The Yellow House

[Maxx Blackwell]

I was just reading a disseration on Hellraiser that's been posted at the forum on The Hellbound Web. ( https://www.cenobite.com/forum/ ) The disseration is called, "Hellraiser: On Clive Barker's Film" and is by Anna Arnman. In case you wish to read it the thread is located at ... https://www.cenobite.com/forum/showthread.p...6990#post136990

In the dissertation she refers to the house that was owned by Cottons, the setting for the Hellraiser. She says...

This dysfunctional (to put it mildly) family have been dropped in a classic Gothic environment, the shut house, with the staircase functioning as an architectural and dramatic spine. Houses have a history that they carry with them, and within themselves, and which they remember. There are numerous horror films that have a house linked with evil at the centre of the story. The house acts as an independent organic body that simultaneously is functioning as a symbol for the human body. When we dream about houses we, according to one Freudian interpretation, dream about ourselves and our bodies. In Hellraiser, the Cenobites are one with the house and they perish together in the end. This use of the house is in this context relatively traditional. It is a connection to a Gothic tradition of taking horror seriously, rather than something that can be laughed away after someone goes boo.

I think a similar analogy can be drawn with respect to the Yellow House in Millennium. It was Frank's sanctuary and Catherine, as Geibelhouse put it, was his centre. Jordan was the symbol of hope for the future and of everything good in his life. While he loved Catherine and she loved him, that relationship was already starting to erode when we met them for the first time. In essence the Yellow House is analogous with innocence and life and perhaps Frank's state of mind. When Frank starts getting the polaroids in the house it is evil creeping in at the edges. Frank visions the mind of the killer in the dark place of the house - the basement - and so invites evil in. The evil grows. Jordan has nightmares. And as the series progresses it is eventually invaded by evil, the expression of which culminates in the death of Bletch. Al Pepper drops by saying Evil knows where you live, and you can't keep it out. This is carried on in Season 2. Evil forces Catherine and Frank apart. They abandon the yellow house - Frank's personal expulsion from the Garden of Eden - and evil continues to fester there. It becomes the "haunted house" in The Curse of Frank Black. Eventually the old man dies in the basement of the Yellow House in Roosters. They make an attempt to return to the Yellow House but are forced out by the Marburg virus an avatar of the growing evil of/in the Millennium Group. It's almost as if there's a message there over the two seasons. If you let evil in, evil will overwhelm you, suffocate you, force you out and in the end there will only be evil.

Opinions?

[HighPlainsDrifter]

i am kinda with you, good concept. Legion and this pals been wanting to tear the Black family apart in so many ways because Frank is a threat to them. The Yellow House is a safe haven until it was tarnished by evil. I think it could be clean again. I always wanted to see Frank return to that house

[4th Horseman]

i am kinda with you, good concept. Legion and this pals been wanting to tear the Black family apart in so many ways because Frank is a threat to them. The Yellow House is a safe haven until it was tarnished by evil. I think it could be clean again. I always wanted to see Frank return to that house

The greatness of evil lies in its awful accuracy, without that deadly talent of being in the right place at the right time, evil must suffer defeat. Unlike its opposite, good, evil is allowed no human failures, no miscalculations. Evil must be PERFECT, or depend on the imperfections of others. Evil will always shadow the strong in conviction, where there is weakness, evil takes its foothold.

In Seven and One, when Emma is talking to the priest, there is some great dialog about this issue, i cant recall it word for word, but you might want to go back and watch the sequence, its worth the effort. "Let your strength equal Frank's weakness, when it comes for you" What a great line...not IF, but WHEN..an understanding that no one is immune..

The Fourth Horseman

[Raven Wolf]

Wow..... What a wonderful observation/summery, Maxx!

And, there was also Frank's return to the house in "The Sound of Snow", where it had been re-painted White.....A purifying color.

[vain68]

cf. The Fall of the House of Usher by Poe.

Similarity in concept and symbolism.

According to Carter et al., a central theme of the house was that is was the "sine qua non" of hope for not just the Black family, but also a reservoir of faith for those to believe in the goodness and nostalgic qualties of the nuclear family unit. The ripping apart of these romanticized notions symbolizes the loss of hope, a theme congruent with the intended image of the collapsing lady in the culvert in the shows intro. In this sense then, the show portrays--as a central thematic element across all 3 seasons--not group sects and transformations and allegiances as some would like to believe, but rather issues much more fundamental to the human condition including the aforementioned 'hope' as the epicenter of all subsequent life meaning. After all, without hope (which is a broad yet rich term encompassing future aspirations, desires, and plans) there is nothing. Additional issues that are relevant include being alone, but not lonely, and of course, the dualistic nature of good and evil. IMO, any future work that extends MM, MUST focus not on tangenital and peripheral aspects of group sects and allegiances and conspiracy, but rather on the fundamental and central aspects of the human condition. This, in IMO, is what Carter, and even M&W were trying to explicate. They used groups and sects and angels and demons to convey this--as vehicles--including the yellow house.

cf.

Lacann

Rilke

Winnicott

VV

[Guest ModernDayMoriarty]

My view was that the yellow house symbolised all the above but unfortunately for Frank, it also symbolised his arrogance at presuming he could cheat the realities of the world. Catherine, Tom and the scientist in the Iron Lung from 'Force Majeure' are all examples of people who try to tell Frank that the universe does not revolve around one man. By trying so hard to deny evil its due, he places himself and his family directly in the firing line. Legion only takes an interest in Frank because he sees the defiance, the naked belief that he can make a difference. Such defiance of what we know to be true (that we will all die, that bad things happen to good people, that we still don't really have a credible answer for why we are here) marks Frank as a dissident. Satan himself rebelled in this manner, criticising the absolutism of God's Hierarchy and Plan as unfair and something he would never submit to.

