!!!!!WARNING SPOILERS!!!!! Discuss interpretations of Signs here

[quirky]

I saw Signs last nite and i thot it was a very smart and interesting movie. unfortunately the friends i went with didnt get a lot of it so i thot id discuss interpretations here. i'll start off with a couple scenes and i'll post my interpretations later.

why does the little girl think the water is contaminated? Also the scene when the dog tries to kill her after she tries to feed him contaminated water.
whats the significance of the dinner and hwo mel gibson devours the food and then breaks down?
whats the significance of Shaymalan's character and the scene with him in the car? also how he traps the alien that is "assigned" to Mel Gibson and his family?

 

[Spooner]

The water thing was "planned" so there would be enough water around at the end to kill the alien.

Mel breaks down because he is losing more and more hope (they all made their favorite food because he thinks this is their last meal)


i am still wondering why the dog tried to kill the little girl.

 

[StageLeft]

Hmm I liked the movie too

 

[Spooner]

anyone else?

 

[amnesiac]

Originally posted by: quirky
I saw Signs last nite and i thot it was a very smart and interesting movie. unfortunately the friends i went with didnt get a lot of it so i thot id discuss interpretations here. i'll start off with a couple scenes and i'll post my interpretations later.

why does the little girl think the water is contaminated? Also the scene when the dog tries to kill her after she tries to feed him contaminated water.
whats the significance of the dinner and hwo mel gibson devours the food and then breaks down?
whats the significance of Shaymalan's character and the scene with him in the car? also how he traps the alien that is "assigned" to Mel Gibson and his family?

Ok, you REALLY gotta start learning to put things together. The movie wasn't that difficult to understand. Were you in the crapper for half of it??

1. Water: It's explained by the boy while in the bookstore. He says "There's nothing wrong with your water. She's had a problem with it since she was little." Everybody has their quirks, that happened to be the girl's. Part of the whole "coincidence" factor.

2. Dog: The sheriff said that dogs were acting like there were predators around. Either that or it contracted rabies.

3. Dinner: Mel's character was trying to be a strong father figure in an extremely strange and stressful time. The fact that his kids blame him for their mother's death, his recurring dreams of the event, and the fact that his son said "I hate you" contributed to his breakdown. He just wanted his family to be whole and happy.

4. Shyamalan: His character killed the wife. If you didn't catch that, I have no pity for you. When he's in the car (at his house) he's in shock because a freaking ALIEN IS TRAPPED IN HIS PANTRY. He also makes an offhand observation that none of the circles are near water so he's going to the lake, coming to the conclusion that they must not like water.

5. Alien: The alien wasn't "assigned" to the family. He got left behind because he was a) injured and b) trapped in the goddamn pantry. So obviously he's pissed and wanted revenge, driving him to hunt down and hurt the guy who hurt him.


Hope that explains it.

 

[Spooner]

what did you think of the movie's interpretation of what aliens look like?

 

[Murphyrulez]

And that, ladies and gentlemen is it.


All your mysteries are explained.

Rejoice in the wonder that is knowledge.

 

[propellerhead]

A subplot was about how Mel's character used to be a preacher. Througout the movie, they gave you pieces of the whole car accident that took his wife, and made him a non-believer. Shaymalan had to apologize somehow so Mel can have closure. The car scene was his apology and the offical turning over the alien thing.

 

[quirky]

amnesiac i think you're missing the point. this movie is WAY deeper than that. there are so many uses of symbolism and metaphors that i cant even begin to take it apart. anyway here are my interpretations. im not going to go into much detail cause something tells me im going to be flamed for it anyway, but if you want to discuss these in detail you can PM me.

1) the girl represents innocence. in a way, her father is "corrupt" for having lost his faith. water represents renewal and life (ie rain). the girl believes the water is contaminated because the "life" in her family is empty and lacks in spirit. (further support: the characters arent animated, sometimes even zombie-like).

