Joan of Arc - Antidote to Symbolic Inversion
This article was also published on The Symbolic World blog Inverted Depictions Symbolism expert Jonathan Pageau recently put out a video addressing a viewer’s question about the movie The Green Knight . A few months back, Pageau had made another video discussing the symbolism of the original Green Knight (a 14th-century Arthurian poem), and the viewer, enthusiastic about the film adaptation, wanted to hear Jonathan’s take on it. “I’m gonna disappoint you, man,” he answers, before warning that he’s about to have to spoil the ending in order to give his assessment (which consequently I’m going to have to do now as I retell it—so be forewarned!). This ending, he explains, actually captures the thrust of the whole movie: namely, the deconstruction of masculine archetypes through symbolic inversion. Pageau indicates that he sees this device as a cheap move, and sadly an increasingly pervasive one in contemporary narratives. So not exactly the symbolic tour de force his viewer was hoping fo