The Adjustment Bureau

I've wanted to see this movie for a long time- when the previews first came out me and my buddies were all "DUDE THIS MOVIE HAS AP LIT WRITTEN ALL OVER IT!!!!!!" and yet after it did come out I heard it was terrible so didn't take the time to see it. Finally did get it on Redbox today (Redbox is awesome, btw) and hesitantly watched it- and loved it!! I have no idea where all the negative reviews I heard came from! I thought it was really good- plot, writing, acting, symbolism, costume/set design, the whole nine yards. The little AP Lit Minion inside me was dancing the whole time. (Be warned, spoilers or spoiler-esque items will follow).


First, I liked the concepts. Free-will, choice, destiny, etc- and I loved the fact that even though there was The Plan and everything, 'Chance' still existed. Likewise, I liked how even though it was fairly obvious who 'The Chairman' and the agents were, they never used the name 'God'. And that Free Will (more or less!) wins out in the end.

Okay, the symbols/symbolism-

The Hats


Cover your head. Your mind....your thoughts? Eh? Not only that, but you have to have one of the hats to move about- you have to own and guard your 'thoughts' (choices) in order to move through the world and life.

Water

Water has long been a symbol of purity, cleansing, change. Water washes away what's been done, blurs any ink on a paper. Baptism, particularly comes to mind- especially with the "divine" theme. It would make sense that movements could not be predicted near or in water.

Harry

Okay, I'm sorry, but this one was almost a little...too much. The ONLY black guy in the movie is the only 'angel' who betrays The Plan and The Chairman? To 'go against' him? (Or Him, depending on how you're looking at it).

The Statue of Liberty

This one didn't hit me at first. When it did, I was like OHHHHHISEEWHATCHUDIDTHERE. But then I felt it was a little like the Harry thing- kind-of obvious. They open a door at the bottom of the Statue of LIBERTY together, after they both choose to do so, to go demand free will? Sorry, if that wasn't clear enough then here. (Go 'head and check out #3).



Oh, my bad, that might've been too strong. (ISN'T IT?!) Anyway, you get my point.

The Doors
(no, not those doors.)

The doors are a symbol of opening, of new possibilities, locations, changing where you are (metaphorically and literally). Once you have the power to open the doors (to take you somewhere else) then they can literally take you to different worlds- but you have to know how to open them.


There are some other forms of symbolism too, but they're minimal- and most of them are probably only because I'm writing this at 3(sorry, 4)am. (Light/dark, the stairs, etc).

I also liked the line/concept that we do meet 'The Chairman' at some point in our lives- even if we don't realize who it is. Makes me wonder who it might have been- or who it will be.