Greek Mythology's Rites of Passage Used in the Movie, Rio

Pet to Hero Many modern films today often have Greek mythology tied in to them. Either movie characters often share specific characteristics of the Greek gods and goddesses, or there are similar plot lines that can relate to myths. In many movies, the protagonist undergoes a process that betters them in the end. In Greek mythology, this process is called the rites of passage. The rites of passage can be broken down into three steps. The first step is separation from the character’s normal daily routine. The second step is the entrance into a liminal zone, which is often very bizarre and new to the character. And the third step is reintegration, which is when the character gets reintegrated back into their normal world but with a little more knowledge that they learn from the liminal zone. One example of a modern movie that portrays this Greek concept is the film Rio. In this film, Blu is the protagonist that goes through the rites of passage. Blu is separated from his comfortable, domesticated bird life, enters a liminal zone, and is ultimately reintegrated back into his regular life with new knowledge, skills, and outlook on life. The film first begins with a baby blue macaw being sold off and smuggled out of Rio. The baby chick then falls out of the back of a truck while in Minnesota just before being sent to a pet store. Luckily, the chick is rescued by a young girl named Linda. Linda becomes the macaw’s owner and names him Blu. Blu and Linda grow up together and become best friends. The film takes place when they are both adults and Linda is an owner of a bookstore. Blu helps her run this bookstore and aids her throughout her daily life. They do everything together. We discover quickly that Blu is no ordinary bird. He is very domesticated and sheltered and has no social relations to wild animals. He reads books and is very intelligent. Ongoing birds that pass by the bookstore often mock Blu for being a pet, a nerd, and more importantly, not being able to fly. Linda learns that Blu is the last male of his species and agrees to travel to Rio, Brazil to mate with a female macaw in hopes of reviving their species. Blu’s trip to Rio is what the film’s story revolves around. It is also where his rites of passage take place. The first step in the rites of passage is separation. In Greek mythology, separation occurs when someone is separated from their normal everyday life and into something unfamiliar. In mythology, the person who undergoes the rites of passage is usually a young maiden whom Zeus wishes to have sexual relations with. The young maiden’s separation takes place when she decides to wander off in a meadow and away from home to look at flowers. She is separated from her parents and humans and is placed in a scene she is unfamiliar with. Very innocently, the young girl will just stroll through a field of grass while looking and picking at flowers when Zeus comes and takes her away from society and back with him. In the film, Blu is separated from his comfortable, sheltered life in Minnesota and is brought over to Rio, Brazil. Blu is very astonished and amazed at what he sees as he arrives in Rio. The scenes are very different than that of his home town where it is snowy and cold. Rather, Rio is sunny and illuminated, full of joy and relaxation. As Blu looks out of the car window, he sees the mountains, beaches, and different species of birds flying around. He is in awe of the beauty that he witnesses. The music that plays in the background also depicts that Blu has transitioned from his Minnesota home and into a paradise.
Blu is continually being pushed further and further away from his normal life as he spends more time in Rio. Linda and Blu arrive at an aviary so that he may meet the female macaw to mate with. Upon arriving, Blu learns that many of the birds here were rescued from smugglers and encounters an interesting old white bird who gives Blu a very nasty look. Blu is placed in a huge cage and meets the female macaw named Jewel. Jewel is flying down very elegantly with a beautiful light in the background and Blu says to himself, “Wow! She is beautiful! Like an angel”. Jewel’s character resembles that of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Aphrodite is so beautiful that all men would desire her if they saw her. She “embodies the overwhelming power of human attraction” (Powell, 212). Immediately, Blu is attracted to her and tries to kiss but she is unresponsive. Jewel, rather, wishes to escape the cage and go back into the jungle. Meanwhile Linda expresses concern about leaving Blu alone with Jewel and emphasizes how close the two are as she says, “I never let Blu out of my sight. He needs me.” Linda leaves the two macaws alone only for them to be captured by the white bird Blu encountered before. Blu has now experienced the separation phase completely when Linda leaves him and he is bird-napped.
Once Linda leaves and he is captured, Blu’s enters the second stage of his rites of initiation: the liminal zone. According to Greek mythology, the liminal zone is a “place of paradox where normal rules don’t apply” (Lecture 10/24). It is a place where men can connect with the gods. This is where the young maiden that Zeus kidnaps first loses her innocents and her virginity. She is exposed to Zeus and the other gods. She is no longer a young maiden and in most cases, will birth a child that is half god half human before leaving the liminal zone. We know that Blu is separated and enters the liminal zone when he says “Oh how I wish I was back in my own cage with my little mirror and my little swing and my little bell. Oh how I miss my bell.” Blu is completely separated from his life and is now placed into a world that he is entirely unfamiliar with. Blu experiences his liminal zone for most of the remainder of the film. His first experience is when he arrives into a garage full of smuggled birds that are supposed to be shipped out the next day. Here he witnesses hundreds of birds squished into one cage, birds going crazy and talking to themselves, and birds that have just lost all hope in life.
