7th July 2007, 6:49 PM
(This post was last modified: 7th July 2007, 7:00 PM by Dark Jaguar.)
It's also possible you may have looked into that a bit too much. That's an... interesting interpretation, but I'm not so sure the guy actually intended that it was seen that way. I certainly didn't get that impression. I suppose one way would be to ask him, or barring that, check out interviews and such on those DVD collections.
http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2007/07/hey-libertas.html
Here's something to think about. There are many times someone will try to get a philosophical or political message out of something, and sometimes it's clear that a message was intended (MASH anyone?). Sometimes though, the creator just wanted to make a story about city smashing robots. Sometimes the meaning someone sees is merely projection.
I would also argue that sometimes a story can be direct and straitforward (Lord of the Rings, which while many interpret it as strong allegory, the writer strongly denied it was anything more than what it was at face value, a story of magic and legend, and he denied allegory to his dying breath) and still be very good. Not everything has to be symbolic. That said, sometimes heavy symbolism makes a great story too. Silent Hill 2 for example.
A more direct example of an intended hidden meaning would be like in that episode of Powerpuff Girls where they make that new friend and explain to her that they were created in a lab accident and she tells them "oh yeah, my parents tell me I was an accident too". There's something that doesn't really take much invention to see a meaning there, and if that was unintentional, I'd be rather surprised (because then the joke wouldn't make sense).
Finally, it's not always how the creator actually intends the thing to be interpretted. I often get a different meaning from stuff than the creator wanted, and that's fine. Take from it what you will. What it DOES say is art is a very bad way to try to initiate communication with foreign persons, simply because it's so open to interpretation and easy to perhaps misunderstand. There's very few set rules, so you are as likely to offend as enlighten, or at the very least confuse the heck out of someone. When the walls fell... Darmok and Jallad at Tanagra. His arms wide! The sails unfurled.
http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/2007/07/hey-libertas.html
Here's something to think about. There are many times someone will try to get a philosophical or political message out of something, and sometimes it's clear that a message was intended (MASH anyone?). Sometimes though, the creator just wanted to make a story about city smashing robots. Sometimes the meaning someone sees is merely projection.
I would also argue that sometimes a story can be direct and straitforward (Lord of the Rings, which while many interpret it as strong allegory, the writer strongly denied it was anything more than what it was at face value, a story of magic and legend, and he denied allegory to his dying breath) and still be very good. Not everything has to be symbolic. That said, sometimes heavy symbolism makes a great story too. Silent Hill 2 for example.
A more direct example of an intended hidden meaning would be like in that episode of Powerpuff Girls where they make that new friend and explain to her that they were created in a lab accident and she tells them "oh yeah, my parents tell me I was an accident too". There's something that doesn't really take much invention to see a meaning there, and if that was unintentional, I'd be rather surprised (because then the joke wouldn't make sense).
Finally, it's not always how the creator actually intends the thing to be interpretted. I often get a different meaning from stuff than the creator wanted, and that's fine. Take from it what you will. What it DOES say is art is a very bad way to try to initiate communication with foreign persons, simply because it's so open to interpretation and easy to perhaps misunderstand. There's very few set rules, so you are as likely to offend as enlighten, or at the very least confuse the heck out of someone. When the walls fell... Darmok and Jallad at Tanagra. His arms wide! The sails unfurled.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)