The Happening theories (spoiler alert)

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I am very interested in hearing reactions to the film. I just got back from the theatre and I have mixed feelings towards it.

Beware, there will be spoilers in this post. DON'T READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE.


So, my two theories: considering the original project name for this was 'The Green Effect,' it's possible Shyamalan meant for the film to have a blunt environmental point. If this is the case, I'm severely disappointed in his storytelling abilities.

But, here's my theory. At the beginning of the film, a boy in the classroom has his own theory about what happened to the bees. He says something to the effect that maybe it was an act of nature that can't be explained by science. I think perhaps Shyamalan was making a point with his filmmaking and storytelling, that the point is being in the story, in the moment, and not knowing the 'why' of everything. Surely my girlfriend, two friends, and I all had intense discussions about what the movie was about, but we always came up with more questions than answers.

Is it possible his point was to make us ASK QUESTIONS but not necessarily have answers, thus proving the effectiveness of deliberate storytelling?

What do you guys think?



Registered User
I am so distracted about how bad the movie was its hard to even have fun about thinking about what caused the issue in the movie.

So my theory at this point is that he was trying to mimic some 50's black and white type of movie to be entertaining and the movie was more for fun like scary movie then serious.

If I would have known that going in I might have enjoyed it more verses trying to figure out "whats happening" with M Night Shyamalan's gifts as a writer, actor, producer.


I'm very sad

me



Registered User
They explained it..or in a simple way, the cause was from the plants. What a corny idea. He should have just left it as a mystery but given some signs to look for, something in the wind and having to do with trees and plants then leave it at that. But the whole thing about all the plants talking with each other and going after people was like I said, corny. He should've had it end after a rainstorm as if washing it away, something like that.



Actually, the movie NEVER says for sure it's the plants. That is just inferred, but it's never for certain.



This is my theory. As you might know, Shyamalan likes to use colors as a reference. Like in sixth sense and he used the color red a lot (watch the special features). I think his message has to do with the color yellow. The important scene is when Mark tells the little girl that when the ring turns yellow, it means your about to laugh. This really caught my attention. From that point on, I saw many yellow elements. The yellow elements were the things keeping them from getting infected. The main girl (i'm bad with character names) has a yellow bag. In the meadow where they stopped and the wind was blowing, the grass was yellow. The old lady's house had yellow wall paper and cabinets.

There were also a lot of little things. There were daisies in the meadow. When the showed these two women with gas masks, they had yellow candies on the table between them. The old lady at the house told Mark that she was drinking LEMON juice (it would have seemed random if you didn't thing yellow was the theme). Bees are yellow. I could be totally wrong about all of this.

Yellow means you're about to laugh and yellow keeps them from dying. I think Shyamalan is trying to say laughter keeps us alive. Which is why there are some goofy scenes in this movie. Its the laughter that keeps them alive.
Maybe its even about giving off good vibrations. THIS IS JUST A THEORY.

What do you think?



I think it's clearly the plants. The original script, as some have pointed out, was titled "The Green Effect" (and I believe an even earlier draft was titled "Green Planet"). The film goes out of its way to focus on the plants, and show a specific cause-and-effect relating to the plant theories. It shows us multiple experts within the film talking about it with certainty, too.

Not only that, but the film goes out of its way to show us a nuclear power plant behind the house of the couple that owns the plant garden. Someone mentions that there are lots of nuclear power plants in the Northeast, which is where the event is confined to, as well.

To cap it all off, the ending takes place in France, which is known for procuring most of its national energy from nuclear power.

So, the film may stop short of stating things outright, largely because Night doesn't like to do that sort of thing...but it's pretty clear that it's a) coming from the plants and b) spurred by the existence of nuclear power.



Here are some tips that might guide you:

Nature/Plants = GOD

Who are humankind really fighting? Terrorists, governments?

Or maybe ourselves. Are we winning? Well, are we living our lives as we were supposed to? Are we good Christians.

The religious reference in The Happening, is the same as we saw in Signs.

In the happening, the message is that we should live happiliy in harmony with ourselves and our environment; get married, take care of each other, laugh, have babies.