The liminal zone is a place where normal rules don’t apply and where humans can connect with the gods. Blu and Jewel learn that the white feathered bird who brought them all here is Nigel. Nigel’s character resembles that of the Greek god Zeus. Zeus is the most powerful god who brings the young maidens into their liminal zone and reintegrates them back into society. Similar to Zeus, Nigel is a bird who is in love with fame and power and is ultimately the factor that brings Blu into his liminal zone as he bird-naps him from the aviary and into the smuggler’s garage and will eventually be a component for Blu to be reintegrated back into his normal world.
Blu and Jewel manage to escape Nigel and the smugglers even though they are bound together by a chain. Once they leave the smuggler’s garage, Blu and Jewel find themselves in the jungle. Blu is afraid of the jungle because he is very unfamiliar with it. It is a world that he has never experienced before as it contains many new plants and exotic animals. Blu witnesses a snake eating a frog, something he would not normally see back at home. This is also the first time that Blu has ever spent a night outside of his cage and without Linda. Blu tries to familiarize himself with the jungle by deciding to sleep in a man-made structure (a wooden hut) instead of a tree because he feels safer.
While in the liminal zone, Blu meets a toucan named Rafael. Rafael is very similar to the Greek god Hermes. Hermes is a mediator figure who can cross boundaries between humans and the gods. Like Hermes, Rafael is a mediator figure in a sense that he can relate and speak to Blu, a domesticated bird, and the wild birds of the jungle. Rafael says to Blu, “if you know Rafael, you know everyone.” Rafael is a very important figure in Blu’s rites of passage because he is the one who attempts to guide him through his liminal zone and back with Linda. Rafael introduces Blu to the customs of Rio and introduces him to other animal residents of the island. Rafael even goes so far as to give Blu flying lessons. Learning how to fly is very new to Blu. Blu must learn how to fly before leaving the liminal zone and undergoing the third stage of the rites of passage. Jewel tells Blu, “if you want to see Linda again, [flying] is the only way.” Although the flying lessons did not help Blu, he still had his first flight experienced as he lies on top of a hang glider. Although still afraid of flying on his own, Blu now understands what he has been missing his entire life and how beautiful it can be.
Blu’s journey in his liminal zone continues as Rafael decides to take Blu and Jewel to a party. This is the first time that Blu has ever been to a bird party. Although usually shy and quiet, Blu is able to dig deep down within himself and pull out his Rio roots and do the samba. His natural instincts take over and he is able to just let loose and have fun. He interacts with other birds and even dances with Jewel. So far, Blu has learned so much about being a bird but is still not able to fly, which is one of the most essential characteristics of a bird. Blu will not be able to reintegrate back into his normal world and undergo the last stage of the rites of passage until he is able to fly.
Blu and Jewel are eventually recaptured by the smugglers and put in a plane to be sent off and sold. While in the plane, Nigel wounds one of Jewel’s wings as she tries to escape, leaving her helpless and unable to fly. Blu decides now that he must help Jewel and himself by taking out Nigel. Nigel pushes Jewel out of the plane. Blu is upset and throws a fire extinguisher at him and he gets knocked into the plane’s engines, causing the plane to stop working. Having defeated Nigel, Blu courageously jumps out of the plane to save the falling Jewel before she hits the ocean. It is at this very moment, right before they are both about to hit the water, does Blu finally fly. With Jewel on his feet, he spreads his wings discovers that he can now fly. He flies over Rio and back to his owner Linda. Blu has now entered the last stage of the rites of passage. He is reintegrated back into his normal world but now with a lot more knowledge and a different perspective on life. The film ends with Blu and Jewel flying off into the distance.
Like many modern films today, Rio, includes many mythological ideas. Blu’s journey throughout the film demonstrates the Greek mythological idea of the rites of passage. Blu is separated from his comfortable, Minnesota home and comes to Rio. He is then separated from his owner and enters the liminal zone where he experiences many things that he has never experienced before. It is here in Rio where he learns how to fly and is ultimately reintegrated back into this normal world when he flies over to his owner. Blu is the hero who undergoes struggles and is triumphant in the end. He wins Jewel over and even has two kids together. Like in most animated child movies, there is always a happy ending.