The movie “9” is full of magnificent mythological archetypes. Before we get into picking out the archetypes, I figured it would be best if I gave you a little bit of a summary, just so you know what it is about.
Movie Summary:
“9” takes place after a war in which technology has wiped out the human race, and focuses on the idea that the human pursuit of technology can lead to complete human destruction.
This movie follows the adventure 9 fabric dolls to save the Earth from total destruction. The dolls were created by a craftsman before the destruction of the human race and each contains a piece of his soul. This craftsman was also the creator of the very first robot, however unfortunately the government took the robot and used it in battle, which led to the battle off human made robots against the humans.
The movie starts with the #9 doll awakening, finding and taking a mystery piece, and making his way to the outside world. Not knowing who he is or what is happening in the world around him, 9 sets out to find information about the past. Once outside, 9 meets #2, and is almost killed by a robot who finds and takes #2. Seeing from his lookout tower that #9 is in need of help, #5 leaves the safety of the doll's hideout to save 9 and returns to the hideout with 9.
In the hideout 9 finds that there are very strict rules that he must follow, and that the dolls operate by a hierarchy type system in which #1 is in charge. Going against the rules by leaving the hideout and entering the robot hideout, 9 and 5 set out to find and save 2. Along their mission they find 7, 3 and 4, who help them save 2, however 9 ends up messing up their hopes of saving the world from destruction when he places the mystery piece into a hole in the master robot, awakening it.
Realizing what has happened, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 set out to find more information on what their purpose is. After searching and finding large amounts of helpful information, the dolls returns to their hideout and brings 1, 2, 6, and 8 with them to destroy the robots. Encountering many robot attacks on their way, losing many of the doll's souls to the soul capturing robots, the remaining dolls are able to use their creativity and new found knowledge to defeat the robots.
Having destroyed all the robots and returned Earth to it's natural setting, or as close to that as possible after the destruction that has occurs, 9 is able to use his new found knowledge of the mystery piece to return all the doll's souls to where they belong, resulting in a sad, yet happy ending to a very unique journey.
Through out the movie, many mythological archetypes appear, such as:
Heroic archetypes
Apocalyptic Hero: Usually a hero who faces the possible destruction of society if he does not succeed. 9 faces the destruction of the world by technology if he does not succeed.
Archetypal Journeys
There are many of these types of archetypes seen in “9”.
In the beginning:
The Quest for Identity : 9 enters the world and does not know who he is or where he is so he searches for information about himself
Later on in the movie:
The Journey in Search of Knowledge: 9 tries to figure out what happened to the Earth and how to defeat the robots
The Quest to rid the land of Danger: 9 sets out to destroy the robots after finding out what his purpouse is.
Stages of the Hero's Journey
Departure: 9 sees the world and how destroyed it is and is drawn to made it better
Initiation: 9 moves from the apartment he was created in to the dangerous outer world and is attacked by a robot
Road of Trials: 9 rebels against 1's rules in order to save #2
9 and 5 use creativity to find 2
9 decides to put the mystery piece in the robot without knowing what it would do
9 decides to save 1 even after his rudeness and attitude
The Innermost Cave: This is seen as 9 descends into the robot's lair to destroy the robots
Return and Reintegration with Society: After destroying the robots, 9 releases the doll's trapped souls from the mystery piece and sends his soul to heaven too
Characteristics of the Hero's Journey
The hero is naive and inexperienced: 9 is new to the world and has no idea who he is or what has happened to the world
The hero is special, one of a kind: 9 is the last fabric doll made to save the world. He is made with a with a mechanism inside of him that brings him to life
The hero has a loyal band of companions: 9 is helped out with his journey by dolls 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8
The hero often crosses a body of water or travels across a bridge: 9 and his companions often cross the bridge to the robot's hideout
Situational Archetypes
The Journey: 9 must find out what is happening with the robots and the technology in order to destroy them
Nature vs. Mechanistic World: Technology and robots are the only things left on the Earth and the robots have destroyed most of the nature on the Earth. This movie portrays Technology as bad or evil and nature as good
Symbolic Archetypes
Haven vs Wilderness: This contrast is seen between 9's apartment he was created in and the outer world, in that the apartment is safe and outside is extremely dangerous
Light vs. Darkness: This contrast is portrayed by the doll's hideout being seen in light and the robot's hideout being seen in darkness or could covered
Colours
Red: A red cape is worn by the 1, which sows the sacrifice he is willing to make for the group of dolls. This cape not only shows his willingness to sacrifice himself for the group, but more so his willingness to sacrifice others in order to save himself and the rest of the group
The colour red is also seen in the robot's eyes, which enforces their violent passion, lust for death and their thirst for blood
White: seen in the fabric all of the dolls were made from, suggesting to the viewers that they are innocent, pure beings that are good and long for peace
Green: This colour is seen in the light that shines from the mystery piece, which suggests that the piece should bring hope to the dolls, and restore growth, fertility and vegetation to the Earth if it is used to defeat the robots
Numbers
Six: This is the number of the doll that draws the evil shapes and see's evil things in his dreams that he draws out for the other dolls. The number six is ofter associated with evil, which explains why doll number six would be drawing evil things
Seven: This is the number of the doll that continuously saves the other dolls throughout the movie. The number seven suggests divinity and mankind, which matches perfectly with the actions of doll 7, in that she is the saviour for mankind by rescuing the other dolls
Shapes
Circles: seen on the front of 5, suggesting that he is very intellectual, thoughtful and perfect. All of these ideas presented by the circle shape hold true with 5, except the idea of perfection because the doll is not perfect by looks, but rather imperfect, because he has one eye missing. This idea of perfection could be used to think about the insides instead of the outer appearance of 5, with regards to his caring, hopeful personality.
Nature
Wind: this aspect of nature is used to present the idea of life, however it holds the opposite meaning in “9”, as this is seen when the #5 doll almost dies.
Fire: usually used to present the ideas of love, life and spiritual energy, which all hold true in this movie, as fire is seen when the doll's spirits are released to heaven. The love aspect is confirmed by the fact that the love of 9 for his companions is what makes him gain the mystery piece back to enable him to release their trapped spirits. The idea of life is a little ironic in this scene as the dolls are essentially dead, however their spirits are being released to heaven where they will essentially have a new life. Spiritual energy is the most obvious to relate to this scene in which fire is viewed when 9 releases the trapped spirits of his friends which are seen travelling up to heaven.
Character Archetypes
The Hero: #9 doll who was created and sent out into the world to save Earth from the evil technology destroying it
The Loyal Retainers: The #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 dolls who aid 9 on his Journey
The Outcasts: The #3, 4 and 7 dolls who were rejected by the rest of the dolls because they had went against 1's rules
One aspect in the movie that I really enjoyed was the idea of technology overwhelming the human population and essentially destroying the human population.
Are there any other movies in which you see that technology is evil and nature is good?
If technology is considered to be evil in mythology, what do you think the Greek and Roman gods would think about our technology reliant society today?
In what other movies do you see odd creatures on a mission to save the world?
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