Stories, Shyamalan, and Symbols

A friend of mine loves to read as long as she doesn’t have to look for symbols, themes, meanings.... Yet between this conversation earlier this week and another Shyamalan movie tonight (Devil), I begin to realize that my love of reading comes from just that – any aspect of a story that moves it from the literal to the abstract (hard to believe I decided to teach English).

And I am a great fan of all things Shyamalan (ok – The Happening really wasn’t “happening”). I adore his “stories”. I admire the imagination and courage to put “out there” something that many people are going to complain about because just maybe it takes to much thought (or the fact that the beast in The Village wasn’t a creepy, scary make-believe monster). I love any story that not only makes me think but often begs the necessity of a second (or third) read or watch (Inception would definitely rank high on that list). And Shyamalan does that for me most consistently (at least with movies).

His stories touch on universal questions and ideas. Reflect on human behavior, both good and evil. Leave us pondering more about ourselves and those around us. And most importantly, at least for me, with the realization that good can win out in the end, even if it may not be exactly the way we might wish.

I will always be thankful for the true story tellers, those who are willing to share their imaginations with us, taking us to places we may never have been aware of, or showing us that their ideas are not that far from our own. Even those who simply allow us to enjoy a wonderful story, escaping reality for a bit - “temporarily suspending our disbelief”.

And the truth is I believe all readers take something away from the stories they read, be it symbolism or not.