1b) i believe the dog can sense the contamination as well and thats why he tries to kill the girl for trying to feed him contaminated water. something to that effect.

3) (im going to answer 3 first) shaymalan caused mel gibson's wife's death and his loss of faith. i believe the whole alien thing is a metaphor for the loss of faith in ppl all over the world. they're weakness is water b/c water represents life. shaymalan is the cause of gibson's loss of faith = he brings gibson's own "monster" into existence. notice that the same monster that shaymalan "traps" is the same one that eventually goes after his family (his fingers). (also notice when the family comes out of the basement they're are "signs" of stars and different shapes yet they dont "see" them). also, water is their weakness; its not the way people have found to defeat them. the way gibson's monster is defeated is when gibson holds his son in his arms and his faith returns (that single scene can be explained in a 10 page thesis paper).

2) the dinner and mel gibson's hunger metaphorically represents his soul's hunger for guidance and direction. since losing his faith, hes felt "lost" and now that the monser is coming to devour his whole world, his soul feels even more desperate.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: propellerhead
A subplot was about how Mel's character used to be a preacher. Througout the movie, they gave you pieces of the whole car accident that took his wife, and made him a non-believer. Shaymalan had to apologize somehow so Mel can have closure. The car scene was his apology and the offical turning over the alien thing.

Subplot? Graham Hess' crisis of faith was the main plot -- the aliens were merely a plot device just to make him realize what he had given up when he abandoned his faith.

The encounter he has with Reddy (Night) doesn't give him any closure at all. His grief over his wife manifests itself as a hatred of God, and it's not until he sees the way events are linked together ("there are no coincidences") does he stop hating God and move on with his life.

 

[Spooner]

Quirky,

don't feel like you can't go into detail because you might get flamed. Who cares? I think you have some excellent interpretations here, many of which seem to be valid. shaymalan himself says that he writes a lot of subthemes, allegories, and metaphors into his movies... so the surface isn't all that he's portraying.

I like the whole water/life alien/death comparison, but it seems a little cliche. I thought it was great how we only learned parts of the whole accident as the movie went along.

Swing away, Quirky, swing away!

 

[quirky]

further support for 3) Shaymalan defeated his own "monster" b/c he still has faith in God (his tragic role in causing the destruction of Gibson's faith hasnt hindered his own) . he even alludes to Him and heaven when hes tlaking to Gibson ("i hope this istn the end of the world. People who run over preacher's wives arent exactly something something..") He goes directly to the lake to PRESERVE his faith.

 

[amnesiac]

Quirky: I'm sorry, I guess I misunderstood your goal. I stopped looking at films with the bullsh!t film-school obsessive over-analytical mentality long ago. Having a couple years of classes in which I would do nothing BUT that made me refuse to analyze films in that fashion ever again.

You do make very good points, however, and I completely agree with you on your analyzation. I'm just too jaded from trying to see too deep into films that I can't stand to do it anymore.

 

[quirky]

Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
Quirky: I'm sorry, I guess I misunderstood your goal. I stopped looking at films with the bullsh!t film-school obsessive over-analytical mentality long ago. Having a couple years of classes in which I would do nothing BUT that made me refuse to analyze films in that fashion ever again.

You do make very good points, however, and I completely agree with you on your analyzation. I'm just too jaded from trying to see too deep into films that I can't stand to do it anymore.

i know what you mean, my hs english teacher used to make us do that. needless to say, i hated that class. its only fun to analyze films/books/whatever that you actually enjoy.

 

[Spooner]

So, what are we lead to believe about Mel Gibson's wife?

Was she an instrument of God, or did she say those specific things because she knew?

also... how much would it suck to be pinned to a tree and know that your lower half of your body is like, gone! :Q

 

[ATLien247]

Originally posted by: Spooner

also... how much would it suck to be pinned to a tree and know that your lower half of your body is like, gone! :Q

It would suck a whole lot, thank you very much...

