It has a tiny connection to Superman I suppose but it is more like another comic strip character
I think Hoffman is Bluto, Watson is Olive Oil and Sandler is the odd Altman like Popeye.
Never thought of it, but I love this kind of outside the box thinking on film.
Reminds me of my favorite far out theory: http://www.drummerman.net/shining/essays.html
I don’t think it’s about Superman. I think he always had the power to fight back, but he had so little confidence in himself because of the way his sisters treat him that he saw himself as powerless.
Then when he saw his girlfriend get hurt, he got so angry that he hit them back, and that’s when he realized he did have the power to fight back.
He is an eccentric person, and because he’s a little eccentric, his sisters treat him like an inferior person, somebody to be pittied and controled. The movie was about him escaping from his sister’s control and connecting with somebody who treats him as an equal.
PDL shares similarities with Superman? OK, it probably shares similarities with a lot of things. Numerology, etc.
PDL is an allegory for Superman? Hilarious and pointless.
Vaguely intriguing. Quite vaguely.
I need to add that it is undoubtedly an allegory. The scifi-esque way the camera traps light on screen and the numerous artistic images of stars and warped or collapsed planets and heavy use of red and blue throughout the movie. When sandler is running down the street at full speed he dives head first almost out of shot as if flying. The effortless way he dispatches the brothers with the tire iron. All of the seemingly random and out of place events are symbolic. It is an arthouse remake of the superman story told in a highly unusual and deeply complex way. There are no coincidences in P.T.A’s movies the rich symbolism is there for a reason.
If you think that this is “hilarious and pointless” or “vaguely intriguing” I suggest watching the film again bearing the previous points in mind as PDL has a beautifully constructed depth which many refuse acknowledge.
Check out this site for the numerous other symbolic references throughout the movie as there are MANY !!!
www.thefilmcynics.com/blog/?p=954
: )r
“Then when he saw his girlfriend get hurt, he got so angry that he hit them back, and that’s when he realized he did have the power to fight back.”
…in one of the most releasing scenes in film history.
Listen. I doubt PTA “intended” for it to be a Superman allegory, or if so in that so specific a way, but this is just another example of how structures and themes inform themselves in such a way as to be associated. By building a cinematic structure, one is completely unable to do anything but build it in context to other cinema, and so similar patterns may ignite pattern recognition. Supra-cinematically, this works for any narrative form or literature as well.
Cognitively, when we look at the random scatter of the stars we see heroes and gods and beasts. It is not too far fetched that PTA was funneling some Superman through him while shooting and the comparisons to Superman are not meaningless. But it is not an allegory for Superman, in the sense that you are supposed to watch the movie with that in mind. But now that it has been breached, in what sense is that important? It’s fun to think about, but why would it matter?
—PolarisDiB
The brain loves patterns.
Tyler W.
Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0272338/board/nest/177429231
“It’s all an allegory for Superman. The car crash symbolizes the meteor crash along with his “magic” crsytal fortress (a.k.a. piano/harmonium)…. He is mysteriously wearing a blue suit and red tie throughout the movie with little to no explanation. His lover’s initials are L.L. His plungers resemble Superman’s fortress. He has superhuman strength. He doesn’t understand human beings and how they are supposed to feel as demonstrated through his dialogue with the dentist. The galaxy Superman is from is Greek for “Seven Sisters.” His nemesis, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character, is even getting a haircut when confronted just so he appears to be wearing a black cape when standing up to Adam Sandler’s character. He is able to fly anywhere by the end of the movie. All of the random things are allegorical to Superman. "
Thoughts?