Archetype Quote by Ti West
![“The first half [of Valley of Violence] was to endear you to all these people and give you all these archetypes that you're familiar with, and then the second half, just to see all those archetypes unravel like real people.” quote by Ti West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a6e/ti-west-2310_archetype_the-first-half-of-valley-of-violence-was_1400234.jpg)
“The first half [of Valley of Violence] was to endear you to all these people and give you all these archetypes that you're familiar with, and then the second half, just to see all those archetypes unravel like real people.”
About This Quote
Source Film: Valley of Violence, 2016
The story first builds familiar archetypes to engage viewers, then subverts them to reveal authentic, flawed humanity.
In simple terms: It starts with familiar characters, then shows their true, messy selves.
Key Takeaway
Use archetypes then challenge expectations.
Themes
storytelling
character development
subversion
Mood
thoughtful
intrigued
Type
cinematic
dramatic
When to use this quote
- Screenwriting
- directing
- audience engagement
- character arcs
Key Concepts
Narrative structure
psychology
authenticity
Questions to Reflect On
- Why do we gravitate to familiar archetypes?
- How does subverting them affect emotional impact?
A Different Perspective
Relying on archetypes may oversimplify complex individuals.
![“It's Ethan Hawke and John Travolta [in Valley of Violence]. It's awesome. They're awesome.” quote by Ti West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/31e/ti-west-2310_valleys_it-s-ethan-hawke-and-john-travolta-in-va_2316793.jpg)
![“[Valley of Violence] was written for James Ransone. PJ's a friend of mine, I've known him for a long time, he's always like, "Dude, when are we going to make a movie together?" I finally called him.” quote by Ti West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/551/ti-west-2310_known_valley-of-violence-was-written-for-james_2236369.jpg)
![“Toby [Huss] gets shot, or that part when [John] Travolta says this, or the part where Ethan [Hawke] says that cool thing - those details are the things that are interesting to me. So just acknowledging we don't have a lot of money [for Valley of Violence], so we're going to make a Western that's…” quote by Ti West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/9e6/ti-west-2310_charismatic_toby-huss-gets-shot-or-that-part-when-jo_1713150.jpg)
![“It definitely could have been a horror story [Valley of Violence], oh my God, if the dog was impossible. So could the horses.” quote by Ti West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/656/ti-west-2310_could-have-been_it-definitely-could-have-been-a-horror-s_1005685.jpg)
![“I mean PJ - James Ransone - he was a friend of mine, he probably heard all this stuff, but for the rest of the cast [Valley of Violence], we mostly just talked about their characters and things like that. That was the business at hand.” quote by Ti West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4b7/ti-west-2310_business_i-mean-pj-james-ransone-he-was-a-friend_749608.jpg)
![“The second half [of Valley of Violence], you're with the guys that you should hate, but when you start seeing what their real lives are, you're like, "I do hate you, but at the same time, all right - maybe take it down a notch." The complications of all that are what's so interesting to me, those…” quote by Ti West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fb8/ti-west-2310_complication_the-second-half-of-valley-of-violence-yo_439715.jpg)
![“Really, I wanted to make a movie [Valley Of Violence] about: How does violence affect people? This is a take from me on how violence affects people.” quote by Ti West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/83b/ti-west-2310_doe_really-i-wanted-to-make-a-movie-valley-o_305552.jpg)
![“It's not the plot [of Valley of Violence] - the plot is the reason to get all these things to happen, all these character moments to happen. It was always meant to have these two perspectives.” quote by Ti West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3dc/ti-west-2310_character_it-s-not-the-plot-of-valley-of-violence_20670.jpg)
![“I wrote [Valley of Violence] entirely with James Ransone in mind. I get such a joy out of watching his performance and seeing people watch this. He's so great. The bravado thing and the foolishness, he does them both so well. It's weird because he's so hateable in the movie, but in the end, you're…” quote by Ti West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/26f/ti-west-2310_bravado_i-wrote-valley-of-violence-entirely-with_69257.jpg)