 

[quirky]

Originally posted by: Spooner
So, what are we lead to believe about Mel Gibson's wife?

Was she an instrument of God, or did she say those specific things because she knew?

also... how much would it suck to be pinned to a tree and know that your lower half of your body is like, gone! :Q

I think Shaymalan is trying to say that everyone has these times that reealy test their faith. he juxtaposes Shaymalan's character who passes, and Gibson who doesnt ("I'll never speak another prayer again" or something liek that). i havent thought about why she tells the kid's uncle to see. but he does beat the monster to death.. so. hm.

<<also... how much would it suck to be pinned to a tree and know that your lower half of your body is like, gone! :Q>>

lol yeah that was quite freaky!

 

[quirky]

in one scene we see gibson and everyone else outside the house while the uncle and the monser are duelling, so i think that she was trying to tell him to discover his own faith.

also when gibson tells the kids of their birth, thats another sign he misses. The miracle of birth. i think he even calls it a miracle.

some more questions:

what did you guys think of the daughter's dream? she says she had a dream about the whole thing.
what do you think of the kid's asthma problem? (read: motif of suffocation) and the alien's poisoning thing.

 

[Spooner]

no no..... she tells Merrill (the uncle) to "swing away" (hence the whole baseball subplot)

she tells "Graham" (mel gibson) to "see"

And I took it as "seeing" the signs and putting everything together

 

[quirky]

ah. that makes sense. the baseball subtheme is something else to think about. 5 minor league records, yet tainted by his strikeout record. he says it didnt feel right not to swing.

 

[Spooner]

Originally posted by: quirky
ah. that makes sense. the baseball subtheme is something else to think about. 5 minor league records, yet tainted by his strikeout record. he says it didnt feel right not to swing.

It's gotta say something about his character that he was willing to move in with his brother to help take care of the kids after his wife died. that's a pretty damn loving brother.

And what was the whole interest in the Army? Was he looking for meaning in his life? why did he connect so well with the kids? Has he not entirely grown up himself?

Merril's character is very interesting. So is the little girl. I'd like to find out why she dreamed what she dreamed.

 

[SWirth86]

I saw it, didn't catch all of the symbolism, but IMO, it seemed to have to much about faith......I was more expecting a scary movie with some action.

One question (Not very Deep):
Why couldn't the Aliens break down a door?

 

[quirky]

Originally posted by: Spooner

Originally posted by: quirky
ah. that makes sense. the baseball subtheme is something else to think about. 5 minor league records, yet tainted by his strikeout record. he says it didnt feel right not to swing.

It's gotta say something about his character that he was willing to move in with his brother to help take care of the kids after his wife died. that's a pretty damn loving brother.

And what was the whole interest in the Army? Was he looking for meaning in his life? why did he connect so well with the kids? Has he not entirely grown up himself?

Merril's character is very interesting. So is the little girl. I'd like to find out why she dreamed what she dreamed.

excellent questions you bring up. by telling him to "swing away" she is in a way telling him to believe in himself. theres another motif of faith.

the girls is an angelic character. she opened her eyes and smiled, and the nurse said babies that young dont smile. she also senses the contamination. thus it can be said that she represents hope for future generations

EDIT: the dream makes sense becuase she takes precedence. the dream is a way of saying that whatever happened before her will affect her.

 

[quirky]

Originally posted by: SWirth86
I saw it, didn't catch all of the symbolism, but IMO, it seemed to have to much about faith......I was more expecting a scary movie with some action.

One question (Not very Deep):
Why couldn't the Aliens break down a door?

because, the people dont lose faith just like that. they allow themselves to lose faith.

 

[Stojakapimp]

I just have a quick question...not an interpretation though. My friend told me last night that during the scene when it showed the alien holding the boy and it did that close up of the alien's arm, you could see a picture of Mel Gibson's character on the alien's wrist. I didn't notice that when I watched it but I wasn't really looking for it so I'm not sure if that is true or not