Do not be mislead to think that we have any other enemies than ourselves. If nature punishes you, it was mankind who threw the first punch.

The proof of this underlying plot of Christian belief:

Do you remember when the attack in the film started....?

Well, it was 8:32.

Do you remember when it ended?

It was 9:27.

Google "8:32" or "9:27" and your top hit is a reference from the bible. A message from GOD. Delivered from the profet M. Night Shyamalan.



Confused Tibetan Book Maker
[quote=Chanman;440507]
Yellow means you're about to laugh and yellow keeps them from dying. I think Shyamalan is trying to say laughter keeps us alive. Which is why there are some goofy scenes in this movie. Its the laughter that keeps them alive.
Maybe its even about giving off good vibrations.
[quote]

Chanman, I think you are on the right track. I think that there were several themes in this movie. The obvious one being that of the necesity to take better care of the environment, because initially we are the reason and cause of our own death through our mistreatment of our natural resources. One of the more subtle themes that I believe Shyamalan was representing is that of our need to care for one another more fully and take responsibility for the human race. The reason I believe that this was one of the themes is because of his violent and persistant portrayal of suicide as the form of death. In his other films, Shyamalan has used adversaries as the killers. In this film the self is the adversary, and as the movie explains it is due to the 'survival' mechanism being disrupted by the toxin released by the plants. Supposedly, the 'self-destruct' in our brains is triggered. In those who struggle with mental illness caused by a combination of social issues and cultural factors, the 'survival' mechanism is often dulled and thoughts of suicide can be triggered.

My friend and I went to see this together and we both interpreted this theme seperately so I felt that maybe my thoughts were confirmed to a certain degree in that

We also discussed the old woman who had cut all ties with the outside world. At first we questioned why she was also affected by the toxin when she was supposedly 'outside' the normal chaos of society. We came to the conclusion that the old woman represents the idea that we cannot ignore and shut out the world and its problems because we are in fact a part of everything in existance, even though we attempt to seperate ourselves from our surroundings and other people.

I personally thought the movie was beautiful, but I think that everything Shyamalan does is great. He sticks in a lot of subtle social themes, making them obvious enough that one does not have to be overly-annalytical to spot them.
__________________
"Oh he was strong, and swift, and wise, but he was still a baby-child. He was no match for the guns and sounds, they shot him up, they shot him down. They shot him up and down. Mother Dear, don't start a-cryin', even though your son is dying. They shut his eyes and locked his jaw, and now his face is toward the wall." -Lockjaw, Dina Rae Lopresti (www.myspace.com/dinaraeofsunshine)



Newton's theory were the best we had to explain life at the time, but recently Newtons theories have all been proven to be false, using string theory and other quantum physics discoveries, M Night uses this movie to convey a message, I see this Yoda guy insulting me but not really saying anything except i dont know what im talking about, and insulting my ideas, I think the TV show at the end is the key, Yoda I guess thinks this movie is about killer plants, making us commit suicide, like a nature version of the film "Pulse" a scary movie, But M Night has a message, The TV show has a guest who is like this Yoda guy, believes the happening can all be explained with these nuclear sites causing the plants to change, and suggests that is what the Interviewer on the TV program is commenting on when he says "But why that Part of the country" idea, but this is the curveball in the movie, when he says he cannot believe the guests theory, based on location and timing, September 11 is a huge historical event that takes place in this same area, terrorists are a theme, the movie hints at the event, M Night is referring to the idea that many americans do believe, 911 was not what the commision report claims, 4000 archetects and engineers have already done an independant study of the events and have proven we were lied to, they cannot tell us what really happened just that what we were told wasnt true, Like Bush's ex press secretary claims, we truely were lied to about the Iraq war on purpose, it was a contrived event. The report is about to be submitted to capitol hill very soon and will demand the investigation be reopened, you are all about to have to make a choice, are you Americans aka United States citizens, or supports of a new International Government , if you wanna act like im crazy, thats your right, but I dare you to do the research and challange your ideas of whats really happening in this world, let me remind you, the US/UN troops have killed over 1 million people in this middle eastern conflict since 9/11, and until we all come together to stop these evil men ruling our country, we are going to be next, M Night is trying to send us a message that something is about to happen, he cant tell you what im saying in the movie, bc just like our media today this is speech that is censored , he had to hide it.



