Figure 1- Venom (2018) - film poster
Venom (2018), directed by Ruben Fleischer is an example of a Heroes Journey film where the hero Eddie Brock goes on a quest to stop the 'symbiote' alien character of Riot from escaping to outer space to herald an alien invasion of earth. During the film various character archetypes are used to convey different personalities, intentions, characteristics and messages to the main character and by extension the audiences perception of the current occurrence. Below is a break down of the Heroes Journey Archetypes as portrayed in Venom
Figure 2 - Venom (2018) - Eddie Brock - Film Still
Hero: Eddie Brock is the protagonist of the film, the entire journey centers around his experiences and what is meaningful to his success.
Figure 3 - Venom (2018) - Carlton Drake - Film Still
Shadow: Carlton Drake plays the Multi-millionaire business tycoon, made rich off the back of exploiting vulnerable people in pharmaceutical testing for money. The character soon became obsessed with space travel and colonizing other planets in an attempt to save our doomed species. The character has a good intention of saving humanity however due to his methods and his callus disregard for others and his staff he is seen as the enemy of Brock.
Mentor: The symbiote character of Venom plays the mentor, he guides Brock, conditioning him to be able to cross the threshold guardian and leads him down the path to success. Venom latches on to Brock and gives him powers which Brock originally rejects when Venom displays characteristics which can be associated with the shadow archetype, however in a true symbiote manner, part of Brock is absorbed by Venom and his attitude changes turning him into an Anti-Hero (Vigilante).
Maiden: Anne Weying is the recently ex fiance of Brock, she is innocent in contrast to the stark violence of the exterior world, she is important to Brock and her preservation of innocence is portrayed throughout and becomes meaningful to the audience.
Threshold Guardian: It is arguable that the guardian is the character Roland Treece, who plays the gritty head-henchman of Drake, he is tasked with bringing back Venom who is at that moment latched to Brock. Treece is the character Brock and Venom must pass through to get to Drake.
Allies: Dr. Dan Lewis is the new boyfriend of Anne Weying, he is benevolent towards Brock, whom he respects as a reported and wants to help due to his selfless appearance. He goes out of his way to help Brock with his 'parasite' problem and inadvertently discovers the one weakness to all symbiotes, which is ultra high sound frequency.
Herald: The herald is played by the homeless character of Maria, she literally holds all the newspapers which is knowledge giving her the ability to announce her importance to the main character, she is an omen of events to come.
Trickster: It is arguable that the character of Ziggy who lives across the hall from Brock once he gets his own apartment has the only role of antagonizing Brock by playing loud heavy metal music through the night.
Figure 4 - Venom (2018) - Mrs. Chen in convenience store - Film Still
Mother: The character of Mrs. Chen who runs the conveniences store is in the mother archetype because she is constantly in all scenes which she occupies trying to 'mother' Brock, she asks about his eating habits, about his state of mind and his appearance; all common tropes which mothers in film are portrayed. She is also vulnerable which is depicted with the 'protection extortion' scenes, she is important to Brock because of her innocence.
Father: The father figure of Brock could arguably be his Employer. He tries to give advice and guide Brock down the path of good rather than that of the vigilante. When the 'fathers' abandonment comes in the scene of Brocks dismissal of work, Brocks life begins to spiral downwards.
Child: The symbiote character of Riot uses multiple hosts to get to Carlton Drake during this time he used the vessel of a little girl who appears innocent to Drake right up until the moment Riot exchanges hosts. The child appears innocent to all characters in the film but the audience is privileged with extra knowledge of the child giving her sinister qualities.
Illustrations
Figure 1: Venom (2018) [film poster] - Ruben Fleischer: Sony - Columbia Pictures
Figure 2: Venom (2018) [film] - Ruben Fleischer: Sony - Columbia Pictures
Figure 3: Venom (2018) [film] - Ruben Fleischer: Sony - Columbia Pictures
Figure 4: Venom (2018) [film] - Ruben Fleischer: Sony - Columbia Pictures
No comments:
Post a Comment