I utterly love analysis of movies (film studies student
) so I thought I'd start a thread to discuss such things. I don't think there's been one yet, at least.
I really hope I don't sound too stupid, but anyway. Chime in with your own thoughts. Analyse anything!
On religion
I think there's more religious themes and imagery going on then I'm spotting, but I know there's something going on. Considering that the main themes of the film are forgiveness and redemption, after all...
So I'm going to
really go out on a limb here and say that the film could easily be viewed as a religious parable, if the viewer wanted to see it that way. Like so:
Virtually everyone in the film has done something they need forgiving for- by the middle of the film, Peter's essentially killed someone, MJ's betrayed Peter's trust (by kissing Harry), Harry's tried to kill Peter, Eddie's lied, and you all know the Sandman story. Between them they've pretty much got all seven sins covered- MJ is envious of Peter, Harry's full of wrath, Eddie's nothing if not greedy, Peter's giving into pride. Etc.
And most of the characters want revenge. May says 'revenge makes you ugly'- through seeking revenge, Harry's had half his face burnt off, Flint appears in the final battle as a less-then-appealing giant sand monster, and Eddie has become a hideous slimy monster. For all the people complaining about Venom not having much screentime, I think it's because he's more of a metaphor in the film. As has been pointed out in at least one interview, Eddie is essentially what Peter would have been if he had been brought up in a less secure environment. In the movie, I reckon Eddie's a representation of Peter's dark side; the exact polar opposite of him. Peter's a good person at heart and so can throw off the symboite; Eddie's the sort of person who would pray to God to kill somebody, and the symboite turns him into a murderous monster. (which could almost be looked at as a punishment from God: be careful what you wish for and all that.) The symboite itself represents evil: the ultimate ugliness of revenge...
Anyway. Peter goes to church to rid himself of the evil and suceeds (although not without a struggle), but then Eddie, who refuses to believe he's done anything to require forgiveness and shifts the blame onto others (the sin of pride) gives into his own dark side.
Love is a part of religion, or at least it
should be, and that's what motivates the others. MJ stands by Peter even after he's betrayed her too (by humiliating her in public- exactly what Venom said he'd do to Peter, come to think of it), and Harry goes to save Peter after being reminded that his friends love him. (If you really wanted to go crazy with analysis, you could say Norman represents the Devil: he tried to tempt Peter back in the first movie and has spent two movies trying to tempt Harry into murder). Sandman's love for his daughter is what redeems him.
Peter defeats the villain in the end because a) someone sacrifices themselves for him and b) because he remembers what he learnt in church (that sound affects the symboite badly, in case you've forgotten
). Can't get more religious then that, really.
Anyway. I'm done now. Please, someone say something.
t:
