Why is bird box about depression
BIRD BOX Ending + Monsters Explained!
We interrupt
this Bird Box explained for a
special message for Netflix ,and now back to our regularly
scheduled programming. Grab you blindfolds and settle down.
with some Poptarts because we have a Quiet Place 2
-wait it's Bird Box...
Okay Bird Box.
and this one promises to be a smashing good time. From the writer of
Arrival and the director of The Night Manager, comes
one of Netflix's most anticipated horror-thrillers
since A Christmas Prince 2.
So in this video we're gonna unravel the mysteries of
Bird Box, finding out what this movie is really about
and delving into the lure of its' mysteries monsters.
While Bird Box is the story of a woman struggling to survive
in a world of vision monsters, it's equally
the story of a woman overcoming her ability to love
and connect. But in order to understand the ending,
we must first start at the beginning and juxtapose where
our protagonist ,Malorie, began
and where she ends the film. How she changes
and what she learns along the way is
at the core of what this film is trying to say
-that and don't open your eyes. When Jessica ,Malorie's
sister, visits her Malorie is essentially a shut in.
Her fridge is empty.
Her sister has to get her food. She's
unaware of the mass suicides going on in Russia
,and it's like pulling teeth trying to get Malorie out of
the house even to see a prized Arabian horse.
Not to mention, Malorie isn't talking to
her mom and all communication with her is done through
Jessica. Essentially, she has
withdrawn herself from the world ,but one of the things
this scene does well is convey this
isolation and negative outlook of the world
not only through the dialogue
but whats happening visually. The scene starts with black
paint smeared over a canvas and the irony isn't lost
that the profession of our protagonist in the film that relies on
people not being able to see...is one of
a painter. In fact almost all the paintings
in Malorie's studio are dark and depressing.
Jessica remarks on the large one saying,
"I think i see a whole bunch of people
sitting together ,but they all feel incredibly lonely."
And what better statement of today's society?
We're more connected than ever, yet with more increasing
rates of depression, but it's how Malorie responds
to this that gets at the heart of what this film is really about.
Loneliness is just incidental.
It's really really about people's inability to connect.
Our protagonist is stating what her problem
is, but she's unwilling to do anything to change it.
It's only by going through the
journey through the rest of this film that she will learn the error of her ways
and embrace connecting with others
,but lets go back to the other paintings.
Like this one here showing a woman alone in the darkness
;isolated just like our protagonist.
Or my favorite, this one
light shining on her body giving the slightest bit of hope.
As the film progresses, Malory is confronted with
more and more scenarios which will challenge her outlook on life
and force her to adapt and ultimately connect and love.
We've followed Malorie and Jessica to the hospital and it's no
coincidence Malory is
wearing a blue jacket with a feathered trim
she's our blue bird, a sad depressed
alone creature
and this is one of my favorite shots in the entire film
there are two women on their phones in the left, smiling connecting with
others. The one on the far left in
bright orange juxt-
opposed with our protagonist on the right
no phone, all in blue, sad on what should be a very happy day.
going to see her child
on the ultrasound. And the color blue becomes
a recurring motif for Malorie
For the majority of the film she wears a blue blindfold
And the scene where Marolie promises Olympia to take care of her child
What does she hand over to her? A blue bag that says
"Thank you" on it. Once Malorie agrees to this...
she is metaphorically handing over a piece of her sadness
This will be chipped further as the story goes on.
Malorie find her hold-up with a group of survivors
And if she's going to survive
she's going to need to learn to connect and open up
One of the more interesting things about this film is
how the story is told using Flashbacks
I thought that this was an interesting and more
dynamic way to tell a story than to simply
tell it chronologically. We get little clues like
the birds who we later find out that were taken from the grocery store
The birds not only provide a warning sign for the creature but act as a symbol of caged
freedom and hope. When Tom tells girl and boy a
story about what he saw at the top of a tree
he said it was birds who then flew away
This is followed up by Malorie
arguing with him that he was giving the kids false hope
You see her character hasn't changed yet
That will happen more near the end
Tom argues that the hope that one day they might be free
is exactly what the kids need. The title "Bird Box"
refers to the box girl carries around
that holds the three birds, is also
bang on because our characters are essentially are trapped
birds themselves.
They can hardly venture out. With only brief
Glimpses of the out side world like the little holes
on the bird box that provided light for our birds
Not only birds but other animals help relay
this idea of freedom.
Particularly the Arabian horse that Jessica wanted to
look at, at which Malorie sees on the news shortly
after Jessica's death.
A horse the kind her sister was going to purchase
is now free😂
And horses in particullar have a long history of being
associated with freedom
Malorie's isolation in the survivors house is
put in full display when olympia decides to bunk with her
Olympia even says
But When Malorie is asked about her family she makes
makes up and excuse to leave.
