MovieChat Forums > The Tingler (1959) Discussion > allegory?

allegory?

posted 16 years ago by hq-3
4 replies | jump to latest

"The tingler exists in every human being, we now know. Look at that tingler, Dave. It's an ugly and dangerous thing-ugly because it's the creation of man's fear; dangerous because... because a frightened man is dangerous.
...
"Fear made that tingler grow from microscopic size to this. We can only hope when it goes back to where it came from, it will also go back to a thing infinitely small, even die, because its creator is dead, all fear gone."
~ Dr Warren Chapin, about 1:06 into the movie

The country had not long before been through the mass paranoia of McCarthyism. The blacklist was still in effect. Could this film, or at least these words, be allegory?

[–] drum6025 16 years ago

I doubt this is a comment on the rise of communism. i think the director was trying to make a fun horror film, and something like what you suggest is just making meaning out of something thats not there.

nonetheless, interesting post :)

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] thao 15 years ago

I think you are right. If not consciously then maybe unconsciously. The fact is that we will never know but your take on it sounds logical.

- No animal was hurt during the making of this burger -

[–] telegonus (728) 5 years ago

I strongly doubt it. Making political statements and offering up social commentary were not William Castle's style as a film-maker. Nor was he the "subversive" type who liked to make films in "code"; they say one thing to the average viewer, another to the (supposedly) sophisticated viewer. No, Castle was more concrete. One can take whatever one wants to take from his movies, as to what subtexts or "messages" they send out, however in my opinion that says more about the viewer than the film-maker. In a broader sense I suppose the Tingler itself could be said to be the result of a super-anxiety disorder, and that it's a largely modern phenomenon. A case can surely be made for that.