Missing allegorical points

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I suspect that everyone has missed an allegorical point in their time.

Give examples of allegorical points of films, books etc which you managed to be blissfully unaware of, which you later read about or were told about by other ppl.

― MarkH (MarkH), Thursday, 10 February 2005 00:21 (twenty-one years ago)

when I was 15 or 16, Arthur Miller's The Crucible was performed as the school play and I totally missed that it was supposed to be an allegory for McCarthyism and the Red Scare.

― MarkH (MarkH), Thursday, 10 February 2005 00:23 (twenty-one years ago)

charlotte's web and marketing

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Thursday, 10 February 2005 00:25 (twenty-one years ago)

I am amazed by the number of ppl who have admitted to me or I have heard about who didn't realise that Lewis's Narnia was a Christian allegory.

― MarkH (MarkH), Thursday, 10 February 2005 00:26 (twenty-one years ago)

well i didn't when i was 9!

― mullygrubbr (bulbs), Thursday, 10 February 2005 00:41 (twenty-one years ago)

that's because it works well beyond the allegorical kernal that exists inside of it (and every point of the story doesn't map to some Christian point, really). Maybe it does, I don't remember. I should re-read those.

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 10 February 2005 00:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I am amazed by the number of ppl who have admitted to me or I have heard about who didn't realise that Lewis's Narnia was a Christian allegory.
-- MarkH (mark_e_heste...), February 10th, 2005.

thats why i always hated those books! i felt like i was being preached to! all these biblical references and the englishness! gag.

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Thursday, 10 February 2005 00:46 (twenty-one years ago)

watership down/shoah

tho the nazi general rabbit was a bit of a giveaway

― Frogman Henry, Thursday, 10 February 2005 00:49 (twenty-one years ago)

i had no idea that Starship Troopers was a satire, and i've yet to rewatch it since it was pointed oput to me that is was.

― Slump Man (Slump Man), Thursday, 10 February 2005 00:54 (twenty-one years ago)

dude, it had doogie hauser in an SS uniform!

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Thursday, 10 February 2005 01:00 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't know who doogie hauser is!

― Slump Man (Slump Man), Thursday, 10 February 2005 01:10 (twenty-one years ago)

:- o

― ILX, Thursday, 10 February 2005 01:13 (twenty-one years ago)

I completely missed that Eyes Wide Shut was a Freudian allegory about the trauma of discovering the primal scene.

― thee music mole, Thursday, 10 February 2005 01:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Starship Troopers is the best military madness satire since Dr. Strangelove.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 10 February 2005 01:19 (twenty-one years ago)

"hauser"

― roxymuzak (roxymuzak), Thursday, 10 February 2005 01:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I told my English teacher that "West Side Story" seemed to be based on "Romeo & Juliet". Her response was "Do what now?"

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 10 February 2005 02:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw Knife In The Water in a historical/social film class and had no idea it was supposed to be an allegory for Poland in general.

― fauxhemian (fauxhemian), Thursday, 10 February 2005 03:43 (twenty-one years ago)

ha! i really liked that movie even though i didn't care about the poland part. it must be better than i thought.

― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Thursday, 10 February 2005 03:49 (twenty-one years ago)

I totally missed that "Pearl Harbor" was about World War II.

― Matt Chesnut, Thursday, 10 February 2005 03:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Dude, it was about studio excess, how did you miss that subtext?

― Masked Gazza, Thursday, 10 February 2005 03:53 (twenty-one years ago)

it was mostly about love

― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Thursday, 10 February 2005 03:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I still can't believe how often I have to explain to people that TRON is based on the life of Jesus, The Black Hole is all about Faust and how in the world I didn't immediately see Collateral for the Old Testament parable it tries to be, I'll never know.

― TOMBOT, Thursday, 10 February 2005 04:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Phil the Groundhog is Christ. Oh yes.

Actually who am I kidding, I really like that interpretation.

― Masked Gazza, Thursday, 10 February 2005 04:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I've seen some people try and claim Donnie Darko's got some Jesus thing happening, but I dont buy it.