M Night is trying to send us a message that something is about to happen, he cant tell you what im saying in the movie, bc just like our media today this is speech that is censored , he had to hide it.
Nothing has, nor ever will be, censored in the USA. Free speech and press is a US constitutional right. What newspaper, TV, radio, book, etc. has ever been censored by the US gov't? Never actually. Where is your proof? Only in countries like Iran and Cuba can you find a gov't that actively censures and shuts down permanently free speech & media outlets. If what you say is true, Michael Moore's films would be outlawed.



Newton's theory were the best we had to explain life at the time, but recently Newtons theories have all been proven to be false, using string theory and other quantum physics discoveries, M Night uses this movie to convey a message, I see this Yoda guy insulting me but not really saying anything except i dont know what im talking about, and insulting my ideas, I think the TV show at the end is the key, Yoda I guess thinks this movie is about killer plants, making us commit suicide, like a nature version of the film "Pulse" a scary movie, But M Night has a message, The TV show has a guest who is like this Yoda guy, believes the happening can all be explained with these nuclear sites causing the plants to change, and suggests that is what the Interviewer on the TV program is commenting on when he says "But why that Part of the country" idea, but this is the curveball in the movie, when he says he cannot believe the guests theory, based on location and timing, September 11 is a huge historical event that takes place in this same area, terrorists are a theme, the movie hints at the event, M Night is referring to the idea that many americans do believe, 911 was not what the commision report claims, 4000 archetects and engineers have already done an independant study of the events and have proven we were lied to, they cannot tell us what really happened just that what we were told wasnt true, Like Bush's ex press secretary claims, we truely were lied to about the Iraq war on purpose, it was a contrived event. The report is about to be submitted to capitol hill very soon and will demand the investigation be reopened, you are all about to have to make a choice, are you Americans aka United States citizens, or supports of a new International Government , if you wanna act like im crazy, thats your right, but I dare you to do the research and challange your ideas of whats really happening in this world, let me remind you, the US/UN troops have killed over 1 million people in this middle eastern conflict since 9/11, and until we all come together to stop these evil men ruling our country, we are going to be next, M Night is trying to send us a message that something is about to happen, he cant tell you what im saying in the movie, bc just like our media today this is speech that is censored , he had to hide it.
J0nathanDC,
Please, for the love of all that is holy, put as much effort into your writing as you do into your argument. This rambling mess gives me a headache. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.



All I gotta say is if you want to know more there is alot of really good info online, you just have to seek it



All I gotta say is if you want to know more there is alot of really good info online, you just have to seek it

i was actually looking up info on joy division today because i'm about to watch the documentary controll when i came across this web site. its someones opinion about how in 1930 hitler used the word terrorism as a form of histeria in order to get people to join his army. an army that idealy wanted to purify the world with his new order by killing of unpure humans. i thought this was a good example of what you are talking about in the happening.



I just watched the movie here in Singapore. I think most everyone is wrong here. But maybe some truth to the color yellow? It's so easy for people to blame the US gov't for anything, which is totally wrong. The US gov't may be keeping secrets about alien technology, but that's probably all.

I think the real cause is NOT the plants (directly), but the OLD LADY directing the plants specifically in her garden to spread the chemical trigger. Remember the bees incident? She probably caused that to happen (by a fluke discovery) talking to her plants, then tried it on humans. Remember she had that whole garden of flowers and plants. Bees need flowers and pollen, and flowers/plants need bees to populate. Just like humans need plants for oxygen, and plants need people for carbon dioxide. What made me realize this, is when Mark Wahlberg discovered they were in the dead center of where this was happening.

But why did the plants turn on her and kill the old lady? I'm not sure, but I think it was because the plants realized she had no love for others, like Mark Wahlberg, the little girl, and his wife - and how they all 3 needed each other. This old lady hated the world and the people in it. She was extremely self-centered to the extreme opposite of what the chemical does to people.

