POST #6 - SYMBOLISM AND METAPHORS IN "BIG FISH" [FILM RESEARCH]

Hello there!

So today, I'll be discussing how symbolism and metaphors are presented in the 2003 Tim Burton film, "Big Fish".

Tim Burton, director/producer of many successful films such as "Beetlejuice", the 1989 "Batman", and my personal favourite, "The Nightmare Before Christmas", directed this film based on the novel "Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions", which stars Ewan McGregor, Helena Bonham Carter, and Danny DeVito, among others. The film was released on the 10th of December, 2003.

The adaptation tackles many subjects that the book did, but the one I'll discuss is how symbolism and metaphors are used.

First of all is one I picked up almost immediately; the town of Spectre.
With the town being so perfect and hidden away, I interpreted it as Heaven. The set up for Edward Bloom, the protagonist of the film, arriving in Spectre is one which is fairly unusual; he disturbs a bee/wasp nest, who proceed to sting him. He then starts running as they fly after him, which results in him running through multiple webs of supposedly deadly spiders. This could be the way he had a near-death experience, and Spectre is the afterlife.
This could also be supported by the fact that the Mayor says that Edward is "early", which could mean he wasn't meant to die yet.

Second, there is the symbolism of the people that Edward meets. He exaggerates features to his son, which could be symbolic of how he wants his life to seem more interesting and appealing to his son. For example, he describes the North Korean twins as being conjoined, when in fact they were just regular twins. He also exaggerated Karl's height from being a giant with hands the size of a person to being around 7ft tall, which could also be used to make his tall story taller... literally. By making the people he tells stories about more interesting and appealing, he hopes to make his life more interesting and appealing to his son.

Another use of symbolism in "Big Fish" is the Fish itself.
At the ending of the film (SPOILERS AHEAD), Edward is told a story by his son, William Bloom, of how he was brought to the fabled "Big Fish" lake, where everyone who knew Edward or who he helped was present. William lowered Edward into the water, and as soon as he is submerged, he becomes the Big Fish he caught many years ago.
By having this loop of Edward becoming the stories he told, and going back to his classic story when he was younger, it symbolises how his stories will be immortal and go on forever, as the new Fish will be caught by a new Edward, which will then turn into a Fish, etc.

In conclusion, Big Fish has many, MANY symbols and metaphors interwoven into it's script, but they are not tacked on simply to make the audience think; they are the reasons characters do things, how they behave, and how they interact with the world around them.

Hope these symbolism things I wrote about don't seem too much like I'm a crazy conspiracy theorist... :)

See ya!

~ Noah C :D