Morgan and Wong tried to show up the selfishness that threatened to corrupt Frank because of these beliefs. Yes, he was simply trying to protect his family from a hostile universe, trying to find some meaning in the horror all around him. But by taking such a stand, Frank opened himself up to charges of arrogance as I've said and also of the need for control. Was his need to protect his family becoming a need to feel that he had control of his life. He tried to keep Catherine and Jordan safe his way - by not telling them things he felt they didn't need to know, by shouldering responsibility himself. Their lives would be saved directly because of his actions; therefore he has control over their lives. The Millennium Group take this attitude of Frank's to the next level by applying it to all of mankind. It can be said that Frank's repulsion towards the Group is simple petulance, not wanting to recognise what he himself is.

[Guest A Stranger]

cf. The Fall of the House of Usher by Poe.

Similarity in concept and symbolism.

According to Carter et al., a central theme of the house was that is was the "sine qua non" of hope for not just the Black family, but also a reservoir of faith for those to believe in the goodness and nostalgic qualties of the nuclear family unit. The ripping apart of these romanticized notions symbolizes the loss of hope, a theme congruent with the intended image of the collapsing lady in the culvert in the shows intro. In this sense then, the show portrays--as a central thematic element across all 3 seasons--not group sects and transformations and allegiances as some would like to believe, but rather issues much more fundamental to the human condition including the aforementioned 'hope' as the epicenter of all subsequent life meaning. After all, without hope (which is a broad yet rich term encompassing future aspirations, desires, and plans) there is nothing. Additional issues that are relevant include being alone, but not lonely, and of course, the dualistic nature of good and evil. IMO, any future work that extends MM, MUST focus not on tangenital and peripheral aspects of group sects and allegiances and conspiracy, but rather on the fundamental and central aspects of the human condition. This, in IMO, is what Carter, and even M&W were trying to explicate. They used groups and sects and angels and demons to convey this--as vehicles--including the yellow house.

cf.

Lacann

Rilke

Winnicott

VV

I coudn't agree with you more! It's great to see other fans make this point. The show did change dramatically at points in regard to plot but the central thematic elements and overall message of the show did not.

[4th Horseman]

I coudn't agree with you more! It's great to see other fans make this point. The show did change dramatically at points in regard to plot but the central thematic elements and overall message of the show did not.

yeah, you know, i have to second what A Stranger says. Vain68, you come thru again with another stellar post.

p.s. - i love your new avatar, oh, and heres hoping you have your electricity back on..

your friend,

4TH Horseman..

[vain68]

4th, Stranger et al.

I appreciate your feedback, and I realize that philosophical banterings on what we believe the meaning of things to be are just that---our opinions and conceptualizations. Keep in mind that such conjectures reveal much about the person who penned them. However, I will remain steadfast in my general understanding of what MM brought most poignantly to the table. In my candid opinion, I feel that some get too emotionally involved in tangenital elements of the show and so get swept away into magical lands of groups, allegiances, pacts, conspiracy, etc. Indeeed, even the element of evil can be integrated into the above conceptualizations without going down 'magical' lanes that take us far from what I believe the epicenter to be. It was the rawness of the show--the juxtaposition of hope and chaos, utopia and hell that made it brilliant. Romanticized notions are placed next to the realization of evil and in so doing, the writers make it obvious that all the struggles, all the raw emotions that are the human condition are a fusion of these opposing elements. Without one, the other does not exist. Without the chaos of evil, a romanticized perfect world can not exist.

V>

As as aside, the avatar reveals the source and part of the inspiration for my handle. The music that has inspired a decade + of identity for me.

I'm on my 8th night of no power. I have begun to lose all hope; I am one of the last ones to get it back. It is frustrating and a test of my sanity.

VV

[4th Horseman]

4th, Stranger et al.

I appreciate your feedback, and I realize that philosophical banterings on what we believe the meaning of things to be are just that---our opinions and conceptualizations. Keep in mind that such conjectures reveal much about the person who penned them. However, I will remain steadfast in my general understanding of what MM brought most poignantly to the table. In my candid opinion, I feel that some get too emotionally involved in tangenital elements of the show and so get swept away into magical lands of groups, allegiances, pacts, conspiracy, etc. Indeeed, even the element of evil can be integrated into the above conceptualizations without going down 'magical' lanes that take us far from what I believe the epicenter to be. It was the rawness of the show--the juxtaposition of hope and chaos, utopia and hell that made it brilliant. Romanticized notions are placed next to the realization of evil and in so doing, the writers make it obvious that all the struggles, all the raw emotions that are the human condition are a fusion of these opposing elements. Without one, the other does not exist. Without the chaos of evil, a romanticized perfect world can not exist.

V>

As as aside, the avatar reveals the source and part of the inspiration for my handle. The music that has inspired a decade + of identity for me.

I'm on my 8th night of no power. I have begun to lose all hope; I am one of the last ones to get it back. It is frustrating and a test of my sanity.

VV

Vain68...i am not sure i comprehend your last post in regards to the perception of evil as presented by myself and others. I dont feel there has been a general malaise of romanticism concerning the face of evil. I think a lot of the "extraneous" issues, conspiracies, groups, drive us back to the safety of that "epicenter", whatever it is intended to be. You are right, each justifies the other, validates the ebb and flow, so please elaborate on your previous post...no offense intended...

The Fourth Horseman