So the religious aspect is clear to me. Even though she had pictures of Jesus in her room, and professed to be Christian, that's not enough?? Just guessing here...because Jesus taught others to love one another, regardless of anything or their beliefs. This old lady, totally HATED everyone in the world, and these 3 people. I guess the plants in her garden picked up on that, and decided to kill her instead and stop the killing. Crazy people like Bin Laden think that killing innocent people is good, and he thinks he is doing it for God. Sounds similar...

For the ending...maybe this old lady had a sister or something in France, and sent her these special plants, and now her sister is starting it all over again there????

Oh ya, and whenever these plants started killing people, it always happened on a regular schedule early in the morning. Perhaps the same time this old lady woke up in the morning and started talking to her plants and watering them to start killing???



This forum is for discussion about M. Night Shyamalan and his films. If you want to swap links about conspiracies, keep it to the PM system or contact each other some other way.
Sorry. I just thought that the link showed what JOnathanDC was talking about and how that related to his theory about the film. the idea that the government uses the threat of terrorism to cover up the fact it is the government themselves that are causing human destruction and genocide. not that i totally agree with him but i thought he brought up and intresting argument.

here is some theories i had about the film.

One of the themes of the film is human emotion. There have been many theories and philosophies about the population explosion and how people in heavily populated areas seem to have more aggression. Also there are more mental illnesses occurring like bi polar depression, and adhd. Also a rise in crime, road rage, and random acts of violence. I think the film explores the fact that the plants are picking up on the energy humans in overpopulated areas are giving off. That is why the disease happens in heavily planted areas within heavily populated cities, ex, large parks. There is also the symbolism of the mood ring, the color yellow, and the mental problem of not being able to show emotions shared by the wife and the young girl.

I noticed the sign in front of the fake plastic house that said "you deserve this" this symbolized to me the fact that humans are killing themselves by their fake behavior, and the manufacturing of fake products (plastics, food, plants, etc). the happening, were doing it to ourselves because we deserve it.


Is the film a disrespectful mocking of global warming? Maybe the film is portraying how humans have been treating the issues of environment, global warming, pollution, and other things that may ultimately cause the extinction of man on earth. Pointing out the fact that humans don't take the threat seriously.

For example, there is the old woman who refuses to hear anything about the outside world. She seems to symbolize those who turn a blind eye to the worlds problems. The mock house showing that we continue to manufacture fake goods like plastics, food, etc. Then theres the hot dog eating couple who talk to plants. They do their part for vegetation, but continue to excessively eat something that is so over processed (fake) that its more or less bad for us. The wife and girl have no emotions, like some people have no emotions when it comes to environmental issues.

Or perhaps the film is mocking the fact some people exaggerate a threat that may not exist. For example, when scientist can't explain something they theorize that maybe some things in nature can't be explained. The toxin is explained as a natural selection process that has caused the plants to attack humans in order to insure survival of the fittest, aka the plants. Thus, scientifically the happening is a natural process, like the dinosaur’s extinction and ultimate extinction of other human like species and animals. We can't explain it because its nature doing what its going to do no matter what humans do. The news says its terrorists, then the plants, but they’re not sure. The old "expert" in the last TV spot acts crazy and thus discredits himself. its as if his portrayal is a mocking of scientific and enviromental theory. He also represents those who try to analyze a divine situation that might not be explainable and that the demise of humankind is going to happen because it is destined to.



I think it's just a message to everyone:

Mass suicide = we're killing ourselves with what we're doing to the planet, we are killing ourselves by destroying (slowly) the one thing we need on this earth to survive - NATURE.

If we keep on polluting the earth and destroying plants and trees etc..... we are going to die.

I think this film is just an exaggerated way of showing us what we're doing to ourselves and how we put the blame on other things ie. terrorism.

The news reader couldnt accept that plants/nature could have such a big affect on mankind when told about the plant theory, so is quick to blame terrorism.

It just shows in these posts that people think it's about 9/11 and so on, so quick to blame anything else but ourselves.

MNS told us to think outside the box. i've just looked at this film as a message.


Just my personal opinion

and the maths question depends on the month of the year (just thought i'd add that)



Let us say that one or more of these conspiracy theories are correct: the movie still sux balls, just saying.
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