Poll: Thoughts on symbolism

[lostclause]

In order to get most symbolism in a play/book/movie/whatever you generally need to know a bit of the background to know what the author is driving at. You can still get it but it's harder. Doing a bit of background usually helps in my experience.

 

[Monkfish Acc.]

I'm kind of odd with that stuff, actually.
I enjoy symbolism and subtext and deeper meanings and so on, but I do not recognise nor understand it at all.
Not consciously, anyway.

My brain kind of has this habit of not releasing information until after I have had it spelled out for me.
Like, I'll be listening to someone explain it, when suddenly my brain will go; "well, duh", and enlighten me.
Then I have a screaming match with it via internal monologue.
Stupid brain.

EDIT: Added a little more.
Damn me and my premature posting.

 

[Good morning blues]

Go ahead and cram as much symbolism and subtext in there as you want, but if your narrative doesn't make any sense without it, I'm probably not going to enjoy it. It's not that I don't get symbolism; it's that if your symbolism overwhelms your narrative, you have a story about nothing, and no matter how profound what you're saying is (and if you're doing this, chances are it's pretty god damned stupid), that shit is boring as hell.

 

[4fromK]

I think the problem (at least with games) is the reverse: the symbolism is ham handed and not subtle at all, so I can't really see where your coming from

 

[Eric the Orange]

No offense, but if you don't "get it," that's not always an indication that it was done improperly.

I only used that quote from Yahtzee to explain why even after it was explained to me I still don't care for Evangaleon. I'm well aware that half the responsibility is for me to "get it" and the other half is for them to make it understandable.

I personally blame my "left brained-ness", Great understanding of math and science, not so much with artistic statements.

 

[The Salty Vulcan]

I like it because it basically gives you an excuse to watch/read/listen to something and allow you to enjoy it more. Take Watchmen(comic) for example. Upon first reading your drawn into the story but after the second and third time you can still find something cool and more meaningful.

Of course the best example within Watchmen is the smiley face/stain and the clocks

 

[the1ultimate]

Well I don't see how symbolism could ever be a bad thing in itself, however symbolic isn't the same as obfuscated.

Also if you are using complicated metaphors there is always the possibility that they will fall flat or will simply annoy people who realize that the metaphor isn't perfect.

I really like it when I can find deeper meaning in media, but if I don't like one of meanings, I'll probably like the media less.

 

[Spektre41]

When used improperly, I despise it. Crucifying your characters does not make your work sophisticated.

That being said, when used properly it can had a whole new layer to the work.

 

[Jharry5]

If done correctly, it can really enhance the story/film/painting or whatever.
Some people run the risk of over-complicating things by looking for things that simply aren't there. For me, that's worse than poorly used symbolism...

 

[Casual Shinji]

All our avatars are a form of symbolism.

It's inescapable, my friend.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar

I know someone who might take issue with that statement.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

I like symbolism because everyone finds a different meaning in it. No two people will interpret it the same way. Of course, sometimes people just try to find hidden meaning where there is no hidden meaning.

 

[Woodsey]

Now in my final year of school; with English and History GCSEs coming up, I can spot symbolism where it wasn't even intentional.

And of course symbolism is important - its far more effective than just saying something bluntly, and also gets people to think about things.

 

[Eric the Orange]

I like it because it basically gives you an excuse to watch/read/listen to something and allow you to enjoy it more. Take Watchmen(comic) for example. Upon first reading your drawn into the story but after the second and third time you can still find something cool and more meaningful.

Of course the best example within Watchmen is the smiley face/stain and the clocks

Yeah Watchmen is another example of something that's considered phenomenal by most people, but strange and confusing by me. Actually no body has explained to me the deeper meanings behind that one, but it can't be as confusing as Evangaleon.

 

[Avatar Roku]

I always hate in school when teachers put symbolism in everything, even when it was completely innocuous. For example, anyone here read Ethan Frome? Remember the red pickle dish? My teacher tried to convince us that the fact it was red represented Mattie's and Ethan's love, but I can guarantee she would have argued symbolism no matter what the color was (for example, if it was green, it's envy. If it was colorless, it's how obvious their love is, etc).

