Post by FRANK the giant bunny on May 13, 2011 12:13:44 GMT -5
This particular movie had a big impact on me personally, I saw it in the theater almost 5 times, as a Gnostic movie this particular film conforms more to my own personal beliefs, and I saw much worth in the underlining themes. The movie was a bit of a let down for many movie goers, in that most people thought that it was a movie about aliens, in the end the movie is about one mans loss and regaining of his faith.
Underneath that however there are some basic Gnostic mythological staples sprinkled throughout the film, one of these being the importance of woman and their personification as the possessors of Wisdom, this is explicitly expressed in Gnostic myth in regards to Sophia, the feminine aspect of the Godhead. (Sophia in Greek means wisdom)
This is not a major aspect of the storyline of Signs but it is fairly apparent, specifically in terms of the character of the wife, who is the one who bestows the saving gnosis (knowledge) on the other characters, which allows them to deal with the situation that they are in, she is a guide. Similar to this is the character of the little girl who has dreams/visions and is therefore able to see what the others cannot, this is expressed in one particular scene somewhere in the middle of the story, where the brother and sister are talking.
Another Gnostic theme can be seen in the interconnections between the characters in the film, once again specifically expressed in terms of the mother and daughter. The idea of opposites plays a big role in the Gnostic conception of material existence. Seeing that everything which exists in the material world came from the same divine source (which is the basic idea behind most religions), there is a connection between every opposite, whether it be a positive experience or a negative experience. We are all part of the same divine source, and we all experience material existence in the same way.
The conversation between the Mel Gibson character and his younger brother on the couch is another extremely important factor, for it expresses the idea of the connectedness of our individual experiences and of the opposites; their role and ultimate purpose, which is to show us that our relationship to each other and therefore to the opposites is not by mere chance. As Mel Gibson's character asks of his brother........."Is it possible that there are no coincidences?"