In this section of our Colossus Movie Guide for White Noise, we look at important motifs that help us understand the film.
Cast
- Jack Gladney – Adam Driver
- Babette Gladney – Greta Gerwig
- Denise Gladney – Raffey Cassidy
- Heinrich Gladney – Sam Nivola
- Steffie Gladney – May Novila
- Wilder Gladney – Henry Moore/Dean Moore
- Murray Siskind – Don Cheadle
- Mr. Gray – Lars Eidinger
- Winnie Richards – Jodie Turner-Smith
- Elliot Lasher – André Benjamin
Important motifs in White Noise
The storm during the Airborne Toxic Event
White Noise is a pretty stylized film, almost a little theatrical or cartoonish. Maybe heightened is a better word. The volume on the “surreal” dial is turned up to a solid 4 or 5. This allows White Noise to have some unreal aspects. One of which is the presentation of the storm during the Airborne Toxic Event. The storm is this huge, menacing, obsidian monster that’s aglow with pink lighting. It has the demeanor of the end of the world.
The main theme of White Noise is Thanatophobia, the fear of death. Both Jack and Babette have to navigate their existential terror at the thought of their lives ending. The fear is initially something distant. But with the toxic event, the threat is suddenly very real. Death is all around. So the storm being as scary as possible is a way to capture this dreadful feeling that’s been inside of the main characters. It’s an externalization of their fear.
The light in the church
At the very end of White Noise, Jack and Babette spend the dawn in an old church, as nuns treat their wounds. The couple is on the other side of a serious fight that involved Babette’s revelation she had cheated on Jack with a doctor who promised to cure her of her Thanatophobia. Jack then went to eliminate the man, Mr. Gray. Jack, Babette, and Mr. Gray all end up shot. This violence has a purifying effect. It helps Jack focus on what’s important: life. So he chooses to save Mr. Gray by bringing him to the hospital. Then reconciles with Babette. They’ll never be rid of their Thanatophobia. But they don’t have to focus on it. They can focus on the love they have for each other. On the time they have together. On the beauty of being. The scene ends with the dawn light pouring in from the church’s window and shining on our protagonists.
The sunlight is a direct visual contrast to the storm during the Airborne Toxic Event. The storm, which represented death or the fear of death, was dark and terrifying and all-encompassing. The light is bright, soft, and diffused. A classic light vs. darkness motif. But here it represents the existential state of the main characters. Both internally and externally, they’ve reached a point of being more in the light than the dark.
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Are there more motifs you think should be part of the Colossus Movie Guide for White Noise? Leave your thoughts below and we’ll consider them for the guide.
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