The Walrus Was Paul: Difference between revisions

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''[[Ho Yay|You know that we're as close as can be, man]]''

''[[Troll|Well, here's another clue for you all;]]''

''[[Trope Namer|The walrus was Paul!]]''~~|''[[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]]'', "Glass Onion"}}~~

''[[Trope Namer|The walrus was Paul!]]''

|''[[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]]'', "Glass Onion"}}

Sub-trope of [[Mind Screw]] where the creators are intentionally ''trying'' to confound explanation. Whether they're poking fun at the fans' tendency to [[Epileptic Trees|explain and]] [[Wild Mass Guessing|codify everything]], trying to express that [[Real Life]] doesn't always have clear-cut answers, or simply more interested in evoking a mood than communicating a specific message, they'll make the weirdest, most [[True Art Is Incomprehensible|incomprehensible]] work they can.

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Often used to subvert [[What Do You Mean It's Not Didactic?]], by means of not having ''any'' deeper meaning. Compare [[Faux Symbolism]], where it's merely "throw some meaning at a wall and hope it sticks", [[Criminal Mind Games]], when this is done in-story to throw the pursuers off-track, and [[Cow Tools]]. Contrast [[The Chris Carter Effect]]. See also [[Shrug of God]] and [[Teasing Creator]].

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== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]''~~: like~~ many 'deep' anime series—was put together to promote differing interpretations and discussion. Ikuhara Kunihiko once admitted flat-out that he and the rest of the production team hadn't really kept track of the symbolism in show and the film because they thought the point was for people to interpret it in their own way. They didn't want [[Word of God]] to narrow the fans' focus, embracing something many directors often forget: past a certain point, [[Death of the Author|meaning is ascribed to a series by the viewer, not the creator]].

* ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]''—like many 'deep' anime series—was put together to promote differing interpretations and discussion. Ikuhara Kunihiko once admitted flat-out that he and the rest of the production team hadn't really kept track of the symbolism in show and the film because they thought the point was for people to interpret it in their own way. They didn't want [[Word of God]] to narrow the fans' focus, embracing something many directors often forget: past a certain point, [[Death of the Author|meaning is ascribed to a series by the viewer, not the creator]].

** He admitted in one interview that the reason he {{spoiler|~~Turned~~ Utena into a car}} in the movie was because he always wanted to see a beautiful girl turned into a car. No further reason. Doesn't stop fans from having braingasms trying to figure out what it meant.

** He admitted in one interview that the reason he {{spoiler|turned Utena into a car}} in the movie was because he always wanted to see a beautiful girl turned into a car. No further reason. Doesn't stop fans from having braingasms trying to figure out what it meant.

* ''[[Serial Experiments Lain]]'' was supposed to be this once exported, but the creator was dismayed to discover that foreigners interpreted it pretty much the same way the Japanese audience did.

* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'': [[Word of God]] stated numerous times that this work was generally designed with [[Mind Screw]] first, plot second. This became more and more apparent in later episodes with all of the symbolism and Freudian imagery splattered all over the place in ~~such~~ ambitious and disjointed fashion, mainly in the form of jump cuts.

* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'': [[Word of God]] stated numerous times that this work was generally designed with [[Mind Screw]] first, plot second. This became more and more apparent in later episodes with all of the symbolism and Freudian imagery splattered all over the place in an ambitious and disjointed fashion, mainly in the form of jump cuts.

== [[Comic Books]] ==

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* [[David Lynch]]'s works are explicitly this. So much to the point where if anyone on the set of ''[[Inland Empire]]'' asked him what's the plot/symbolism/whatever, he'd quote a passage from an Asian text that basically meant, "We make our own meanings."

{{quote|"We are like the spider. We weave our life and then move along in it. We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream. This is true for the entire universe."}}

* "If you understood ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey|2001]]'' completely, we failed. We wanted to raise more questions than we answered." -- [[Arthur C. Clarke]]

* "If you understood ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey|2001]]'' completely, we failed. We wanted to raise more questions than we answered." — [[Arthur C. Clarke]]

** There is enough contradiction between the book and movie to allow for multiple interpretations anyway, as Kubrick was not involved with the former and Clarke never had the last say on anything in the latter (his script having been changed a lot).

* Certain of [[David Cronenberg]]'s films, particularly ''[[Videodrome]]'' and its [[Spiritual Successor]] ''eXistenZ''.

* The Tokyo driving sequence in Andrei Tarkovsky's film ''[[Solaris]]''. This four minute black-and-white sequence consists solely of Burton and his son driving aimlessly through ~~70's~~ downtown Tokyo.

* The Tokyo driving sequence in Andrei Tarkovsky's film ''[[Solaris]]''. This four minute black-and-white sequence consists solely of Burton and his son driving aimlessly through 70s downtown Tokyo.

* ''[[A Serious Man]]'' aggressively and deliberately pursues this trope, to the befuddlement of viewers and critics everywhere. Some argue that several of the [[Coen Brothers]]' other films, particularly ''[[The Big Lebowski]]'' and ''[[Barton Fink]]'', exhibit this as well.

* Subverted by ''[[Donnie Darko]]'', which features a director's cut that explains every possible ambiguity in the original film... which more than a few people couldn't understand either. [[Double Subversion]]?

