No mentions of MKUltra on these boards yet? Did people miss the boat?
I've found this movie, like some others, is very rich in detail and delves into occult hidden knowledge. Here are some of my observations and attempts to decode some things. Not all guaranteed to be exact, but taking what I've been learning from this and other movies/sources of the past year or two. Magnolia also made references to child abuse and masonic influence, as well as synchronicity. SPOILERS (but might help your enjoyment of the film).
I haven't seen any mention of Monarch/MKUltra mind control on these boards, but it was quite obvious that this was much of what this movie is alluding to. It's really well done. Might be obvious to some viewers and not to others who just think cult/brainwashing in generic terms, but some key points. On just one viewing this movie is very cloudy and convoluted. Intentionally so, as a drug/stoner haze to immerse the viewer in the atmosphere.
Excuse my randomness and wanderings, but I guess it's fitting to the style of the film. Here's some of my observations.
When Shasta visits Doc the 2nd time she strips nude wearing only the necklace we later see on Puck and asks him "what kind of girl do you want doc?" "the kind that does exactly what you want without having to speak....etc" She's obviously been mind controlled to be a sex kitten, as well as many other girls like her. She acts/dresses far different than the other times we see her in flashbacks and now acts boldly as programmed to do. Is she trying to tell doc what's happened to her? Just acting out how she's programmed to be? or being genuine? She almost seems like she enjoys being the new Shasta or doesn't know how to go back...she can't. A symbol of lost innocence among other things.
When Coy is turned over to Doc, a very specific phrase is given to "unlock" him, along with his credit card. "well done, welcome back to the main herd, good luck in your journeys" Emphasis on plural specified very deliberately. Really good directors don’t use words/dialogue superfluously.
The Dr. giving the tour of the Sanitorium, Dr. Threeply acts like a robot who has been programmed/brainwashed, along with the guards, other employees and residents. They disagree over the meaning of the swastika (alluding to nazi/3rd reich/propaganda) tattoo on Puck’s face.
The chick in the short skirt with the two bikers visiting Doc at his office looks/acts like a sex kitten (is she just setting doc up?)
Wolfman's wife acts like a deranged robot and her house filled with sex kittens and strange acting LAPD cops and lots of drugs for sure. The housekeeper tries to seduce Doc, before being called upon. All the women are immortalized on the ties in the closet. We later see Shasta’s image on one worn by Puck at the booby hatch.
Coy mentions moving back in with The Boards, his old band, but “they don't know it's him they never did”...he's two different people, though his programming seems to have worn off or he is just living under duress (as a trapped informant playing along), knowing if he doesn’t do exactly as told he and his family will pay a huge price. He is a snitch working undercover, so perhaps he knows how to avoid programming and is just doing all of this voluntarily to avoid the consequences, until he can escape debt free. This conversation with Doc all tales place in the fog.
Obviously the creepy house of The Band is full of looney/mind controlled drugged up people. There is the photo reference to the last supper, which I haven’t fully explored yet. Perhaps an end to the good times of the 60s.
More sex kittens at the Golden Fang HQ. Including the daughter of Fenway controlled by Dr. Blatnoyd. Fenway later gets revenge, but he's also a bit of a shady character.
Wolfman has been mind controlled to give up his $$ and programmed to re-emerge in Vegas for someone else’s gain (FBI).
It's known the CIA was implanted or behind much of the LSD, heroin, drug, hippie, movements, Vietnam and Manson psyops. This is further alluded to in other movies. Manson is referred to at least 3 times in the movie, and Doc bears a resemblance to him (and Puck w/Swastika on his forehead further confirms this image). Coy being a musician implanted as a covert spy is also interesting and possible parallel to the Myth that Manson, also a musician, was himself working under CIA/military direction and maybe even a Patsy (he never murdered anyone himself, after all). Did I mention he hung out with the likes of Neil Young (music featured in movie)Roman Polansky and others who sang praise for his musical talent at the time prior to the whole Helter Skelter incident. This all falls in line with the movies theme of no coincidences. Everything is linked. I could go on....read up on Rosemary's Baby parallel to the real world events of Polansky's wife Sharon Tate & the apt in The Dakota where the movie takes place, later to be occupied by John & Yoko. Chilling. The lines of reality and fiction become blurred in art and life.
