Mythology---the beacon of life, in movies, books, comics, and games. Now it's my duty to find them, and write about them!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Sucker Punch Archetype Analysis

I chose to write about the trailer of the movie Sucker Punch, since it enticed me right from the beginning. The trailer centres around the hero, who in this case is a female (proto-feminist hero). In the beginning, this hero is up against the power of the man (the hero meets monstrous men), who have locked up women like her in some sort of prison. When they are taking the blondie to prison, she is dressed up in white (represents eternalness, pureness) to the dark prison (sort of an "angel", wrongfully going to the dark layers of "hell).

The hero is set to do harsh chores (likely a quest for identity) while surrounded by strangers in this prison. Yet these strangers are the ones that eventually help the hero, females too (sidekicks on the journey with the hero). The blonde girl then goes through some sort of initiation, or a ritual. A feather comes down her (once again, the fact that the white symbol and colour lets her control and go into her dreams). The hero then meets some sort of "underworld" (maybe a relation to Athena vs. the underworld of Hades). She and her friends then begin her journey (the hero and her band's journey).

They meet a man who guides them through the journey (the mentor, correlation to Yoda in Star Wars). He tells them to find five things to have success, and must go through a road of trials when wanting to get these materials. The first is a map, a guide through the hero's journey. The second is fire, the ability to transform and spiritual energy from the feminine heroes. The third is the knife, sacred and never to be abused, used by the hero defeat all the stand in her way. The fourth is the key, the thing used to open new doors, and closed ones as well. The fifth material to be found is a mystery, something that reminds me personally of a shadow, symbolising the dark side, evil, and the devil. 

At the end of the trailer, we see the emergence of the dragon and machines, both mythological creatures or things that represent the good nature of the hero versus the evil forces of the machine and the dragon. Note that the dragon is dark red, situating blood, sacrifice, heat, and emotion. The weapon used against these magical forces is the sword, a magical weapon used by the hero to combat evil

When I go to watch this movie, I would expect more archetypes to come up, such as the power of colours used and the creatures the hero(s) have to face. Without a doubt, this should be one exhilarating ride of a movie.

2 comments:

  1. Wow You really broke down this trailer and really helped me other stand even more about the movie we should watch this movie today!!!!

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  2. Thanks Ronnique! I definetely want to see the movie now after analyzing the trailer so much!

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