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== Music ==

* [[The Beatles]]: "I Am the Walrus". They later turned this into an art form with "Glass Onion", the source for the [[Trope Namer]], which consists almost entirely of cryptic [[Shout-Out~~|Shout Outs~~]] [[Song of Song Titles|to the group's earlier songs.]]

* [[The Beatles]]: "I Am the Walrus". They later turned this into an art form with "Glass Onion", the source for the [[Trope Namer]], which consists almost entirely of cryptic [[Shout-Out]]s [[Song of Song Titles|to the group's earlier songs.]]

** It's safe to say it's not just "I Am the Walrus", but half the songs [[John Lennon]] wrote. His quote pretty much proves it: He was so fed up with fans trying to find hidden allusions in their songs that he decided to write a completely nonsensical one—namely, "I Am the Walrus". Lennon allegedly said, "Let's see the fuckers figure that one out" after finishing it. Which, [[Fan Dumb|in an ironic twist]], [[Misaimed Fandom|was still searched for "clues"]]. But Lennon had the final word during his post-Beatles career when, in his song "God" he sang, "I was the walrus, but now, I'm John."

** It's safe to say it's not just "I Am the Walrus", but half the songs [[John Lennon]] wrote. His quote pretty much proves it: He was so fed up with fans trying to find hidden allusions in their songs that he decided to write a completely nonsensical one—namely, "I Am the Walrus". Lennon allegedly said, "Let's see the fuckers figure ''that'' one out" after finishing it. Which, [[Fan Dumb|in an ironic twist]], [[Misaimed Fandom|was still searched for "clues"]]. But Lennon had the final word during his post-Beatles career when, in his song "God" he sang, "I was the walrus, but now, I'm John."

*** "Come Together" has the same origin.

** After making a particularly good point during a TV interview in regards to The Beatles' waning popularity among teeny-boppers, John Lennon looked directly into the camera and said "Isn't that right, Harry?". Who's Harry? He doesn't exist. John randomly chose the name to keep the audience guessing.

** After making a particularly good point during a TV interview in regards to The Beatles' waning popularity among teeny-boppers, John Lennon looked directly into the camera and said "Isn't that right, Harry?" Who's Harry? He doesn't exist. John randomly chose the name to keep the audience guessing.

* Veruca Salt parodied/homaged the "Glass Onion" example in the bridge to "Volcano Girls" -- "Well here's another clue if you please/ the Seether's Louise", referring to a member of the band and the song "Seether", which had lyrics that were often debated over by fans. It was probably just meant as a tongue in cheek reference to interpretations rather than an actual mind screw though, as they'd already said in interviews that "the Seether" was a personification of anger.

* [[Veruca Salt]] parodied/homaged the "Glass Onion" example in the bridge to "Volcano Girls" -- "Well here's another clue if you please/ the Seether's Louise", referring to a member of the band and the song "Seether", which had lyrics that were often debated over by fans. It was probably just meant as a tongue-in-cheek reference to interpretations rather than an actual mind screw though, as they'd already said in interviews that "the Seether" was a personification of anger.

** It's actually a very good homage to the original mind screw, though, right down to the misdirection (just as it was John and not Paul who sang lead on "I Am The Walrus", it was Nina and not Louise who sang lead on "Seether").

* [[Don McLean]], when asked what the meaning of "American Pie" was, said something like, [[Mathematician's Answer|"It means I never have to work again."]]

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* Much of composer Erik Satie's music poked fun at the idea that music needed to serve some grand purpose or be consciously ''about'' anything.

* Carly Simon has given many utterly contradictory hints over the years as to who the subject of "You're So Vain" is. She changes her answer to a different clue, each just as incompatible with the others, every decade or so. The likeliest explanation of the song is that she originally wrote it without intending it to be about any actual, existing, specific man, and was as delighted as she was surprised by all the endless speculation and debate, so she decided to take the misconception that the song refers to someone in particular and run with it for as long as she could.

** There is ''one'' guy, in the entire world, who knows for certain who the song is actually about. He won the answer in an auction, and Simon made him sign a non-disclosure agreement. It lasts at least until Simon dies.

** There is ''one'' guy, in the entire world, who knows for certain who the song is actually about -- TV executive Dick Ebersol. He won the answer in an auction in 2003, and Simon made him sign a non-disclosure agreement. It lasts at least until Simon dies.

** Technically speaking unless the above theory is correct, there are two guys in the world who know for certain; the one it's about is the other one.

** Hints and clues that Simon has given out or allowed to be given out since 2003 suggest that the song is actually about ''three different men'' -- one for each verse. Two of the best candidates -- supported by [[Backmasking|back-masked]] speech in a particular version of teh song -- are actor [[Warren Beatty]] and record executive David Geffen.

* The singer Seal intentionally does not put out official lyrics to his songs, feeling that if someone realized the lyrics were something other than what they thought it was, it would rob them of what they feel the song's meaning is to them.

* Adriyel's "Natasha/Natalie" features lyrics such as "You're a person, and a concept / You're both and neither I suppose", insisting that "this audience will never know / what you mean and what you show" and referring to the narrator's fun times with the girl in question, despite the fact that the girl in question has never met him, doesn't know who he is, and apparently doesn't even speak English because she's from the Ukraine. The only definitely solved mystery is of the two names: in Russia and the Ukraine, the names Natasha and Natalie are interchangeable.