Re: American Beauty, Fight Club and the Qabalah
Well, I can't speak specifically of those films, but it's absolutely true that a good director (or art director in some cases) will make use of archetypes (including occult or arcane ones) in order to evoke a certain kind of response. There's actually a whole "language" of the screen, involving colours, certain symbols, certain patterns, etc. We may not be consciously aware of the language, but because much of it is based in psychology (including the archetypes), we "read" it and it affects us.
Just as one of many, many possible examples, this is one of my favourites: celery and a stick of French bread, sticking out of bags, to indicate that the person has just been to the grocery store. Nobody has to even say "I went to grocery store". You just see the celery and/or bread, and you know, without having to waste screen time for anyone to explain it.
Screen language is a really interesting topic, by the way. It's got a great deal to do with visual cues and psychology. Very interesting stuff.
May the light surround you, may you be blessed. May the light surround us, may we be blessed. May love and light surround us all, and may we all be healed and blessed. And so it is, and so it shall be, now and ever after.
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