Dr. Hardy Fredricksmeyer
Minority Report and Mythological Archetypes
I. Russian formalism
Vladmir Propp, Morphology of the Folktale (1928)
Archetypal characters (character types), and narrative patterns (plot types):
e.g. WDR (Withdrawal, Devastation, Return), from Achilles to Christ to Clint
Eastwood; in reverse RDW in horror films
II. Archetypal character, and narrative pattern
Hero1. Spatially and socially marginalized.
2. Superior to those around him.
WDR1) Loss/Quarrel
2) Withdrawal
3) Disguise during absence or upon return (also deceitful stories)
4) Hospitality shown and/or help provided to wandering hero (if help offered,
usually by two persons, the first of whom tells the hero how to find the second; the
second then provides the hero with crucial information about his journey)
5) Recognition of hero (or failure of disguise)
6) Disaster during or occasioned by hero’s absence
7) Reconciliation of hero and return of hero
III. Ancient-Modern Versions
Ancient versionsHero and WDR: Achilles in Homer’s Iliad
Transmission to the modern eraFreud: the unconscious
Karl Jung: Tiefenpsychologie (etymology)
myths>literature>stage>film
Modern versions (with displacements)especially in westerns (including Unforgiven), detective thrillers, war stories, science
fiction
IV. The Hero and WDR in Minority Report
A. The Hero1. The hero is spatially and socially marginalized.
2. Superior to those around him.
B. WDR1) Loss/Quarrel
2) Withdrawal
3) Disguise during absence or upon return (also deceitful stories)
4) Hospitality shown and/or help provided to wandering hero (if help offered,
usually by two persons, the first of whom tells the hero how to find the second; the
second then provides the hero with crucial information about his journey)
5) Recognition of hero (or failure of disguise)
6) Disaster during or occasioned by hero’s absence
7) Reconciliation of hero and return of hero