 

[The Salty Vulcan]

I like it because it basically gives you an excuse to watch/read/listen to something and allow you to enjoy it more. Take Watchmen(comic) for example. Upon first reading your drawn into the story but after the second and third time you can still find something cool and more meaningful.

Of course the best example within Watchmen is the smiley face/stain and the clocks

Yeah Watchmen is another example of something that's considered phenomenal by most people, but strange and confusing by me. Actually no body has explained to me the deeper meanings behind that one, but it can't be as confusing as Evangaleon.

Evangelion's symbolism is deeper but its also more estoric, delving into both the old and new testaments, Kabalah, Judaism and Neuro-sciences. For example, the fact that the EVA's were reverese technolgy from the first Angel, is a homage to the story of Genesis where God used the rib of Adam to create the first woman Eve.

Where as Evangelion deals with creation however, practically everything within Watchmen is destructive.
*The clocks only minutes away from Midnight (Doomsday Clock)

*An old movie houses playing The Day The Earth Stood Still (a film about nuclear armament leading to Earth's possible destruction by Aliens)

*Constant mentions of the bombing of Hiroshima (most prominant of which is an obese man who breaks Janey's Watch being called a "Fat Man" after the bomb)

My favourite however is a band thats playing at Madison Square Garden in the books climax called Pale Horse (the Horse death rides at the end of the world), playing their Krystalnacht tour (named after the genocide within Germany during Hitlar's rise)whose guitarist is named Red De'ath.

Its stuff you may miss at first but its the details that make the experience even better...in my mind anyway

 

[Shock and Awe]

I usually like symbolism, it makes things more interesting, but I agree sometimes it is to cryptic.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

There has been no greater example of sibylline and sententious symbolism in movies than in the contemporary classic, Snakes on a Plane. It is a tragically overlooked testament to the hubris and sciolism of modern humanity. I believe that one day this magnificent work will be as salient and revered as Darwins Origin of Species or George Orwells Animal Farm.

Snakes, ladies and gentlemen...

...are more than snakes. The Snake, as such, is a metaphorical personification of our deepest and most atavistic desires: lust, sexuality, hunger. Hence, Snakes on a Plane is not, as you all might think, just a completely idiotic excuse for a totally lame plot: quite to the contrary, the Snake on a Plane is a subtle metaphor for the dichotomy of technologic progress contrasted with basic primitivity.

Fifty years ago, a man in a rubber suit trampling over toy trains, Godzilla, was known to represent our primary fear of atomic mutation. But how narrow, how hollow, how shallow is Godzilla compared to the Snake on the Plane! Isn't the snake - or, to evoke a Biblical image - the Serpent - the very essence of everything that makes technology (here: symbolised by The Plane) so fragile? And isn't snake poison known both as a deadly toxic and as healing medicine, as symbolised in the rod of Aeskulap?

Snakes on A Plane, ladies and gentlemen, is a deeply symbolistic film, a metaphorical mass for the most disquieting sides of modernity, a simile of the futility of Human Existence vis-a-vis of our own incompetence, and a terrible memento mori in our post-modern society. And Samuel "Loudspeaker" Jackson is nothing else but the Eternal Adam resisting to the timeless temptation offered to him by his own most ancient instincts which might, or might not present him with the easiest solution of all to escape the dilemmata of modern life - death! Thus, Snakes on a Plane will become yet another epitaph of diaphanous symbolism après la lettre.

Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for listening.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

It's good as long as the developer doesn't get too artsy with it.

Let the symbolism stand and if the player gets it it'll be a little bonus for them. If you draw attention to it with glowing signs and pointers it disrupts the plot, and the people who don't notice it will wonder why they're being forced to stare at a cross for a minute.

 

[Eric the Orange]

snip

here's a good example why I don't look for symbolism. Because when I do I over analyze and put symbolism where it was never intended.