Keongomaniac's Guide to Symbolisms and Positive Outlook of Life and Love

The Keongomaniac brings you a simple guide to Symbolisms and Positive Outlook of Life and Love. What's more, it can be done in the most easiest of ways, even at the comforts of your home: Movies!

Understanding symbolisms and its significance is important in living our life, for it also undeniably shape our outlook of things. Many dismisses symbols and imageries as the embodiment of the retardardation of the arty-farty. The Keongomaniac however disagree, believing symbolisms to be a manner in which a higher power communicates with mere mortals. Only the sad unenlightened are blind to see His signs where He reveals them. And you have but to broaden your mind and open your heart, to receive His grace around you in your everyday lives.

3 Movies That Can Get You Back Intuned With Your Lit Side!

+ FINDING NEMO (2003)

Yes a Disney-Pixar cartoon! I wanted to make this easy for you =) Finding Nemo is a brilliant work of character mix-and-match with amazing witty dialogues. Even though primarily the plot involves a father's love and his search for his son, I want you to pay close attention to the character of Dory (it gets better right!). Voiced by none other than the great Ellen DeGeneres, Dory embodies such a positive outlook of life, it was without doubt that without her help, the clownfish Marlin would not have been able to find his son Cheeko, I mean Nemo. ;)

Despite her short-term memory loss, her positive force guided the negative-minded Marlin in his quest. When you're watching this, pay very close attention to her lines, and the possible reasons as to why she does certain things.
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1) What could be the reason behind Dory's short-term memory loss?

Usually people chooses what to remember, and what to block out. Dory's short-term memory loss could stem from the mundane-ness of her life, or that she has no family.

• "Please don't go. I want to remember. I do not want to forget. When I'm with you, I'm home."
• "Yes I forget things almost immediately. It runs in my family. At least I think it does. hmm, where are they..?"

2) Why was Dory able to memorise the address written on the mask, despite having a short-term memory loss?

This is strange, but not unexplainable. Given the mundane-ness of her life (which in my theory makes her forget), Marlin came to her life with a real quest to find his son Nemo. This gives FOCUS, and thus also a GOAL, a clear OBJECTIVE to be met. So when Dory signed up to find Nemo, it matters not that she keeps getting his name wrong. As long as she knows that her goal was to FIND NEMO.

• "42 P. Sherman Wallaby Way Sydney. I remember it! I usually forget things, but i remember it!"
• "I dunno. I think I lost someone, but I can't remember."

3) Dory's philosophy of "Just Keep Swimming", and "half-full"

Dory's solution to a sticky situation is easy: to keep swimming. She does not mind the very least the dangers of sharks, and naively (or positively clever?) thinks bombs are balloons. She even enjoyed her time in a whale, and my most favourite of all (and perhaps the most obvious line that reflects her positive outlook of life), was that she feels the "water is half-full", as opposed to Marlin's "it's half empty!". Damn I love this show. ;p

• "Oh it's alright.. it's gonna be ok.."
• "That is a weird thing to promise. You cannot let anything happen to him. Then nothing will ever happen to him. Not much fun for little Harpo (Nemo)."

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For merely being a role model for the force of positivity, The Keongomaniac gives his commendation to the character of Dory, voiced by Ellen DeGeneres (in Finding Nemo). This is the first time ever a Keongomaniac Commendation is given to a fictional character.

A Keongomaniac Commendation (2009)
Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) in Finding Nemo (2oo3)


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+ BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S (1961)

Yes I know it just keeps getting better! And this is perhaps the most obvious of choice. I wanted to give you something you can perhaps relate to, and this is the best movie to showcase that. Arguably Dame Audrey Hepburn's most iconic role, Breakfast At Tiffany's is a great movie only to those who recognises the daily struggles we have in our pristine lives. It is the sheer acknowlegement that things are not black and white, but exists are shades of grey that makes us the human that we are. Imperfectly perfect, and holistically complete. =)
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This is very much a give-away. Look closely at the character of Holly Golightly and her outlook of life and love. A free-spirited individual who turns her back on the world and an extrovert who hides her insecurities with her socialite lifestyle, she eventually does not even have control of her own destiny, lost her beloved brother, but yet continued to cage herself in. Until of course she was knocked to her senses by someone who loves her for who she is regardless, for her beauty within.
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1) Why does Holly find solace at Tiffany's?

Whenever she experiences her "mean reds", she will take a trip to Tiffany's just to look at the jewels on display. This was shown at the beginning of the movie, hence the title namesakes. Does this make her a purely materialistic character, or simply human to have desires for the unreachable? Note that she does not even splurge on diamonds which she feels are for older women, but basically she's revered by the sheer majesty of it.

• "Nothing can go wrong in a place like Tiffany's"

2) Why would a socialite loves to visit a prison regularly?

Holly explains that "girls will look their best" when they visit Sing Sing, the name of the prison. This is not a blase comment, but a commentary that she too, like the girls, feel the need to make the inmates (or whoever they are visiting) feel good, given of course how deprived they are in prison. This again makes her a sophisticated person, not superficial, for she recognises the many levels of human suffering.

• "Sing Sing, a rather funny name for a prison."

3) The Song "Moon River"

Pay very close attention to the lyrics of the iconic Moon River song (one of my favourites of all time). In what would be one of Hollywood golden age most memorable scenes, Audrey Hepburn at her most dressed down attire singing "Moon River" with her own voice. The song sums up Holly's true outlook of life and love, though she does not seem to want to admit it to herself.

