I was joking about that, sorry, the "Well, not really" was not enough to show it, I guess. I didn't come up with those theories at the same time yesterday and I'm not inventing them as I write these posts, they are the result of me thinking about the show and analysing it according to my experiences and little things I know. It's not like I've been obsessively doing research to specifically understand the show. I'm just "philosophizing"!Reichu wrote:Turned out that I'd had my first-ever manic experience, and I got to start taking a new pill every morning and evening.
That's how. All I'm saying is that the references are not there just to make it look cool, neither to be abused; I'm saying that they actually make sense.
It's like "2001, a space odyssey". People can forever discuss IF it has any meaning, OR, you can just assume it does, and then try to understand it. The people on the second category (provided they are not crazy from the start) usually enjoy the movie more than the people in the first - the proff of this is that the second category is the only one still watching it. There will always be the skeptics who say it is just subjective delirium if you say you understand it, but that is the same as equating art to a subjective delirium. Art can be universal, it can point to universal meanings.
Well, I am in no hurry to explain my neat little theories. I have evidence for them (in the form of speculations and arguments). If you think it's more appropriate, I'll stop saying "theories" and I'll say "ideas" or "conclusions". I am not trying to establish the "13 laws of NGE interpretation". And my adopted psychological theory is "There's definitely, definitely, definitely no logic to human behaviour"
Well, great, those usually are the smartest people around. Look: I am just pointing out my conclusions about the show (those theories are not the premises). I'm also not saying I'm right. And I never asked to discuss Anno's or the forum members religious views.
Anyone can always ask if they don't understand something, I can try to be more clear. I'm only interested in sharing my views, I don't understand what you mean with this dichotomy (trying to prove that the show "services" the Bible versus being interested in the enhancement of the understanding of the show).
If you can trust that Anno is not secretly a Christian, you can trust that I am not secretly intending to do something other than sharing my views.
**************** ONE DAY LATTER ****************
Ok, so I think I'll just share some basic insights before this goes to the limbo...
1. You don't start interpreting NGE by what the characters say, or by their revealed thoughts or even by their names. Analyzing these things is the last thing you should do. The more someone talks in EVA, and/or the more confidence the character has, the worst off he is, meaning he doesn't really know anything about what's really going on. And this rule has exceptions too, because you have a few characters that DO know what's going on, they ARE talkative and they ARE confident, BUT, when they talk, they purposefully say the opposite of what they mean.
2. You can only decide about who is being good and who is being evil at a certain context in NGE based on: (their actions)x(the level of information the character has at the time of the action). The level of information is twofold: about what's really going on and about himself. HOWEVER, there is one type of action that is only allowed by very few characters and only in certain contexts, and when the others try to do it, they are always wrong in doing it, and it is: trying to understand the other characters and/or trying to understand what's really going on, and then trying to use this limited "understanding" to justify their own actions.
3. The symbols look like they don't mean anything because they are not supposed to always mean what we usually think they mean, and they vary their meanings depending on the context they are used. And, also, you can't understand them in a completely rational way, but this doesn't mean they are completely irrational.
4. While it is true that all or most of the above can be extracted directly from the series itself (i.e., NGE interprets itself), and understanding the series with the above 3 is enough for a very pleasant experience of the show, sticking to those 3 has the natural and obvious limitation of the show itself. If, however, you subscribe to the view that symbols can carry universal meanings, follow your heart and try to understand them, and then come back to the show, you realize that the symbols were used in a fantastically harmonious way, like a symphony. So yeah, they are there "just to make it look cool", if by "look cool" you mean "awe inspiring on so many levels".
5. You can't walk out of the above 4 without being a better person, because those rules actually apply to life as a whole, and that's what makes EVA a very good mythology.
