MovieChat Forums > Pulse (2006) Discussion > The other Meaning of Red Tape.

The other Meaning of Red Tape.

posted 16 years ago by pthmichael
26 replies | jump to latest

Red tape generally includes the filling out of seemingly unnecessary paperwork, obtaining of unnecessary licenses, having multiple people or committees approve a decision and various low-level rules that make conducting one's affairs slower and/or more difficult.

Read all about it here.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_tape

Right now. I still can't think of how I could snugly fit this concept to the movie.

Maybe someone else can..

My reasons for taking things in this direction was talk of the use of Red tape to keep the demonic entities from another thread.

Perhaps these things hated Buerocracies.

Alot of people do.

I know I do.

I guess the true application of this concept would be through symbolism.

[–] jayehawk 16 years ago

The red tape - I really don't know what the significane was supposed to be. Made no sense at all.
This seems to be a movie where someone thought up a couple scary images - the creature coming out of the dryer, or all the hands at the bath tub scene...that was kinda cool - and then tried in vain to build a story around it. And fery poorly, too, if they didn't even bother to resovle anything in the end. Hell, ANYBODY can come up with all sorts of horrors that never get resolved. Just plain stupid. I'm actually dumber for spending my time watching it.
But if anyone can tell me exactly why they can't get though the red tape, that would be great. As far as I can tell, not a lot of anything was explained. Just poor.

J.

[–] michaeljburnside 12 years ago

I cant beleive no-one has even thought of it yet. Its obviously Electrical insulation tape. Enough said

There are things that go bump in the night and we are the ones that bump back

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] pthmichael 16 years ago

I think the Red Tape is symbolic for making something harder than it really needs to be for the purpose of slowing someone or something down.

I might be completely wrong, but that is mine anwser and I'm sticking to it.

So the Red Tape is a sort of magical warding device based on this symbolism.

[–] jayehawk 16 years ago

Yeah..."magical"...that's just terrible.

[–] rustynails30 16 years ago

Doesn't red dye use a micro amount of lead in it? Thus the radio waves of the ghosts cannot pass through!! Actually I have no idea what I am talking about, nevermind.

[–] logix128 12 years ago

Rather than being a people-oriented way of getting things done, it's a process-oriented way of getting things done. Treating people like inkblots on a piece of paper rather than individuals, the red tape is heartless when it comes to keeping a person under binds. (i.e. binding the ghosts down when all they want is to live, which iirc was mentioned in the movie somewhere.)

[–] apc24_13_21 16 years ago

Okay, I haven't even seen this movie but I found this thread through another thread through another thread... You get the picture.

So I have no idea about this red tap BUT just from reading this thread it made me think of the movie with Kate Hudson (The Skeleton Key). She used red powder as a protective barrier from those who would cause her harm (a tip she learned from a voodoo woman).

Maybe the red tape is used in the same way?

[–] jayehawk 16 years ago

See - the last couple of you are using your heads and trying to come up with an answer, so that is good. But you shouldn't have to watch Skeleton Key to understand this damn movie - it's not a sequel and they are not associated. So that's my point - it's stupid on it's own merits. Just stupid.

[–] LacyRandall 16 years ago

When they meet Diegler(sp?). he says they use the red tape because that is one color of the spectrum they can't travel through. or something along those lines.

-Fin-

Last Movies Seen
-----------------
The Mist-8.5/10
SawIV-7/10
Zombie's Halloween- 9/10

[–] rustynails30 16 years ago

That makes sense. I must have missed that part of the movie. Thanks Lacy :)

[–] dances_with_zombies 16 years ago

The other meaning I thought of (though it's a little more tenuous) is that when you're using negative film to print on a printing press you use red tape known as 'ruby' to block out areas that are scratched or that where developed with small pin prick holes in the artwork etc...

Being a designer and having worked with film this was the first thing that came to my mind anyway!

:-D

[–] piggskins 16 years ago

it's tape. they stick to it when they try to come in. simple.

fxck the bozos!

[–] zer0_1 16 years ago

i always had the impression (from watching the original) that red is generally symbolised as death, dieing, blood etc

but, because they're ghosts, they cannot be killed.
hence, stopped by the red tape

i believe other red stuff stops them, just red tape is the most effective device, its light, movable and sticks to things

[–] kabil-k-a 16 years ago

red=blood is the easiest way out.
but i think there must be more to it! ;)

[–] GinoFelino 16 years ago

As a suicide victim, I must say, this is one of the worst movies ever made.

[–] ztpt 12 years ago

as a suicide victim,I find your ability to watch movies or draw air interesting.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] krh_1234 8 years ago

I too committed suicide. We all have something in common.

What else is funny though is the people who think that the red tape used in this movie is some kind of metaphorical reference to the bureaucratic kind of red tape. That would have to be the single most stupid suggestion I have ever heard, ever. Like including the guy that committed suicide then wrote a post here. Yes, even including him.

[–] Pandoraa 12 years ago

Okay, I haven't even seen this movie but I found this thread through another thread through another thread... You get the picture.

So I have no idea about this red tap BUT just from reading this thread it made me think of the movie with Kate Hudson (The Skeleton Key). She used red powder as a protective barrier from those who would cause her harm (a tip she learned from a voodoo woman).

Maybe the red tape is used in the same way?

The powder Kate Hudson used was brick powder. The color seemed to be less important than the fact that it was brick. I'm sure brown or white brick would have worked just as well.

[–] zeegersc-1 16 years ago

The color red as a lot of meanings like this one:

"In Chinese Metaphysics, Red symbolized the Fire element (shiny element which can chase out all evil)." http://hubpages.com/hub/The-significance-of-the-colors-red--gold-in-Chinese-culture

[–] flipper33 11 years ago

ok people heres why the red tape stops the ghosts, the spirits ie ghosts attack the face because thats where the eyes are, the weak point to our soul in the films anyway, light goes from ultra violet (the blue part of the spectrum) to infra red, colour is nothing more than wavelengths of various frequencies (thinnk rainbow here), and the wavelengths at the red end of the spectrum are able to stop the ghosts because the ghosts somehow used infra red frequencies to gain entry to our world, so red is able to stop them getting thru, what i wanna know is how they this out in the first place.

she always did enjoy a good squeeze.

[–] yusef-ghanima 10 years ago

this is what they explained clearly in the movie, i wonder how all these people on this thread didn't pay attention!

of course this can always be explained on another level as symbol for necessary revolution (red color) against the freemasonic secret system, as the lead actress said in the end, they are the system. unfortunately the movie didn't take this level any further.

[–] Gprime1318 11 years ago

You may be overthinking the whole red tape question. I think that after making it through all the blue filters the filmmakers were using, the ghosts eyes just couldn't handle the sudden switch to red.

I'm sellin my soul to the Devil in you

[–] TobiasFleischer 8 years ago

Highly unlikely.

The double-meaning of red tape is an isolated feature of the english language. Japanese doesn't have the same term.

Why is this a rebuttal of your theory?

The original movie was japanese ('pulse', or 'kairo' in japanese) and also had the same usage of red coloured tape.

So, it would be interesting if there was something to it, but I'm afraid your theory is mistaken.

No offence. ;)

[–] plasticvomit 8 years ago

My suggestion would be what was already mentioned - red as a color to ban evil in the asian areas.
Red seems to have a holy meaning in japan which you can see for example on trinkets they give to sacred statues which are red or the shrines and tori...especially the red tori which are there to help a spirit not to get lost on its way to the other realms.