Semiotic Symbolism in The Shape of Water

48 thoughts on “Semiotic Symbolism in The Shape of Water”

1. What does World's Finest Grain mean?

2. This is so great! I respect your art man, truly

3. My interpretation: The color green is used a lot, which symbolizes calmness, and nature. Red symbolizes aggression/fight and is gradually introduced first with blood then with her headband, new shoes (red shoes are almost always a metaphor for rebellion or a new attitude, which she was to have to rescue the 'monster') and the water drops on the window. The 'monster' glows blue to symbolize true life in harmony/water/source of energy. The "monster" represents earth and nature, which cannot be owned or kept (it is potentially dangerous/ example: it could eat your cat) but with compassion and understanding, has the ability to heal (it restores her friend's hair). The government, the scientists and the big bad guys (the Russians) all want to harness, destroy and/or study, torture or otherwise contain the 'monster.' The girl represents average, everyday people who understand nature and live in harmony with it and, of course, find it within themselves and be a part of it/live with it. The people whom the government view as meek with no real voice (mute/female/underclass/'toilet cleaners') but do, after all, have the power and cleverness to save nature and the earth itself and finally, live with nature, even if that means death/being reborn/redemption.

4. World's finest grain

5. Great analysis. I never saw it from this perspective. People like you make filmmakers very happy.

6. The teal and green are hybrid forms of yellow and blue: primary colors which mix in a manner that tells the story….
   1. Yellow represents the present reality, specifically Strickland’s indoor home living space – including his wife’s clothing.
   2. Blue in art has been used to represent narcissism. Specifically, on the lead up to 2016’s The Neon Demon, director/writer Nicolas Winding Refn, pointed out Caravaggio’s Blue Narcissus, the classic painting in which the subject is wearing blue and staring at his reflection to the point of starvation.
   3. The green in The Shape of Water, therefore, likely represents the false and narcissistic (and perhaps ethnocentric to a fault) mixture of the present and a supposed future.
   4. Strickland spends the entire film in denial, as shown through his persistence with those green candies, the incorporation of other greenish items (including the teal car). He also shows rejection of "reality" in other ways – taking pain meds in the face of an obviously festering hand infection. I also believe there is a reason why it is the ring and pinky fingers of the left hand that fell off, but there that's another discussion of symbolism outside of the color analysis.
   (oh, and "World's Finest Grain" – thanks for posting this video analysis)

7. World fines grain, I enjoyed it

8. world's finest grain ☺

9. Elisa is not deaf. She is mute. How could you get that wrong?

10. Worlds Finest Grain. I enjoyed your videos a lot! 🙂 great analysis … is Rice the worlds finest grain jk
    😛

11. How does one pick up on those subtexts? Like the red and green thing, now that youve mentioned it, it's clear as day that it was done by the filmmaker deliberately. But i never see them the first time i watch a movie and watching analysis videos like this always makes me feel like a dumbass lol

12. World’s finest grain. Awesome ✌️

13. Worlds finest grain. Thank you for your insight

14. World's finest grain

15. Is it just me, or did anyone else think Giles’ hair grew back because the amphibian man put his magic palm across his bald head? Kind of like how he cured the cuts on his arm.

16. Worlds finest grain

17. World's Finest Grain… Thank you for the analysis on this film! It was so insightful

18. OHHHHH that's very interesting ! Thank you so much for this analysis.

19. World's finest grain 🙂

20. worlds finest grain

21. World's finest grain!

22. World's finest grain. I think you've gained a new subscriber!

23. love this, so accurate

24. Watched the movie twice, really loved it!!

25. I'm glad that I stumbled across your channel while researching about Dan Harmon's Story Circle. World's finest grain 😉

26. I’ve actually been wondering what the green color meant in the movie…

27. why are all essays about The Shape of Water

    so good?

28. thanks for the info mate , great video.
    i live in a religious country that values teachings of Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Judaism and Islam )
    from the religious stand point the red color is the color of evil in this world ( i mean Satan and his acolytes ) and green color is the color of good in this world ( prophets of god like Moses, Jesus and Muhammad) the history and hadith tells us that prophet of Islam ( Muhammad ) always had a green turban on his head.
    the shape of water is another movie from the Hollywood that tries to change the definition of good and evil just like how it tries to make the color red looks good and the color green looks bad, the red is for the good guys in the future and the green were the colors of bad guys in the past in this movie.
    they always try to hide the true nature of the evil in this world, you know one of the devils tricks is to change the looks of act of good and bad with each other .
    Guillermo del toro movies are always have these kind of hidden agendas.

29. I can't stop thinking about this movie, it has been some months scinse it was released and i just can't forget the beauty of this movie.

30. Wonderful video.

31. world's finest grain 🙂 I got to see the film last week, and I also loved Guillermo del Toro's use of color in storytelling and in character descriptions.

32. World's finest grain. I don't have any clever comment, I just enjoyed the video.

33. Only the brightest will understand the subliminal agenda of this movie. The Truth is darker and stranger than ever. The film has a luciferian agenda of the return and rise of the Nephilim mating with human women, as happened in the distant days of old. This hybridization and enlightenment agenda is biblical in nature of the coming deception of the End Times and the the rise of the alien intrusion. Reality is stranger than fiction and symbolism is everywhere with the elites in Hollywood, politics, and the ruling class. Stick to Jesus for protection – the future will be one hell of a ride!

34. I love this movie so much, and hearing commentaries such as this one makes me just love it even more! Thank you so much for putting this together!

35. 5:40

36. Worlds finest grain

37. Love your vids, beautifull analysis ❤️
    fyi: I wrote jurnal about semiotic colors in film as storytelling and using Toro's films as data

38. brilliant analysis man keep it up!!

39. World's finest grain

40. Guillermo del Toro explained the symbolism of the colors at a coference when he went to México.

41. Thank you for the phenomenal work –and, the "Worlds Finest Grain".

42. world’s finest grain my dude

43. Worlds finest grain
    Is shipped on plane
    It’s called cocaine
    Yes I had to rhyme
    Cause that my only biggest crime
    Good video

44. Worlds Finest Grain. “She gives him her OTHER eggs” really made me laugh… (probably more than it should have). Great video James. Thanks for sharing and posting.

45. May I know who's theory you using?

46. worlds finest grain <3 loved the video!

47. Worlds finest grain
    Loved this analysis!

48. This is a great film analysis!

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