http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/mother-meaning-spoilers-biblical-references-ending-explained/
This article entirely ruins Mother!, revealing plot points, the metaphors at work, and what it all actually means. Reading it prior to seeing the film would be silly, so don’t do it.
Just reformatting the link to make it easier to access.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/mother-meaning-spoilers-biblical-references-ending-explained/
The best I could come up with regarding the yellow potion is, it represents the natural cycle of Earth's climate. She would get anxious, take the potion and cool back down. Get anxious, rinse, repeat. It could be directly representative of recurring ice ages, Earth's orbital distance from the sun, or a host of other factors that cooperate to contribute to the natural cycle. I think that's a considerably better interpretation than referenced in the linked article in any event. Of course none of that explains why she would throw away her surplus voluntarily, so that's where my theory falls short. I'd love to hear about what other thoughtful posters made of the potion.
Sounds pretty neat. I want to see it now!
sharewell i assumed the potion was laudanum, because it looked like it and had the effect of it
shareThanks for that. I couldn't tell you what laudanum was, or what it looks like, so that's somewhat illuminating.
sharei only know because i watched tombstone a few weeks before, and wyatt earp's wife was using it for migraines
then when i googled laudanum mother aronofsky, other people had thought/assumed it was laudanum
it could also just be some other mysterious substance but i understood it as a painkiller not anything deeper, except i guess it could represent like oxycontin or something like a legal opioid.
but laudanum has opium in it or is opium so it would make sense that she gets rid of it when she's pregnant, i dunno if you caught it but she throws it out right after she becomes pregnant, from what i recall
Another interesting insight.
Worth noting that it could both be laudanum AND represent the natural climate cycle of the Earth in the film.
Come to think of it, laudanum actually features somewhat prominently in another recent film that I happen to adore, The Forbidden Room, but I don't recall it being yellow in that. I could be wrong about that too though.
Would have never imagined it was an allegory for the bible, if I didn't read the article. Thank you for linking it
shareI read the plot of the movie on Wikipedia and all the references to the bible and Mother Earth were immediately blatantly clear to me. The metaphors aren't exactly subtle. As for the yellow liquid, it's probably urine since Aronofsky is taking the piss out of the audience with his arty farty nonsense.
shareThat makes sense. I bet he and Lawrence are into pee and scat play.
shareIt's interesting to read about exactly what Aronofsky's intention was behind the story's symbolism. I have to admit that after seeing the film, the interpretation I brought to it had nothing to do with biblical or environmental concerns. I took the film to be about an artist (Bardem) suffering from writer's block who was seeking inspiration, and Lawrence's character was his new muse who "sparked" (the fire-crystal) this in him. Since it's only after Bardem and Lawrence have sex and she wakes up pregnant does Bardem begin writing his new project. And once that work is finished, the Lawrence character gives birth to their "son", Bardem's new book of poems. But I can see how literary creationism can closely parallel an allegory that draws on biblical themes, too.
share