From: ft@nessie.mcc.ac.uk (Frances Teagle)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv
Subject: Re: Archetypes in Blake's 7  (long, some SPOILERS)
Keywords: Blake's 7, B7, archetypes, Blake, Avon
Date: 4 Nov 92 19:05:13 GMT
Organization: Manchester Computing Centre

Congratulations on a very interesting posting.  I have been
thinking along similar lines.  Some comments:


 >Other color archetypes in Blake's 7 are more direct.  Blake, for
 >example, is attired in mixed greens and browns.  These are earth
 >colors - natural colors - representative of the natural balance and
 >harmony Blake desires to restore in the galaxy by the overthrow of
 >the Federation, and his own resonance with the same.  Gan is
 >attired almost exclusively in  browns - soil colors - representing
 >his down-to-earth-ness, his simpleness (meaning uncomplicated, not
 >stupid) and his former life as an off-world colonist, perhaps a
 >farmer.

In a long article (still being updated as the Beeb releases the
tapes) I wrote:-

"Green seems to be a key colour, representing hope and purity.  
Blake and Cally, the most idealistic members of the crew, often wear it.  
Travis cloaks himself in green when masquerading as Shevan the rebel leader 
in `Voice from the Past'.  When, in later episodes, 
Avon is seen in green, it is the olive/khaki shades of camouflage
suited to a pragmatic and cautious leader.  Its most notable appearance is on
Kezarn (The City at the Edge of the World) whose peaceable inhabitants all wear
a pale spring green.  Bayban's gunfighter Kerrill, changes into the same colour
before she accompanies Vila to the new world, symbolising her rejection of her
previous life and presaging her decision to stay there with Norl and his
followers."  

 >Cally, Jenna and Vila are dressed in varying mixes of colors. 
 >Cally tends toward more natural colors, greens and blues.  Jenna
 >tends toward more fire colors, reds, purples.  Vila tends toward
 >natural/soil/earth browns and tans, and some yellow, orange and
 >pale blue.  These colors represent their comparatively moderate
 >natures.

Vila wears as lot of grey in the later series.

 >Color is also used to establish situation in several episodes.  

Also from the article :-

"The colours used to differentiate between the masked figures
in the prophecy at the beginning of `Sarcophagus' reappear subtly in the
clothing worn by the crew, assigning them their roles in the occupant's
destiny."


 >The association with machines establishes Avon as a loner and a
 >misanthrope.  In olden times, these "unnatural" pursuits would also
 >have made him a practitioner of black arts or sorcery.  

Good point - a natural heretic, at odds with orthodoxy.

 >Not quite as clear is the association of Avon with the Devil.  Avon
 >is often seen trying to lead Blake "astray" from his Cause, or to
 >lead the other crew members astray from following Blake.  Avon
 >preaches a doctrine of self.  Like Lucifer, Avon was once at the
 >top of his profession, but was for some reason unsatisfied, and
 >tried to go one better, failed and "fell from grace".  

Yes, a Miltonic fallen angel.

 >Another image is the association of the Arthurian Legend with B7. 
 >Blake is King Arthur, Avon his Merlin, Vila the court Jester, Cally
 >the Court Physician.  These images are carried out in fanfic by
 >suggestion or in alternate universe stories.  I rather like the
 > image of Avon as Merlin to Blake's Arthur.  

I like it too.  Merlin is a powerful and ambivalent figure in
Celtic mythology (Kerr Avon is a very Celtic name).  It reinforces
your earlier point about sorcery.  When I tried a comparison
with the Robin Hood archetype, I couldn't make Avon and Cally fit,
this suits them better.  I wrote :-

"The story can be seen as a sophisticated
and sometimes rather sombre amalgam of the two classic swashbuckling
Hollywood dramas, Robin Hood and Captain Blood, light-hearted cinematic
evocations which were in their turn based on archetypal folk heroes, with
a possible real-life origin.  These archetypes, filtered through our own
recent experiences of oppression, resistance and political turmoil, seasoned
with cynicism and pessimism, emerge as the heroes of today.

A strong reminder of Fritz Lang's `Metropolis' occurs when Travis
(Stephen Greif) with his black-gloved artificial hand confronts
the robot double of the resistance leader Avalon (Julia Vidler)
which he has had created to spread a plague virus among the
crew of the Liberator, just as Rotwang (Rudolph Klein-Rogge)
with his black-gloved artificial hand faces the robot double of
the worker's leader Maria (Brigitte Helm) which he has created
to spread dissention among the inhabitants of the labourer's 
underworld.  Both Maria and Avalon conduct their meetings in
caves and both are seen strapped to a stretcher while being
electronically scanned for the data to program their mechanical
alter egos."

Regards,
FT
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