When a movie is released, audiences watch it and generally glean the same view of the plot. It’s all there on the screen, and we can see exactly what happens. But, sometimes, if you turn your head slightly to the left and maybe squint a little, a whole new movie is revealed. Perhaps just below the popularly conceived surface, hidden amidst story arc and dramatic device, there lies an alternative interpretation that lends an entirely different perspective to proceedings.
We’ve all heard the idea that Fight Club is really about Calvin And Hobbes, or that Ferris Bueller is really a figment of his friend Cameron’s imagination. Legendary is the concept that The Shining represents the oppression of indigenous people, that Wall-E is alone because he killed all the other clean-up robots in a psychotic rampage, that Drag Me To Hell is about eating disorders, or that Toy Story is an allegory for erectile dysfunction. These theories are now so well-studied that they have passed into folklore.
But, let’s follow the format of what is perhaps the most legendary alternative interpretation of a movie – since it went viral on the internet – The Wizard Of Oz:
“Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets, and then teams up with three strangers to kill again.”
It’s succinct, detailed and, let’s face it, entirely accurate. Herein lies the challenge, though. While it is endlessly entertaining to view beloved movies through a different lens, can you handle having your own favourite reconstructed in a darker, grimmer fashion? Let’s find out. Brace yourself for some alternative movie interpretations that will change the way you watch these films forever.
