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1525
1526

Meaning behind "Nope" (i.imgur.com)

submitted ago by cjdeck1

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[–]stabbing_robot 142 points143 points ago

Honestly, I see it as a representation of the idea of self-image and the love of the self (most famously depicted by the story of Narcissus). The loss of his hat symbolizes outside events converging to strip him of an essential part of himself (in this case, his hard hat). By rejecting society's view of the normal-sized neck (and thus becoming a giraffe), Engie is reunited with an inanimate object that he considers an important part of himself.

[–]fpskimberly 173 points174 points ago

The curtains were blue

[–]sanctifiedaberration 109 points110 points ago

Nope.

[–]The_Blackening 31 points32 points ago

The problem with things being as literal as you want them to be is that a lot of writing looses depth and is therefore meaningless.

[–]vgxmaster 63 points64 points ago

Alternatively, you miss the overarching plot or genius movements because you're too busy over-analyzing blue curtains.

Just playing Devil's Advocate.

[–]citelao 14 points15 points ago

Having before asked myself this question (and discussing it with my teacher like any self-respecting holier-than-thou teen), writing echoes the subconscious desires of the author.

Remember that things we name were present before we named them (allusion describes a preexisting an and natural part of language just like, say, alliteration).

Also, while certain authors aim for the literal (I'm pretty sure The Old Man and The Sea was supposed to be the story about a whale and a man but was turned into subtext by English teachers, much to Hemingway's chagrin), most authors deeply care about every word and phrase and DO consider allusion, anaphora, apostrophe, and alliteration (nb Faulkner and Capote).

A problem every English teacher— every good English teacher— considers each day is "am I reading too much into this" and they are as much trying to divine what the author meant as you.

[–]hunteriam 10 points11 points ago

A similar, IMO interesting point is that whether or not the symbolism was intended by the author is mostly meaningless, except in evaluations of quality. Fine art is fine because it elicits a, perhaps strong, emotional reaction in the viewer. It does not necessarily demonstrate outstanding mechanical skill, or ultra realism. Thus, it follows that the intentions of the author should not affect the interpretations of the reader, as long as those interpretations are honest, and not pretentious (a danger more prevalent in higher level humanities courses.)

[–]Worchester_St 12 points13 points ago

I find it hilarious that you guys are having an unironic discussion on symbolism on the "Nope" post.

[–]hunteriam 8 points9 points ago

Actually its sort of a tangent now, this discussion is about over-analysis of art or literature, which was inspired by the OP.

[–]FUzz0168 1 point2 points ago

Could not have said it better hunteriam.

[–]baconophilus 4 points5 points ago

looses

Literary credibility destroyed.

[–]The_Blackening -2 points-1 points ago

Grammatical credibility destroyed, good thing I wasn't making a point on grammar.

Fucking reddit.

[–]Dracosage 6 points7 points ago

Spelling, not grammar.

[–]not_a_wolf 2 points3 points ago

It's fine to find depth in writing but it's important to acknowledged that you're creating this depth and that the depth isn't intentional or you have no way of knowing whether or not it's intentional. It's also important to acknowledged that people can find completely different depth in the same work.

When people start teaching what personal depth they get from a work as fact we close people's minds and limit their perception.

It's similar to how people create all these crazy back stories in games (and stories in general) by drawing connections that are really just often coincidence. They make sure to usually separate it from canon and not canon though.

I really wish the concept of canon* was emphasized more in art and reading analyses.

[–]Namboto 2 points3 points ago

I really wish the concept of cannon was emphasized more in art and reading analyses.

This. Too many kids leave school unable to identify even the most basic types of artillery.

[–]citelao 0 points1 point ago

Agreed— just as some work may have one meaning to the writer, it may also have a completely valid meaning to someone else.

[–]Truck_Thunders 0 points1 point ago

I think you're taking it too far to one extreme, not that you can't also go the other way, but looking back to high school english classes, how often did you encounter something that the teacher took too deeply?

[–]EbolaPie 0 points1 point ago

As in life, it is in literature.

[–]Dr_cow 4 points5 points ago

The author may have actually just meant "the curtains were blue" but who cares what the author meant if the curtains are an awesome symbol of "his immense depression and his lack of will to carry on".

[–]angryboobs 2 points3 points ago

I do.....

[–]MykoDaShmo 3 points4 points ago

Depends on the author.

If a first grader wrote that, it's probably because he likes the color blue. If someone like Faulkner wrote it, there's probably depth to it; otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered to take the time to mention in.

