Movie Analysis: The Movie Hercules

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Hercules is one of those characters that everyone seems to know something about. Not only is he a god in Greek mythology, but he is also the main character of a lovable Disney movie. The movie has all of the elements of Jungian individuation, which “...means being willing to embrace a lifetime of full-fledged metamorphosis analogous to a caterpillar becoming a butterfly over and over again.” (Harris). Simply put, throughout the movie Hercules goes through change, both physical and emotional, and he embraces all of it to become a better version of himself. Along with that, the movie has aspects of Jung’s version of the psyche which includes the ego, shadow and Self, all of which are embodied within characters throughout the movie.
In Jung’s theory, the ego is the “gatekeeper” so to speak, between the conscious and unconscious (Bradley). It is the ego that decides where certain memories and thoughts go, whether that be to the unconscious and they get repressed or stay in the conscious memory. In the movie, Zeus is one of representation of the ego. Hercules chooses to find out why he is so different from everyone in his village, and his adoptive parents tell him that his actual father is Zeus. This then causes Hercules to journey to a temple in order to talk to Zeus …show more content…
The Self is a divine being, taking on god-like qualities (Bradley). Due to the movie being about gods and goddesses it is not difficult to figure out which character portrays the Self. Hercules has to go to the underworld in order to save Meg, whom Hades has taken, and because Hercules puts his own life on the line to save her, he is rewarded. He not only gets the girl, but is deemed a worthy hero and is able to return to Mount Olympus. Going back to Mount Olympus brings back the god status Hercules once held. Therefore, Hercules is quite literally a god and his transformed self is what embodies the Self which Jung has
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