The Lady in Black pt. 1

So this is the Lady in Black. She seems to me a manifestation (an avatar, a simulacrum, whatever you want to call it) of Light (or the pleroma, or heaven, or Plato's world of ideas - I tend to think archetypally, names aren't important). She comes, not to save us, but rather to guide and comfort us. She does not act directly, but is more of a spirit guide or something. These are all just names, the idea here is what's important.

She comes to those lost in darkness. The black garment is simply a cloak, hiding the True light beneath. This is what happens in Brothers Bloom - remember Penelope's black poncho over her orange shirt?

I watched another movie recently, Ondine. I have to watch it again, obviously, but it seems to me Ondine is also a Lady in Black. I'll explore this in further detail in future posts.

I hope you understand my point here. We all try to give different names to the same things. This reminded me of a Death Cab for Cutie (propably a recurring band here) song, which seems to pretty much say the same thing as I thought.

Alone on a train aimless in wonder
An outdated map crumbled in my pocket
But I didn't care where I was going
'Cause they're all different names for the same place.

The coast disappeared when the sea drowned the sun *wink*
And I knew no words to share with anyone
The boundaries of language I quietly cursed
And all the different names for the same thing

There are different names for the same things
There are different names for the same things...

Ultimately, there are things that can't be thought in human thoughts, can't be expressed in human words or pictures or sounds. This is why concepts and symbols are important, and this is the vaguely the concept of the Lady in Black I'm trying to transmit.

She is opposed diametrically by the Lady in Red, the Whore of Babylon.

The Lady in Black is akin to Mary Magdalene (I recommend this article too) in the way that the Lady in Red is akin to the antichrist.

This idea of polar opposites is something that's been coming up to me a lot lately. It was expressed in I Heart Huckabees, a movie I saw recently and will explore here in the future.

Not a movie about hillbillies.

Anyway, I hope this elucidates a little some of the themes I will be dealing with here. In the meantime, I suggest you try to think of your life from a slightly more 'archetypal' angle, because I think you will see things there that are very revealing.