If you know the author likes depth, just ask "why?" and "how?" whenever you read anything by him/her.

[–]jessebk 10 points11 points ago

One time in English we read a story and it had a red couch in it. My teacher went on and on about the symbolism of the red. I said that maybe the author thought it brought the room together the best.

[–]Trilink26 2 points3 points ago

Good literature will breath metaphor's, often different for different people.

[–]MaxOfS2D 3 points4 points ago

Whether an author intentionally put a metaphor in a book is completely irrelevant. The reason metaphors exist in books is not so that your English teachers can torture you by having you search for them but instead because reading critically and nonliterally is a huge part of being a person: It is through metaphor and symbolism that we enter into the life of someone else, and begin to ask their big questions as if they were our own.

[–]NathDriver 1 point2 points ago

The Death of the Author

[–]clickfive4321 0 points1 point ago

or just my initial response:

"that shit's deep"

[–]Vranak 0 points1 point ago

I think you pretty much nailed good sir sire.

[–]DoctorPan 0 points1 point ago

Whoa did I just walk into my English Poetry class.

If so explain Slyvia Plath's and Elizabeth Bishops poetry please.

[–]Buhdahl 87 points88 points ago

I'm having flashbacks to my High School English class.

In the end, I think the only thing I learned in there was how to spew BS like that and sound convincing.

[–]CrashnCashen 24 points25 points ago

Basically, i gained the ability to bullshit any point of view and sound like i know what i'm talking about from taking AP Literature. Worth it.

[–]sociomaladaptivist -5 points-4 points ago

You are presented with two choices:

  • Learn to bullshit to convince other uneducated/school-educated morons that you know what you're talking about.
  • Actually know what you're talking about such that you can convince everyone that you know what you're talking about.

Let's compare their respective costs and benefits:

  • 14,000 hours of school attendance for the ability to trick simpletons
  • Do whatever you want for the ability to speak knowledgeably

Conclusion:

School sucks. You're not learning anything useful, dummy!

[–]CrashnCashen 1 point2 points ago

Y'know, minus the whole degree thing, that pretty much is the deciding factor in getting a high-paying job (differing between degrees, of course).

[–]sociomaladaptivist 0 points1 point ago

I had no idea people earn degrees in high school.

[–]kane2742 36 points37 points ago

I got my bachelor's degree in English. I often joked with my fellow English majors that we were getting a BA in BS.

[–]Hansarn 8 points9 points ago

Relevant XKCD

[–]mri 8 points9 points ago

and another

[–]CrashnCashen 0 points1 point ago

Electrical engineer major. Fuckyea.

[–]stabbing_robot 14 points15 points ago

"Y'see, what that symbolises is ... um ... Shakespeare's connection with ... um ... the Greco-Roman tradition! Yeah, his connection with classical mythology and its susbsequent ... um ... fuck connection with Biblical texts! And, uh, and how it symbolizes a cycle of life and death!"

Directness and brevity of argument: 5/5

[–]Truck_Thunders 9 points10 points ago

My final paper junior year in english was on a book I never touched, and two pages of it were about the movie blood diamond. Got an A-, teacher told me it was some of the best work he'd ever seen.

[–]MrPeachy 1 point2 points ago

I guess teaching of languages around the world is all the same crap because I was reminded of my high school portuguese classes.

[–]yeahdef 22 points23 points ago

http://yeahdef.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/nope.gif

[–]DRUG_USER 4 points5 points ago

I love that this is hosted on 'yeahdef.com'.

[–]Rezuaq 42 points43 points ago

Seven of those kind of comments are made every day on that video.

[–]SheeEttin 24 points25 points ago

And this submission is just a screenshot of the top comments on YouTube...

[–]Enleat 8 points9 points ago

And this is a comment describing the OP's submission.

[–]Farisr9k 4 points5 points ago

And this is a comment describing a comment describing OP's submission.

[–]kenny667 26 points27 points ago

Clearly the antagonist in this finely crafted piece of art is the engineer. The hat symbolizes us as a whole, trying to free ourselves from burdens and chores the society and goverment puts upon us, while the Engineer symbolizes those by seemingly appearing as the center of the scene. As the hat sees an opportunity for an uprising he takes it's chance only to break free and take controlf for himself to be beaten down shortly after, as the long neck of the engineer reaches after it again, thus shattering all his dreams of freedom, only leaving eternal sorrow.