We already know that Malorie doesn't talk to her mom
We'll find latter that her dad was a a**hole. And we only get one
sentence explaning this, but Ryan, the guy who knocked her up basically left her.
That's a lot of baggage and these are all the culmunating
reasons why Malorie has such a negative out look on life.
But that negativity doesn't mean Malorie is a bad person (or looking)
And the writer understood this by putting Malorie
in situations where
she does the right thing or does something kind
Some examples include when she sticks up to
Douglas, who suggest that they abandon the others survivors and
just live at the grocery store, her love for animals or getting Olympia a beanie baby for her child
The sad irony of all this is that Malorie yearns
to connect, but
she doesn't realize it or is strong enough to make that leap
at least not yet
Perhaps the saddest encapsulation
of Malorie's inavility to connect is calling the kids,
one of which is her own flesh and blood,
simply boy and girl, it dehumanises
them. Why Tom didn't gave them names
Is beyond me, but that's besides the point
Malorie isn't acting like a mom, she is acting like a survivor
Tom even says to her:
and
Sadder is that the kids dont even call her mom, they call her by
her first name, Malorie
Of course, this changes after Malorie's brutal
two day journey with the kids down the river.
After the boat capsizes and she loses contact with the kids
She forced to feel to what it's like to be truly alone.
She apologises to girl
and then she feels the monster behind her,
pleads that it take her and not the kids
She's willing to sacrifice herself for those she loves.
And in the final scene at the school for the blind,
she explains for the first time that she is their mother,
finally giving them proper names
She has completed her journey to live amongst the freedom of the birds
But this still doesn't explain the biggest
mystery of the film:
What the hell is the monster?
Now for the purposes of this segment,
I'm gonna go back referring to it as a creature
and as a force, so just bare with me here
So, let's start with what we know
Starting in around summer, a mysterious force appeared
in parts of Siberia and Russia which made people suicidal.
This force then spread over a matter of days
and eventually spreading to California
where the majority of our story takes place.
As evidence with Jessica, this force, when seen
alters people's psychological make up
and this alteration manifests itself in different ways
depending on the person.
For example, happy people like Malorie's sister
or Lydia, Douglas's wife, who he called the 'kindest woman on Earth',
killed themselves
Malorie even says when describing her sister being taken over
that this force made her sister sad
This creature also draws you in by manipulating your thoughts.
When Lydia's drawn to it, she hears her mom talking to her
A mom Douglas exclaims has been dead
for ten years.
On the other hand, we have those who are effected by this force
in different ways
Those who aim to harm others.
Like Charlie's coworker, who he tells us is an ex-convict
and the mental asylum escapees from Northwood.
These evil ones all have in common a violent or mentally deranged past
They have already lived their deepest, darkest fears
and thus are
effected differently by this creature, than others
And just a note that I do know that not all who are psychologically damaged
are violent
I know I'll get hate in the comments if I don't bring that up.
The TV announcer says it's not a virus and its origins are unknown
But Charlie, a resident conspiracy theorist believes
he has an explanation
What's happening is the end game or end of the world
Humanity has been judged and we have been found wanting.
Judged by what he refers to as
Spirit Creatures, who take the form of our worst fears,
deepest sadness and greatest loss.
Thus,
a slew of demons from around the world who manipulate the minds of
their victims. These demons come from various religions
and mythologies and include
the Aka Manah, Davis from the Middle East Zoroastrianism religion
Suruga from ancient christian acultis
and the interesting
thing about this one is it
made pregnant woman believe their children were
lobsters or spiders
It cuts directly to pregnant Malorie when he says this.
There's also the Holajain (not sure of spelling) from China
And the Phooka from Houlo. He says their all different
names but they all mean the same thing:
The end of us.
But one thing we know is that we can't see it.
And that's why we actually never see these creatures in the film
The film makers wanted us to put us in the shoes
of the characters to have us, the viewer
as blind as them.
The closest we get to any visual
representation of them is
when Gary props down his drawings.
Now we don't know if for certain if these are images in his head
or if they are of the actual creature
But I like to think that they are the various representations
of the demons Charlie referred to earlier.
In the end, we may not have gotten that cool creature reveal
like in a quiet place but that's the point.
The greatest monster is the one inside of us.
The creature manifesting our greatest
fears, sadness and loss.
And only by confronting these inner demons in Malorie's case
her inability to connect,
can we overcome and survive
I hope you enjoyed this video.
I come out with all sorts of cool breakdowns,
explanations and theory videos so please give it a like, share and subscribe
because I have a ton of cool videos planned for the future
Until next time remember..."Daddy loves you very much"
Subtitles by: @Happy Me
(If you would like someone to do subtitles, contact me via Email: kawaiipusheen15@gmail.com)
