Daily Kos

"The Village" a 9/11 parable? (w/ poll)

by Joe Willy

Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 04:09:45 PM PDT

Spoiler warning: This will be a discussion of the new M. Night Shamalayan film, "The Village." If you have not seen the film yet please do not click on the link!
I couldn't help thinking when I watched "The Village"  that the theme of people creating an artificial world to escape the violence of the real world was somehow a metaphor of modern America. And when violence once again intrudes into their lives, even in the bubble of their lies, that this is a statement on how Americans had been able to seal themselves off from the rest of the world until 9/11. If this is true it is particularly scary when at the end they are able to continue with life as normal, actually with the lie made even more secure with the death of Adrian Brody's character. Discuss...
Poll

Am I stretching here?

4%1 votes
27%6 votes
40%9 votes
9%2 votes
18%4 votes

| 22 votes | Vote | Results

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Permalink | 20 comments

  •  Fuck M. Night Shymalan (4.00 / 3)

    His movies suck. Everyone see the Manchurian candidate or F9/11 again. Eisner must go down. Disney must be shamed.

    I rock knobs!

    by Jumbo on Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 08:14:29 PM PDT

  •  Village (none / 1)

    I saw it yesterday.  I liked it.  I thought there were many elements about the film that reflected a 9/11 world.  Especially the fear mongering.  But I didn't see a parable--or any metaphor of the Village as America.  

    Actually, after the film was over, I commented to my friends that I thought it was about group therapy gone wild...

    But now that you mention it...  It's an interesting take on the movie.  And it makes sense.  

    by Manhattan Dan on Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 08:17:29 PM PDT

  •  aoeu (none / 1)

    Signs was so bad.

    turtles consider
    every single vote deeply
    yet always vote dem

    by TealVeal on Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 08:18:00 PM PDT

  •  Well... (none / 0)

    This film earned me a full 26 weeks of unemployment benifits, so I am gratefull. They paid me well and treated me well, so I am thankfull. I was hoping to see it today, but didn't.

    As for M. Night's movies, they are basicly Twilight Zone episodes on steroids. I personally think they would be better if, they adhered to the philosophy of the Twilight Zone, and focused on the morality play of the story. Instead, they focus on the trappings of the Twilight Zone and go for the trick ending. After one of his films, my reaction is usually:  Fairly entertaining, but could have been really great.

    How did the Village itself look? We built the entire Village on a hay field.

    by JoeWPgh on Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 08:36:07 PM PDT

    •  Beautiful (none / 0)

      We discussed it after the film.  But it had the look of one of those historic villages where the houses and buildings are moved in, instead of being a real village, like Williamsburg or Sturbridge.

      The homes were beautiful, in an Ethan Allen advertisement kind of way.  "The Shaker Collection"

      by Manhattan Dan on Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 08:39:17 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      •  It was (none / 0)

        all built from scratch. The hardware - hinges, doorknobs, etc - was all custom cast by a blacksmith. It was an amazing thing to have a hand in.
        At the risk of straying too far into technobabble, many of the building had 'wild' walls. That's to say, the walls could all be removed and the roof would remain. Then there was that greenhouse.....(shudder)

        by JoeWPgh on Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 08:47:27 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

      •  aoeu (none / 0)

        Hate to break it to you, but Williamsburg is pretty fake.  It was recreated back in the 20s.  About the only real building there is the Wren building.

        turtles consider
        every single vote deeply
        yet always vote dem

        by TealVeal on Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 08:59:16 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

  •  It was a good flick (none / 0)

    If you had a hand in it take a bow.

    My wife who is a bit sharper than I am knew it was set in modern times as soon as she saw the rows of brocolli in the garden.

    Bryce Dallas Howard was quite a find as Ivy.

    It was quite good. Not as good as "Sixth Sense" but well worth the money, and I can't say that for many of these summer blockbusters.

    Many an insightful opinion and observation can be found on my blog Occam's Razor.

    by Guy Noir on Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 09:00:43 PM PDT

  •  "Crazy Fucking White People" (none / 0)

    Is this line still in the film?

    Barack Obama for President

    by Aexia on Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 09:05:10 PM PDT

  •  You're not alone (none / 0)

    Roger Friedman at FoxNews had a similar take on the movie.
    http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,127106,00.html

    He mentions that he talked to Shyamalan and that "The director confirmed for me that he made "The Village" with thoughts of the 9/11 disasters in his head."

    by MattBellamy on Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 09:28:35 PM PDT

  •  I'll Never Know (none / 0)

    After seeing the waste of time and failure that was Unbreakable, and then having the man actually manage to follow it up with Signs, something that was far, far worse than his previous colossal failure, I am done with the man.  He can't be trusted.

    He is now a hack.

    Which it is a shame: he obviously has some talent, but is too overbearing.  And The Sixth Sense was the worst thing that could happen to him.  It was obviously a fluke, but because of its success, he gets a free reign.  He should have none.  He needs an editor, he needs some tutelage, he needs someone to smack him upside the head and tell him "That is a really stupid idea.  Go write something else.  You know your gimmick with `color?'  Well, you did that once already.  Get a new gimmick."  Instead, he gets a pass on everything he does because Hollywood knows they can make money on "From the Director of The Sixth Sense marketing."

    Actually, he is sort of like George Lucas in that respect.  Success ruined him.  Maybe it won't be for good, in Shamalayan's case.

    by teece on Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 09:42:35 PM PDT

  •  Definitely saw the fearmongering in it (none / 0)

    Not so much the village as America.

    I thought it was a good movie...guessed the modern-day thing pretty quickly though.

    I don't understand all the vitriol towards Shyamalan. One thing not to like the movie; another to call him names...

    "It is time to move forward. The country we carry in our hearts is waiting." --Bruce Springsteen

    by bunny on Sun Aug 01, 2004 at 10:31:33 PM PDT

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