Symbolic Archetypes In Movies

Big Analysis

What are archetypes? Archetypes are the recurring themes in stories. Archetypes can be found in almost any part of a story, or any story in general. You can find situational archetypes, character archetypes, and symbolic archetypes in any story, and they will always follow the same cycle. The first stage of archetypes is the golden age. The golden age is the stage of innocence. It symbolizes the beginning, and purity. The golden age is often compared with things like spring, Eden, innocence, rebirth, and creation. Some people may even say that we are constantly trying to get back to the golden age. The next phase of the cycle is the god teacher. The god teacher corrupts, ends innocence, delivers knowledge, temps, and is often considered as being evil, whether it’s intentional or …show more content…
One symbolic archetype is light vs. dark. Weather or not Josh finds the Zoltar machine represents light, and darkness. It represents light because he has hope that it’s out there and that it will be able to turn him back into a kid again. It also represents darkness because if he doesn’t find the machine or it doesn’t work. If one of these things happens then Josh would be stuck in the darkness, or the unknown. Another symbolic archetype is innate wisdom vs. educated stupidity. In this movie Josh is naturally good at designing toys, despite the fact that he isn’t educated in marketing or how to even design toys. This is because he has innate wisdom, since he is a kid. Paul, however, is the educated stupidity. Even though he had had all that education that Josh didn’t have, and should theoretically be a good toy designer he isn’t. The next symbolic archetype is haven vs. wilderness. In this film Josh’s home represents haven. He feels safe there and is trying to work his way back to it. New York represents the wilderness. Josh doesn’t know anything about New York and isn’t safe there. The movie Big has many symbolic