• "There's such a lot of world to see. We're after the same rainbow's end, waiting 'round the bend, my huckleberry friend. Moon river, and me.."

4) The No-Name Cat Named Cat

Take note also on the famous cat named "Cat" in the moive, and the reason as to why Holly refuses to give it a name.
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KEONGOMANIAC NOTE: Breakfast At Tiffany's was named the Keongomaniac Classic DVD of the Year in 2008. Dame Audrey Hepburn was also knighted with the Sword and Shield of the High King (the highest honour in Haz Wayne's World) through the Keongomaniac Lifetime Achievement Award in the same year.
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+ CAST AWAY (2000)

This might seem like a weird movie choice, but it is the mother of all movies dealing with the importance of symbolisms. Symbols and imageries are practically littered all over the place in this movie, making it the great movie that it is, and not the cliched stranded-in-an-island premise. It is also considered by The Keongomaniac as one of "the most beautiful movie ever made".
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Sir Tom Hanks (who acted as the protagonist Chuck Noland) was nominated for an Oscar for his role, and won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture in 2001.
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1) The Symbol of Time and Place

Chuck Noland's first scene deals with him teaching his Russian staffs the importance of time. This is important when placed vis-a-vis on how he will later believed to have 'died' while actually stranded in a island for 4 years. The contrast and change before-and-after of him being "cast-away" is crucial to the central theme of the movie.

• "Time rules over us without mercy... We live or die by the clock. We never turn our back on it."

2) The Symbol of Wings, why it saved Chuck's life

While stranded in the island, there is this one package Chuck decided not to open, purely because there is a symbol of wings on it. It is simple: wings are the symbol for flight and freedom (and liberation and emancipation..etc you get the drift). At the end of the show, he delivered the package, and wrote a note that it "saved his life".

This wings also became the representation of the new love Chuck will embrace (hinted at the end of the movie). So by this interpretation, his lover Kelly was not the only one 'with him' in the island that kept him going, but his 'new love' (unrealised then) too.

• 'WINGS' LADY: You look lost.
• CHUCK: I do?
• 'WINGS' LADY: Where are you headed?
• CHUCK: Well I was just about to figure that out.

This lines, while seemingly mundane, has great depth in terms of its meaning. Especially so since the scene is depicted at a crossroads. In life at times we need help and guidance to point us to the right direction, and more often than not, often we selfishly reject these signs, thus unabling us to move forward and in so doing remain 'stuck in the moment' and 'caught in the middle'.
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3) The Symbol of Roads, the mother of all symbols

If you watch the movie properly too, the symbol of roads is used very clearly, though to the untrained mind, it is easy to miss. The long shot of the road and crossroads appear at the beginning and at the end of the movie. At the last scene, Chuck moves directly to the middle of this junction. My God that must be the strongest orgasmic 'symbolistic' thing ever in the history of cinematic symbolisms.

The image is superbly strong: A man whose life is now renewed is standing at the junction and crossroads of his future and destiny. It is solely in his hands, for the direction in which he takes still lies with him. However it takes another individual to lay for him what lies ahead of him, and the choices that he could make. You may disagree with me. But I believe he will take the road that will take him back to the 'wings' lady, and thus relish in his new lease of life.

• "I have to keep breathing, even though there was no reason to hope."
• "And I've lost her all over again... I'm so sad that I don't have Kelly."
• "And I know what I have to do now, I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise, who knows what the tide could bring?"

That is some powerful shit. =)
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4) "You're the love of my life!"

I really love this movie also because it is not pretentious when it touches on the topic of love. It is not corny, but very much concrete. In the beautiful scene where Kelly rushes out in the rain to embrace Chuck for one last time, she declared to him "I love you, you're the love of my life!". But given the discrepancy of Time and Place, she also recognises the fact that you do not necessarily settle down with 'the love of your life', which is sad but hard truth. And Chuck too, respects this and duly let her go. Now that is what I call love, in its most mature of sense.

• KELLY: Chuck...
• CHUCK: You have to go back. (said in a form of statement, not an order nor a question)

This movie is a fun watch, especially the witty moments in the island. If you're a true outdoor-type you will definitely empathise with Chuck's hardship in the island. If you're a Freud-fanatic you will simply love the whole Wilson-Chuck exchanges. Given that it is rich with symbolisms, it might not be an easy watch for the trained and enlightened mind actually, because it will really affect you. Call me a freak but I still tear a bit during the scene where Chuck lost his only friend Wilson the Volleyball. It is heart-wrenching. It gets me every time. =)

If anything, watch it for superb and totally believable acting of Sir Tom Hanks. You are an inspiration. God bless you.
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KEONGOMANIAC NOTE: Cast Away (2000) receives the Keongomaniac Commendation as well. Sir Tom Hanks was recently knighted in Haz Wayne's World this year but his knighthood is yet to be published. He is the first to receive the Keongomaniac Lifetime Achievement Award while still alive.

Last year Sir Heath Ledger, Sir P.Ramlee and Lady Saloma and Dame Audrey Hepburn were knighted in the 3rd Keongomania Awards.

A Keongomaniac Commendation (2009)

Cast Away (2000), starring Sir Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt