[Ads-l] "symbol" in film crit

[Jonathan Lighter]

Had enough of "allegory"?  Then move on to this, where "symbol" seems to
mean no more than "striking visual element":

2010  America Magazine
https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/745/film/crosshairs  :  They’re
definitely not afraid of metaphor. Along with the fractured lens of the
gunner’s viewfinder (sustained halfway through), salad croutons are a key
symbol, mixing with motor oil, blood and urine in a way that will put you
off the crunchy comestibles for weeks.

The critic never explains what they symbolize.  I've seen this movie (as
they say) twice, and the movie croutons are key symbols of real croutons
only.

JL


"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org