This week, we discussed one kind of archetype as it is applied to "The Dark Knight". We only used this particular kind of archetype because it is one of the most popular.
Batman is, in many ways, the same kind of character played by Ryan Gosling in "Drive."
It should be noted that the western and the gangster archetypes are American storyteller creations. These two types of stories originated in our country. Now, that does not mean that we created these characters. It simply means we threw those characters into a genre we created.
For instance, the idea of the lone gunman is not a uniquely American creation.
In fact, Akira Kurosawa was the one of the first film directors to film characters like these.
In fact, "Yojimbo" was made in 1961. It is a story about a lone samurai who is hired to clean up a town. In the process, he deceives both gangs and gets them to destroy each other. This character is seen as the template for Clint Eastwood's "Man With No Name".
Further still, that character morphed into a westernized version of the same story in the film "Last Man Standing".
Its also how "The Seven Samurai" became "The Magnificent Seven".
How about the Jedi in "The Star Wars Saga?"
In many ways, their names and their code is taken from the Japanese Samurai.
What about the great heroines?
Sigourney Weaver, Uma Thurman, Pam Grier, and Carrie Fisher play ferocious, fearless, independent women who are every bit as capable as their male counterparts. In fact, they usually have to overcome much steeper odds to win the day.
In your journals: "Where does the archetype you chose to research draw its inspiration?"
