Symbolism in Netflix’s THE PLATFORM
Obvio (Eng. Obviously) is something that is spoken approximately 26 times between Trimagasi and Goreng in the movie. And obviously, a friend of mine questioned me why did I not write about Netflix’s The Platform yet. I thoroughly loved this movie which blends surrealism and some interesting social commentary. So much so, to all the people whom I recommended The Platform, I told them that it is similar to the Academy Award winner Parasite in its message but on a more disturbing level. So, what caught my eye about The Platform was the choice of objects that each character chose to bring with them for their stay in the Kafka-esque prison labeled as “Vertical Self-Management Center”.
Let’s talk about five of those objects and what they represent about the characters that chose them.
1. Trimagasi’s Choice: The Samurai Plus Knife
Survival. Throughout the movie, as long as Trimagasi survives, he uses his knife. It is his obsession with purchasing the best advertised knife that lands him in this prison in the first place. And thus, the knife becomes his sole piece of possession in the prison too. He is a man who has no problems facing the reality, he believes in the instinct of survival. It is this ideology that he follows which leads him to start cutting Goreng to survive.
2. Imoguiri’s Choice: Her Dog
Loneliness. She is character who once was responsible for assisting people to travel down to the prison. She was the prison’s Administration official. She comes out with a trait of idealism similar to Goreng albeit she brings a dog. Why she brings a dog is obviously a subjective argument. A dog essentially is called human’s best friend. And that is what she wanted for company in the cell. Or rather it would be best to say that she wanted company. Had it been a cat in the story, it wouldn’t have made much difference, but the director chose a dog, which makes me interpret that loneliness is what she fears and wants to have something to save her from her fears in the cell.
3. Baharat’s Choice: A Rope
Optimism. The choice of a rope is tricky. The reason why Baharat is in the cell is unclear. But it is safe to say that he has been sentenced to the prison like Trimagasi unlike Goreng who came by choice. And since he is sentenced, he chose a Rope so as to escape the cell. He is the only character who is trying to escape or even thought about escaping even before he entered the cell by choosing a Rope. No doubt he becomes the one to assist Goreng in rationing the food and sending a message to the Administration.
4. Goreng’s Choice: Don Quixote
Naivety. Our protagonist choses a book which not only is almost 800 pages long book but a book whose protagonist is famous for not seeing the world as it is. Goreng too is initially horrified about the harsh realities of the prison life. He is a character who represents most of us, the audience, disenchanted with reality and often who turn a blind eye towards the cruelity of humanity. He doesn’t belong to a school of hope, but a school of naivety where he feels he can bring about a change in the system.
5. Miharu’s Choice: Her Fertility
She is the character which epitomizes selfish rebellion within the system. She is not concerned with escaping or surviving the prison. She is concerned about the well-being of her child. Her once a month trips down the platform reveal her true intentions, she just wants to ensure her kid is okay. It is also interesting to note that she came to the prison alone. We are never told what her object of choice was, but that doesn’t matter. She came to the prison with her fertility which was exploited and led to her bearing a child. The child epitomizes her quest within the prison.
A quick search about the movie also informs us that the names of these characters too are heavily inspired from Malay/Indonesian culture. Only name reference that I picked up was Baharat’s name, because my country India is called Bharat in Hindi language, but the director named the character after a spice blend which perhaps had origins in India (land of spices). I am not sure if the director intended us to know the symbolic references of the names of the characters or not. But one thing is sure, that the symbolism of the objects chosen by the characters represented their true state of personality. Often times, such things are over looked by the audiences. And yes, the symbolic references are intended to not mean much over the context of the story but they are important to preserve the cohesiveness of the story.
I have a simple theory of understanding the object symbolism in the films. That all the objects which are used in any story tend to follow the Chekhov’s Gun rule - A gun must go off at some point in the story if it is shown. This Chekhov’’s Gun rule is never a necessity for screenplays or stories but it is one such rule which is ardently followed almost in every piece of structured storytelling. Why? The easy answer is to create catharsis.
The Platform is open for unlimited subjective interpretations. Yet within its subjective the symbolism with in the characters is what gives the subjectivity its structure. There is a huge difference between reality and stories. Reality is mundane and often without structure. Stories even if mundane which have a structure. And it is to preserve this structure and create a sense of cohesion, symbolism is needed. Everything and anything that a character possesses signifies something, it tells us about who he/she is. A study of symbolism in filmmaking demands a deeper study for the filmmakers, but for the audience, the interpretation of these symbols is often subconscious. Symbols add a layer of depth for the selected few in audience who want to explore a bit more. It’s like offering cheery on the cake. If you don’t like the cherry, you don’t need to eat it, but the ones who love the cherry, it heightens their experience of eating the cake. So, the next time you watch a movie and you see a scene where the emphasis is on the character’s interaction with an object, you will always know that that object will be used sooner or later.
