The movie itself was pretty good. It had a nice pace and kept me interested the whole time.
But what grabbed my attention more was the symbolism I interpreted from the movie...
1. The Parasitic Media - The most obvious message/symbolism from this film is its portrayal of the media as nothing more than a parasitic entity. This is a sentiment I can agree with.
2. Channel 666 - Most of the symbolism didn't really rear its head until late in the film. When Lou was talking to Nina (Rene Russo) in the studio, they were standing in front of TV's stacked in rows of 3, all showing the channel 6 logo,obviously "666" aka Mark of the Beast...This was meant to catch your attention, so that you might pickup on the rest of the underlying symbolism. It also served as a further indictment on media, symbolizing that the media itself is "of the devil" or evil.
3. "I think Lou's had a big influence on us all" - When I heard Nina say this to the guy trying to warn her that she was letting Lou have too much influence on her, I somehow immediately understood the underlying message/symbolism... When she said "Lou has had a big influence on us all", this wasn't actually just a reference to the character "Lou", this was a veiled reference to Lucifer (aka Satan, aka the devil) having "a big influence on us all"...
$. "Lou" represents Lucifer - Now i don't mean that Lou is literally supposed to be Lucifer in the movie, but he is following the archetype and displaying the devil's traits. He tricks people and makes them feel as though they are being forced to make a deal with him... Nina is willing to sacrifice anything and decides to allow herself to be controlled and manipulated by Lou the lunatic, symbolically, this is her selling her soul to Lucifer. Lou's partner Rick almost walked away from it, but sin got the better of him, and he too ended up making a deal with Lou, again this symbolizes him selling his soul to the devil... Rick thought that if he could demand enough in return, it might actually end up being a fair deal for him, but that devil is tricky, and the moment he no longer had a use for Rick, he led Rick right into his eternal death. In the beginning of the movie, Lou tries to negotiate employment from the scrap yard owner, but the scrap yard owner firmly rebuked him, calling him out as a thief... The scrap yard owner chose not to sell his soul to the devil...
5. Rise of the Psychopath - It is actually quite common for those you might call "psychopaths" or "sociopaths" to attain positions of great power and influence... People who psychiatrists would label as psychopaths, are people who seek power by all means, and they have zero empathy or sympathy for others... Most people are not like this, a normal person has limits and boundaries, the "psychopath and/or sociopath" does not suffer these restrictions, and they take full advantage... It is a little known fact, that among those in the "super-elite class" it is common to find people that could be categorized as a psychopath, but others would say they're just plain evil, or bat-crap crazy... Anyhow, I believe that the director is also aware that it is quite common for people like Lou to work their way into positions of power. When the movie starts, Lou is a nobody, and by the end of the movie, this lunatic was well on his way to achieving his goal of owning a network. The message here is that places like Washington DC, Hollywood, and "Wall St.", are filled with "nutjobs" who have no sympathy or empathy for their fellow man, rather they seek to dominate and control their fellow man.
7. FINAL - Symbolism Synopsis - So what does all this symbolism culminate into? What overall underlying message did the director want to transmit? I'm not 100% sure...
What's with the 666/Lucifer symbolism? Would the director go to such great lengths to show the media as evil or corrupt? Was it necessary to bring Lucifer element into it, just to symbolically hammer home the most obvious message of the movie (that the media is evil)? That seems like overkill to me... I'm not really sure why he chose to use this Luciferian element... It certainly isn't an attempt at any kind of "pro-christian" message, nor does it in anyway culminate into an "anti-christian" message... What is he trying to say????
What do we have to work with? 1. Lucifer Symbolism 2. Media is Evil 3. "Mentally ill" people rise to positions of power
The only message I can see all this symbolism adding up to, is a message that the people with the most power are psychopathic satanists, who use all forms of media to manipulate and control us. I do NOT really endorse the notion that that was the underlying or hidden message in the movie... Some gigantic leaps must be made if one is to accept this interpretation...
But as far as I can tell, it's either that, or the symbolism is ONLY meant to further illuminate the evils of the media, which also doesn't seem likely...
And if the writer/director did intend for the symbolism to be interpreted along the lines of "satanic lunatics control the world", then why make it so veiled??? The symbolism is so subtle that anybody who is able to pickup on it, would have to already be knowledgeable on such subjects... Which would make trying to convey this underlying message to the masses pointless, because nobody is going to get it... Unless his intention was to be smug and rub your face in it, knowing you wont pickup on nor understand the underlying message.