[–]cjdeck1[S] 6 points7 points ago

Never saw it this way. Perhaps it's that people, being able to relate to the humanity of the engineer, want to see him as the protagonist? This is a much darker approach to the video. I like it.

[–]KserDnB 9 points10 points ago

Film/Media studies in a nutshell.

[–]Cargussy 15 points16 points ago

Sounds like /r/breakingbad

[–]GuardianReflex 2 points3 points ago

BUT EVERYTHING IN BREAKING BAD HAS MEANING! Maybe when Walt is talking to Skylar he's actually coming to terms with himself, maybe Tod was secretly hired by Gus from beyond the grave to sabotage his plans. THE MYSTERY NEVER ENDS!

[–]michael1369 4 points5 points ago

On the subject of the Engi....

[–]LpSamuelm 4 points5 points ago

Oh, that engineer's nopes and dreams.

[–]The_Dok 6 points7 points ago

I always saw the helmet as a symbol of strife, which can, at any moment, come from nowhere and overwhelm us. But the Engineer, representing humanity, states that he will not be overwhelmed, and he rises to meet the strife. He then heads out on his way.

[–]SoulStar 9 points10 points ago

This is what happens when English teachers visit YouTube.

[–]EbolaPie 1 point2 points ago

I'd say it's more pretentious lit majors.

[–]badluckartist 3 points4 points ago

I've noticed in the last year or two that Youtube is showing a shocking increase in its hive sapience. Color me impressed. Which is I guess some kind of reddish hue.

[–]CaptainKirk1701 3 points4 points ago

sometimes a nope is just a nope

[–]jazzberry76 0 points1 point ago

Nope

[–]CaptainKirk1701 0 points1 point ago

exacally

[–]p0ngu1n 8 points9 points ago

This is nonsense, I am the Übermensch!

[–]Avenflar 3 points4 points ago

You're such a Baaaaaaaaaad Doctor, HAHAAHAHA

[–]p0ngu1n 3 points4 points ago

Oh yeah? You want a second opinion? YOU'RE ALSO UGLY!

[–]spartaninspace 2 points3 points ago

IZ TEAM TIEM DOKTOR!

[–]SheeEttin 3 points4 points ago

JESUS FUCK A TALKING SANDWICH

[–]Razenghan -1 points0 points ago

Shut up and heal me.

[–]PaulCres1991 4 points5 points ago

Could someone link the actual vid? I want to see this so badly now...

[–]liquidhot 9 points10 points ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvdf5n-zI14

[–]spacepirate001 3 points4 points ago

If we're going to play this game, then how 'bout these apples:

The hat is symbolic of humanity's finest transcendental ideals. The engineer's running forward is representative of the life and trial of the human race. When the engineer gets the closest to us (meaning probably our eventual fate), his hat rises. This means that through our evolution we have grown scientifically, epistemologically, ethically, and philosophically. His hat rising is symbolic of our philosophical uprising to sublimity. Any quick glance and one would assume that humanity wouldn't be able to achieve its lofty goals. We see however, that humanity defies its skeptical conventions, and rises higher than we've ever risen. Humanity runs off the screen to further unknown heights, and perhaps our further advances are unknowable to minds such as ours now, but we shall rise, and we shall be the giants whose shoulders future generations will stand on.

[–]skells 0 points1 point ago

Upvote for trying.

[–]roncalapor 0 points1 point ago

well silly me for just thinking it "nope" meant "nahh". Im glad we got that cleared :)

[–]jjwalla 0 points1 point ago

Personally I see the "nope" as an expression to stop the killing, as his neck extends it represents the ongoing death around us and the nope represents the NO to stop the killing. Truly touching

[–]BrassBarnacle 0 points1 point ago

Who the hell is cutting onions?

[–]Omny87 1 point2 points ago

Blah blah blah, phallic symbol.

[–]Destructerator 0 points1 point ago

This actually summarizes music critics very well. I don't know exactly what it's called, but it's "affording too much meaning to too simple a thing."

[–]prairiedawg91 1 point2 points ago

3rd guy was trying too hard.

[–]Tactical_Toaster 1 point2 points ago

Stoned literature majors

[–]CaptainKirk1701 0 points1 point ago

is there any other kind?

[–]blaisems 0 points1 point ago

Beware, the English majors are out

[–]Litagano 0 points1 point ago

Whoa. That's deep.

[–]LandMooseReject 0 points1 point ago

AAARGH MEMES ON R/TF2 ARGLE BARGLE

[–]aidrocsid -4 points-3 points ago

Nope.

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