Myth Theory

Film Analysis Using Myth Theory

Final paper assignment on the film Prometheus using the Jungian psychological theory approach to analyze it:This is for a Mythology class.

Analyze the film using the psychological (Jungian theory). Make sure you understand your chosen approach thoroughly, using secondary sources. You should focus on several of the elements in the film that contribute to its status as myth, including the characters and their interrelationships, the narrative, motifs and symbols within the film, and its form and structure (the way the story is told).

Choose one particular scene that you think best illustrates how/why the film fits your topic and the theoretical approach you chose, and discuss it in detail, indicating the ways in which it formally and thematically illustrates both your chosen topic and myth theory.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRnF4__xVeU)

This is the scene that i chose ^^^

*If you choose a Jungian approach, avoid simply focusing on the characters’ interrelationships (ie who is the protagonist’s “shadow” etc); you must also explain why and how you feel the film has achieved the status of “myth.”

Research Requirements:

Because a successful paper requires knowledge of the myth theory, an understanding of the film’s topic as well as the context of its release, you must use at least TWO outside resources besides the course materials.

1 source must be on the Jungian Myth theory and the other source on the Film Prometheus.

For your research, please limit yourself to articles found through the Cinema Studies Research Guide and/or the Rutgers Library indexes (I recommend the MLA index, FIAF, the Film Literature Index, and/or Google Scholar), unless you clear your source with me. You may use Imdb.com and Box Office Mojo but they will not count towards your two sources.

(Google Scholar would probably be best)

Additionally, the papers are required to follow the MLA format guidelines (link found under Course Home.) They must include a Works Cited page and in-text citations that comply with these guidelines.

I also have written the first page so far:
Prometheus, a 2012 science fiction film that was directed by Ridley Scott tells an intriguing story about a group of explorers that search the ruins of an ancient civilization in order to investigate the origins of humanity. This film is inherently tied not just to the Myth of Prometheus but also to the facets of Jung’s mythic unconscious. Two brilliant young scientists, Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway lead an expedition after the discovery of a clue to mankind’s beginnings in the year of 2089. Dr. Shaw has high hopes that they will meet a race of benevolent, godlike beings who will in some way verify her religious beliefs. There are many Christian allegories that can be seen in this film, which will be discussed further into this paper. Shaw’s partner Halloway on the other hand is out to expose any spiritual notions that may be found on this journey. However, neither of the explorers or their shipmates are prepared for the unimaginable terrors that await them on their voyage. Prometheus demonstrates our assumption of power over our environment and the film is focused around Dr. Shaw the explorers seeking out their creators for answers. The scientists believe that their ancestors who they refer to as “Engineers” hold the answers to their origins, which in essence are projecting their ideals upon the extraterrestrials, enforcing their internalized collective myths that have been invoked and re-invoked for centuries. Carl Jung believed that our myths and dreams have symbolic meaning and that different characters or “archetypes” come into play to speak to the collective unconscious. By looking at Prometheus through the lens of Jung’s view of psychology, we can see how major archetypal themes impact Dr. Shaw and her journey to not only find the answers about the origins of our existence but herself as well.