But what grabbed my attention more was the symbolism I interpreted from the movie...
1. The Parasitic Media - The most obvious message/symbolism from this film is its portrayal of the media as nothing more than a parasitic entity. This is a sentiment I can agree with.
2. Channel 666 - Most of the symbolism didn't really rear its head until late in the film. When Lou was talking to Nina (Rene Russo) in the studio, they were standing in front of TV's stacked in rows of 3, all showing the channel 6 logo,obviously "666" aka Mark of the Beast...This was meant to catch your attention, so that you might pickup on the rest of the underlying symbolism. It also served as a further indictment on media, symbolizing that the media itself is "of the devil" or evil.
3. "I think Lou's had a big influence on us all" - When I heard Nina say this to the guy trying to warn her that she was letting Lou have too much influence on her, I somehow immediately understood the underlying message/symbolism... When she said "Lou has had a big influence on us all", this wasn't actually just a reference to the character "Lou", this was a veiled reference to Lucifer (aka Satan, aka the devil) having "a big influence on us all"...
$. "Lou" represents Lucifer - Now i don't mean that Lou is literally supposed to be Lucifer in the movie, but he is following the archetype and displaying the devil's traits. He tricks people and makes them feel as though they are being forced to make a deal with him... Nina is willing to sacrifice anything and decides to allow herself to be controlled and manipulated by Lou the lunatic, symbolically, this is her selling her soul to Lucifer. Lou's partner Rick almost walked away from it, but sin got the better of him, and he too ended up making a deal with Lou, again this symbolizes him selling his soul to the devil... Rick thought that if he could demand enough in return, it might actually end up being a fair deal for him, but that devil is tricky, and the moment he no longer had a use for Rick, he led Rick right into his eternal death. In the beginning of the movie, Lou tries to negotiate employment from the scrap yard owner, but the scrap yard owner firmly rebuked him, calling him out as a thief... The scrap yard owner chose not to sell his soul to the devil...
5. Rise of the Psychopath - It is actually quite common for those you might call "psychopaths" or "sociopaths" to attain positions of great power and influence... People who psychiatrists would label as psychopaths, are people who seek power by all means, and they have zero empathy or sympathy for others... Most people are not like this, a normal person has limits and boundaries, the "psychopath and/or sociopath" does not suffer these restrictions, and they take full advantage... It is a little known fact, that among those in the "super-elite class" it is common to find people that could be categorized as a psychopath, but others would say they're just plain evil, or bat-crap crazy... Anyhow, I believe that the director is also aware that it is quite common for people like Lou to work their way into positions of power. When the movie starts, Lou is a nobody, and by the end of the movie, this lunatic was well on his way to achieving his goal of owning a network. The message here is that places like Washington DC, Hollywood, and "Wall St.", are filled with "nutjobs" who have no sympathy or empathy for their fellow man, rather they seek to dominate and control their fellow man.
7. FINAL - Symbolism Synopsis - So what does all this symbolism culminate into? What overall underlying message did the director want to transmit? I'm not 100% sure...
What's with the 666/Lucifer symbolism? Would the director go to such great lengths to show the media as evil or corrupt? Was it necessary to bring Lucifer element into it, just to symbolically hammer home the most obvious message of the movie (that the media is evil)? That seems like overkill to me... I'm not really sure why he chose to use this Luciferian element... It certainly isn't an attempt at any kind of "pro-christian" message, nor does it in anyway culminate into an "anti-christian" message... What is he trying to say????
What do we have to work with? 1. Lucifer Symbolism 2. Media is Evil 3. "Mentally ill" people rise to positions of power
The only message I can see all this symbolism adding up to, is a message that the people with the most power are psychopathic satanists, who use all forms of media to manipulate and control us. I do NOT really endorse the notion that that was the underlying or hidden message in the movie... Some gigantic leaps must be made if one is to accept this interpretation...
But as far as I can tell, it's either that, or the symbolism is ONLY meant to further illuminate the evils of the media, which also doesn't seem likely...
And if the writer/director did intend for the symbolism to be interpreted along the lines of "satanic lunatics control the world", then why make it so veiled??? The symbolism is so subtle that anybody who is able to pickup on it, would have to already be knowledgeable on such subjects... Which would make trying to convey this underlying message to the masses pointless, because nobody is going to get it... Unless his intention was to be smug and rub your face in it, knowing you wont pickup on nor understand the underlying message.