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 10 February 2005 05:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Like others above, I completely missed CS Lewis' preaching to the kiddies when I was younger. To compensate, I now believe that EVERYTHING is an allegory for the life of Christ (who is, obv, fictional, and therefore an allegory for....???).

― emil.y (emil.y), Thursday, 10 February 2005 12:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I completely missed the Christian business in Narnia because I was raised by atheistic liberal hippies and knew squat about the Bible. Which is why it's so fascinatingly anthropoligical to examine relgious people now. They're so funny.

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Thursday, 10 February 2005 12:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Every review I've read of "Starship Troopers" makes a better case for it having some deep fascist satirical meaning better than the stupid movie ever did

― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Thursday, 10 February 2005 12:38 (twenty-one years ago)

"Oh man a MILITARY UNIFORM! SEIG HEIL!" Yeah I should prob watch it again maybe

― Andrew Blood Thames (Andrew Thames), Thursday, 10 February 2005 12:39 (twenty-one years ago)

We studied TLTW&TW in RE - the allegory was pointed out before we even read the story.

― lock robster (robster), Thursday, 10 February 2005 12:40 (twenty-one years ago)

there was a good FT post about the xtian subtext recently. i only saw the tv versh, so never twigged the xtian thing *at all*.

but allegories are a bit crap all round really, eg "I saw Knife In The Water in a historical/social film class and had no idea it was supposed to be an allegory for Poland in general" kind of contradicts itself but in general: the map is not the territory. likewise 'starship troopers', likewise fucking 'star wars' which some people say is 'about' watergate omg wtf???

― Miles Finch, Thursday, 10 February 2005 12:41 (twenty-one years ago)

when I was 15 or 16, Arthur Miller's The Crucible was performed as the school play and I totally missed that it was supposed to be an allegory for McCarthyism and the Red Scare.

it kind of is and isn't... it's very about the actual historical witch trials, and is about McCarthyism only in the sense that it points out historical parallels for that kind of irrationality.

I completely missed the Christian business in Narnia because I was raised by atheistic liberal hippies and knew squat about the Bible.

again, I don't think he wrote it as a didactic Christian allegory, more that he was so Xtian that it just suffused everything he did. EXCEPTION: The Last Battle, which R rub.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Thursday, 10 February 2005 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Cowardly Lion = William Jennings Bryan

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 10 February 2005 19:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Yellow Brick Road = Gold Backed Currency

― Michael White (Hereward), Thursday, 10 February 2005 19:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Silver Shoes = Silver Jews

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 10 February 2005 20:02 (twenty-one years ago)

My mum was studying theology at the time, and had all sorts of CS Lewis' proper Theological books lying around the house, so how could I possibly miss the allegory behind Narnia?

I think, with my education, I was more one for reading allegorical points that didn't exist into novels - i.e. Lord Of The Rings was giant Cold War allegory of East = Bad, rings/corrupting power = Nuclear Weapons, etc. etc. when it's really just a daft fantasy novel for 14 year olds.

― Kate Kept Me Alive! (kate), Friday, 11 February 2005 12:31 (twenty-one years ago)

An awful lot of things I read up to the age of 16. I didn't get introduced to the concept of allegory until I did La Peste for A Level French and was apparently too thick to work it out for myself. I've always taken things literally and was particularly useless at poetry crit. I think my teacher used to ask me "what do you think this means?" to give the class a laugh.

― Madchen (Madchen), Friday, 11 February 2005 13:58 (twenty-one years ago)

what is the allegory in la peste again? occupation?

― debden, Friday, 11 February 2005 14:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh yeah I forgot that one, it's totally the Nazi occupation. I missed the fuck out of that shit.

― TOMBOT, Friday, 11 February 2005 14:14 (twenty-one years ago)

ha ha i think i may have missed it too. still, allegory has been described as 'a bit crap all round' upthread, so i won't feel too bad about it.

― debden, Friday, 11 February 2005 14:18 (twenty-one years ago)

i read this great adventure story once called "Pilgrim's Progress", about this guy who goes on a journey and fights lots of monsters. I think it's an allegory on the discovery of the New World or something.

― DV (dirtyvicar), Friday, 11 February 2005 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

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