes on an epic journey full of obstacles.
This is the Hollywood Formula we see in pretty much every movie. There is the hero, or protagonist, and there is a specific incident that leads this hero on a journey during which he or she becomes larger than life.
In short, this is the basic idea behind the Hero's Journey. We build our movie world with characters that come from the world of myth, or the archetypal realm of our creative imagination.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. There's a lot more relevant information to learn about Joseph Campbell which will prove useful when building our story and creating our movie world. For this reason, it is essential that we learn as much as possible about Joseph Campbell and his mythological studies.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT JOSEPH CAMPBELL AND THE EPIC JOURNEY OF THE HERO
These mythological symbols are sometimes also referred to as Jungian archetypes because they derive from--you guessed it--Jungian psychology.
Carl Jung was a psychoanalyst. Born in Kesswil, Switzerland, in 1875, he developed theories that were largely influenced by Sigmund Freud, the Father of Modern Psychology.
Yet, even though both men worked together in the early 1900's, Jung eventually ended up breaking free from Freud due to irreconcilable differences in their views on certain issues they were studying at the time.
All we have are bits and pieces of the story, but apparently one of the major differences between Freud and Jung was the realm of the supernatural. Freud tended to disregard anything he didn't have physical evidence to prove scientifically.
Because the supernatural realm was made up of beliefs, superstitions, myths, legends and oral traditions, Freud disregarded it in his studies of the unconscious.
Jung, on the other hand, took the mythological realm, or the realm of the supernatural, very seriously. Jung would listen to the rants of his psychiatric patients and study them as important symbols of the unconscious mind. Ghosts, apparitions, UFO abductions, near-death experiences.
These are all universal archetypes that recur not only in Hollywood movies, but also in video games, comic books and digital art all over the Internet.
As a result of this notorious split between Jung and Freud, Jung ended developing his own body of psychoanalytic theories.
He devoted quite a bit of his studies to the archetypal realm or the realm of the human unconscious. By studying the common themes and archetypes that many primitive world cultures share, Jung identified four main archetypes said to be universal:
The Self, the Shadow, the Anima or Animus, and the Persona.
Each of these archetypes are, according to Jung, integral parts of the human personality. The Self is the highest part of us, the godhead, everything that is divine and that connects us with the rest of the universe.
The Shadow is a part of us we usually keep in the darkness of the unconscious. The Shadow is usually repressed material that we don't want to confront, the part of us we want to disavow because it contains the instinctive, primal part of our nature. The Shadow is also known as the Shadow Self, the doppelgänger or the evil twin.
The Anima or Animus is the soul, and it is one of the most difficult parts to define, as it often has religious connotations of salvation, redemption and damnation. As for the persona, it is our social self, the part of us we present to the world. The persona often changes a lot in order to conform to different social settings, so it is a very dynamic part of our personality.
These four archetypes have inspired all kinds of variations and sub-categories of universal symbols such as the father, the mother, the child, the wise old man, the hero, the maiden, and the trickster. Such archetypes are the building blocks of the Hollywood Formula.
As a matter of fact, one cannot mention the Hollywood Formula without making reference to Joseph Campbell, an American mythologist who was very influenced by Jungian archetypes when developing his legendary template of universal storytelling, The Hero's Journey.
Universal Archetypes and the Hollywood Formula
They might seem to be different on the surface, but once we start looking at the universal archetypes shared by all these world myths, we will realize that they all conform to the same pattern of storytelling, the monomyth.
We were all born to become epic heroes, and each person's life is ultimately their hero's journey. It is a monomyth that is universal because it is everyone's story.
We can all relate to it, because we all recognize it. The monomyth is the story that comes from the realm of mythology, where we all have our origins, and where we all return after death.
The Hero's Journey tells the story of an ordinary person who has an extraordinary experience. As a result of this experience, the ordinary person goes on an epic journey full of obstacles.
This is the Hollywood Formula we see in pretty much every movie. There is the hero, or protagonist, and there is a specific incident that leads this hero on a journey during which he or she becomes larger than life.
In short, this is the basic idea behind the Hero's Journey. We build our movie world with characters that come from the world of myth, or the archetypal realm of our creative imagination.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. There's a lot more relevant information to learn about Joseph Campbell which will prove useful when building our story and creating our movie world. For this reason, it is essential that we learn as much as possible about Joseph Campbell and his mythological studies.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT JOSEPH CAMPBELL AND THE EPIC JOURNEY OF THE HERO
Comments
Post a Comment