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Creators: Barrett, The Honors College
Creators: Curlee, Alexandria

Jungian Archetypes and Unique Depictions of Jung’s Collective Unconscious as an Explanation for The Lord of the Rings Films’ Extraordinary Appeal

Description

The Lord of the Rings films are an immensely popular early 2000s film trilogy. Yet the films’ popularity goes deeper than critical acclaim. The films have a cult following, enough for the films to have frequent theatrical re-releases and for Hollywood to begin producing more Lord of the Rings content starting in 2022 with Amazon’s Rings of Power. Why do these films, the first live-actions adaptations of Tolkien’s books, have such long-lasting appeal? Academic scholars have thoroughly attempted to answer this question. Some scholars have even utilized the theories of Carl Jung—including his theory of archetypes—to explain the purpose of certain characters within the films. Few, however, have utilized Jung’s theory of archetypes in great depth alongside his theory of the collective unconscious. This piece attempts to supplement the works of previous scholars in explaining the Lord of the Rings films’ appeal by emphasizing subconscious appeal, utilizing the theories of Carl Jung. Specifically, this piece analyzes the characters of Gollum as a portrayal of the shadow archetype, and the characters of Aragorn and Arwen as the anima and animus archetypes respectively. Further, this piece argues that Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious in humans not only be applied to the portrayal of the race of men in the films, but also to the races of elves and orcs. Elves and orcs are shown to have similar but different collective unconsciouses which viewers can then subconsciously compare to the collective unconscious of men portrayed. This analysis serves to explain a number of subconscious appeals of the Lord of the Rings films which explain their immense and long-lasting popularity.

ContributorsLassila, Clifford (Author) / Mack, Robert (Thesis director) / Loebenberg, Abbey (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)

Created2023-05

Peer reputation among affluent middle school youth: ramifications for maladjustment versus competence by age 18

Description

Given the major investment young people make in earning and maintaining a peer reputation, our goal in this study was to explore the association between dimensions of negative and positive peer reputation in middle school and adjustment several years later, by the end of high school, among upper middle class youth. Prior research has shown negative reputations such as aggressive-disruptive and sensitive-isolated to be associated with maladjustment later in life, whereas reputations like popular and prosocial-leader have been related to positive future outcomes. However, there are contrary findings that reveal a more complex relationship between peer reputation and adjustment, showing certain “negative” reputations to be tied with better outcomes in some domains and the converse in others. Using a sample of middle school students, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to test a four-factor model of the Revised Class Play, a peer report measure on peer reputations. CFA findings supported the four-factor model with the following reputations: popular, prosocial, aggressive, and isolated. Structural equation models were used to predict 12th grade adjustment outcomes (academic achievement, psychopathology, substance use) from middle school peer reputation. Prosocial reputation in middle school was connected to higher academic achievement and fewer externalizing symptoms in 12th grade. Both prosocial and isolated peer reputation were negatively associated with alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use, whereas a popular reputation was related to higher levels of alcohol use. Middle school reputation did not predict internalizing symptoms in 12th grade. Findings are discussed in terms of adaptive and maladaptive adjustment outcomes associated with each peer reputation and implications for future research.

ContributorsCurlee, Alexandria (Author) / Luthar, Suniya (Thesis advisor) / Aiken, Leona (Committee member) / Infurna, Frank (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2016