The Blues Brothers

Jake and Elwood Blues, both on a "mission from god". The hilarious couple star in the Blues Brothers about the journey to save the orphanage where they grew up in while battling Illinois Nazis, ex-wives, the Good Ol'boys and the array of police officers trying to chase them down while Jake and Elwood try and raise enough money to save the place they use to call home. It is quite astonishing that without knowing there are some archetypes within this movie without being about mythology. This movie to me followed the journey of a hero and his adventure to full fill his quest.

Within the movie the journey that these two go through is quite widely recognizable.

The Departure-Jake Blues recently released from jail meets up with his old friend and brother Elwood Blues, the two evidently quite the trouble makers are soon given the task of raising $5000 to save the orphanage they grew up in. The nun giving them the soon to be adventure wants the money legitimately knowing that the boys would get the money using ways outside of the laws.

The Initiation-Jake and Elwood on the road go to church where they realize they are on a mission from god. They then decide to get this money legitimately but to do this they would need to get the band back together. Unfortunately, Elwood was supposed to be keeping in touch with his old band mates but it seemed it slipped his mind to actually go through with this job.

The Road of Trials- To get the money the Brothers embark on a journey trying to pick up their old band members from the new jobs they have taken up. Some have still continued to stick to their musical roots while others have ventured off and started a new life. The adventure to pick up all the band mates is a hilarious adventure of the boys bumping into Nazis, many police officers and killer ex-wives. The boys eventually round up all the band members but realize they need a big gig to get back on top. Through the help of Ray Charles for inspiration and an old booker the Blues Brothers are able to book the Paliser hotel and play the gig of of a lifetime. Because of playing at the Paliser Ballroom the boys are able to repay the $5000 dollars the orphanage needs but to do this they need to make a mad dash to Chicago with hundreds of officers on their tail.

The Innermost Cave- The boys with the money are surrounded by the SWAT team, army and a huge number of police officers. But the boys are able to pay the $5000 dollars and save the orphanage, but they will have to pay the consequences of doing the things they did to get where they are.

Reintegration with Society- I wouldn't say this is the best way to get back into society but it would probably be the closest thing to. For the crimes the boys did, Jake and Elwood are thrown into the slammer but the 'heroes' saved their old home from permanent destruction and got the old band together.

Different character archetypes are used such as

• The heroes include the Blues brothers trying to save the orphanage they grew up in as children. To do this the Brothers go on a long journey to save and fix this problematic situation placed upon them.
• Mentors are constantly shown throughout the movie such as Cab Calloway the father figure to the boys as they are growing up, Ray Charles giving the boys inspiration in music, and the band giving the boys hope when they need it the most.
• One of my most favorite is the Unfaithful Wife portrayed in the movie, which composes of Jake Blues's old wife trying to hunt him down for the way he stuck her up at their wedding.

The very prominent symbol shown throughout the movie were the full black outfits the Blues Brothers wore symbolizing the mystery behind who these men are and the chaos these boys leave behind.

The Blues Brothers is a classic and it is great knowing that it relates to archetypes used in mythology. Do you think there are any other comical movies that relate to archetypes and Greek mythology?

V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta is a compelling movie which is based in a totalitarian era Britain in which the people are oppressed, somewhat like what the Soviet Union might look like back in the 1900's. V for Vendetta is based in the not so distant future where famine and disease is scattered across the land. The movies stars a mysterious figure named V on his quest to reform an already destroyed society and stop the corruption and oppression of his government. The movie also follows a girl named Evey who mistakeably comes into trouble. But to her favour, V comes to her aid and saves her, which is the start to a companionship throughout the graphic novel and movie.

Heroic Archetypes

It is in my opinion that V cannot be looked at as one specific archetype but a collection of many different ones. V is like a ogre, made up of many layers just like an onion (quote from Shrek), V cannot be catorgorized as just on archetype. V's most abundant trait would have to be his Gothic Hero side. V is a very dark and mysterious hero who fights for the good of the people but yet is looked at by the people as evil and dark created by the evil regime ruling Britain. V also has the same characteristics as for say the Scapegoat, one who suffers for the good of the people. V constantly risks getting killed so that his people will have a brighter future without a corrupt regime in power. Laslty,with the companionship of Evey, V falls for her, getting emotionally attached at some times making him a very Unbalanced Hero.

Symbolic Archetypes

Throughout the film there are very strong symbols portrayed and shown everywhere, from the back alleys of London, to the memories and flashbacks that Evey has. The most important and strongly shown symbols are the colours. Red, white and black are constantly portrayed throughtout the graphic novel and the movie. V is dressed in black costume with a black hat but to offset the darkness he wears a mask of white. The darkness of V's costume shows how V is a very mysterious individual with the viewer or reader knowing very little about V and who he really is. The black also represents the chaos and hate inside of V which is very well known when V is fighting against the government. But yet out of all the black V wears a white Guy Fawkes mask, which symbloizes his constant devotion to the light and goodness of the people. Although V might be looked upon as an evil figure he stands for peace and what is right.

I also noticed that the symbol that V draws is a V with a circle bordering it, this is quite important due to that the triangle relates to the light and constant battle between good and bad, while the circle portrays heaven.

This is just the start of what is to come for my critical analysis on the film and graphic novel V for Vendetta. I still have alot to write about V and Evey's journey throughout the film and more achetypes shown. I would also like to hear feed back on what I might be able to improve on or fix. And I would like to hear some questions you might have about V for Vendetta.

Zachary Sinclair