Archetype art thy Steroetype

Since the beginning of time we have been type cast.  It is a universal symbolic pattern it is not original to Real World.  It is an ancient Greek saying the Root word archein meaning "original or old"; and typos, which means "pattern, model or type". The combined meaning is an "original pattern" of which all other similar persons, objects, or concepts are derived, copied, molded or emulated.

True to their universal nature, archetype characters and stories appear again and again across many diverse cultures, not just TV shows as Klosterman notes.  For they are the people we associate with daily, we can stereotype basically everyone we meet, whether we should or shouldn't.

The Magician

The Psychologist Carl Gustav Jung, he used the concept of archetype in his theory of the human psyche.  He believed that the Universal mythic characters or archetypes reside in the collective unconscious. Jung defined twelve different archetypes;  1. The Innocent (Saint) 2. The Orphan/Regular Guy (Goal to belong) 3. The Hero (Warrior) 4. The Caregiver (Selfless) 5. The Explorer (Wanderer) 6. The Rebel (Misfit) 7. The Lover (Slut, Stud) 8. The Creator (Artist) 9. The Jester (Joker) 10. The Sage (Wise Old Man) 11. The Magician (Overachiever) and 12. The Ruler (Leader)

I never payed attention to these archetypes until this Essay; Chuck Klosterman spoke of The Real World type casting season to season.  This type casting makes me look at our circle of friends where you can easily notice we all fit in a type cast because we all have dimensions to our personality. 



The Wanderer



I don't believe we are acting befit a character on T.V., for these are universal archetypes.  They are not a concept owned by a production company, they are a universal pattern describing the primary dimension of a person's personality.

The archetype's have evolved over time, I do believe there are modern day archetypes but I disagree with Chuck they have to be as blunt and racially derived as he states.  We could add the drunk, their seems to be one of those. The black guy and the gay as Chuck points out; is the talent of casting in television as an attention seeker, more than type casting racial lines. They always want racial diversity and never let the lines blur, no matter how much most of society would like them too.  Race and homosexuality is not new to our generation, more socially acceptable, but not new so casting and production need new material.  Their character is that of the overt Rebel, I refuse to allow the indignation of a race card in the universal archetype, I hope society has come that far too.



The Ruler

One thing you can find is a Reality TV show befitting any archetype you wish to watch, you want a bitch, watch Real Housewives, you want The Lover watch the Bachelor or Bachelorette, The Ruler watch Hell's Kitchen, and the Explorer you could watch the Amazing Race.  There is a niche for everyone, I only have to look in my household an I can name several types, the Innocent, The Caregiver, The Sage, and an oprhan. 

Chuckie as I like to call him, since I read  him regularly.  I feel like we are friends, made a very strong point.  These characters are relatable because we see them everyday, from our co-workers, friends, to family members.  It is also sometimes like looking in the mirror, for we have all watched a show and gone, "that is so me", because I swear to this day Phil from Modern Family is based of my husbands character.  Every episode he does things that are soo my husband.  Love this quote, “I’m cool dad, that’s my thang. I’m hip, I surf the web, I text. LOL: laugh out loud, OMG: oh my god, WTF: why the face.
or “I was gonna tell Claire about the dog. I was just waiting until she was in the right mood. Actually, I did get one right mood a couple nights ago… but I cashed that in for something else.” Proving to me that archetypes are relatable stereotypes fitting to a one dimensional degree, but remembering we all have several dimensions; we just might show one at a time to people or in different situations.