Coy at the Nixon protest to gain credibility is more poof he's part of a psyop/propaganda/infiltration…and what else are those bastards up to on TV?
Bigfoot's odd behaviour and large deductibles for psychiatric treatment. It’s no wonder living in such a bizarre paranoid world, where your partner was knocked off by an untouchable crime boss under protection from the cops. He’s also been edged out of his TV roles. Assuming he’s not 100% cooperating with the dark side, they might be marginalizing him. His obsession with sucking on chocolate bananas makes you wonder the obvious. He’s quite obedient/docile under his wifes direction, but I’m not sure if she’s connected or just frustrated with all the crap. He's got some kind of ESP going on with Doc.
The weird FBI agents are mind controlled and act strange. An interesting reference to the book of Mormon too (another cult) when talking to Doc.
Also notice these mind controlled/cult followers are watched closely and have handlers. Bigfoot's deceased partner? Or maybe His Wife?
The Mom/Daughter making the Swap for Coy.
Wolfman presumably had handlers. Those trying to rip him off (the BF of his wife?). Puck?
The Girl w/the two bikers (not 100% sure about this one).
Fenway girl/ Dr. Blatnoyd (and other women in his office and surely on the boat at some point)
We don't see Shasta's handler, but we know she's scared and eluding someone to see Doc when she returns to "reality" in the first act. Later she’s transformed on the ‘3 hour tour” and seduced Doc out of the blue, no longer conservative acting, dressed or scared.
Sauncho Smilax, Esq: Man... “they removed any traces of soul she once had, it's a horror story”. His words refer to almost every character in the movie, not just the boat.
These people have all been given a life of ease & drugs in exchange for their souls. Now the controllers would do what they will with them to suit their own needs. Free rent, a boat ride, drugs, acting jobs, other jobs, promotions or who knows what else. Coy's main duty is being a dead man-in his own words. This also alludes to celebrities faking their own deaths (or in his case disappearing into a cult). Some perhaps worth more dead than alive (record/movie sales) or perhaps exiting public eye for having served their use/lifespan or given a reprieve to return to the simple life, forever to be considered dead in the "real world". Or maybe escaping a worse fate (jail, ruined image from scandal). A kind of witness protection program of sorts. Usually on numerically/astrologically significant dates. Just think of some of the recent mysterious deaths that coincided with record sales of albums/movies. Too coincidental (whether they are are really alive or actually sacrificed/suicided by some cult)...does it matter? Clues are everywhere in song titles, lyrics, predictive programming. This stuff might seem like hogwash if you never really looked into it, but it happens far too often to be total bunk. It's not just celebrities either. Then you have psyop events all shown on "Channel View" (reference to the new estates Wolfman built. That name is absolutely No coincidence. We even see the ad on TV. Kinda like today with all the BS propaganda on TV and phony “terror” events. If you have to ask, you are not awake. If you’re not awake, you probably don’t get this movie and think it sucks.
Note how much of this movie and dialog is sleepy/hazy. Maybe PTA/Pynchon are trying to wake up the audience, who are too asleep, too drugged up, too distracted, too caught up in their own web of lies to see the truth.
Throughout the movie Doc appears to be a dumb stoner, but his subtle behaviors and eye movements tell us he is more aware than others. He's suspicious, cautious, observant, takes notes, and plays dumb to get more information in regards to his investigations and doesn't tell all he knows. I think Joaquin Phoenix does this very well. He seems to have a guardian angel in Sortilege and Bigfoot too. Always there at the right moment to keep him out of fatal trouble.
I can see why most people missed the boat (pun intended). The Boat tied the whole movie together and there are boat images all over in the movie.
Some of the names are interesting choices.
Wolfman. References a man who changes into something else more primal and “non-human”, soulless maybe?.
Bigfoot. A mythical, rarely spotted creature (a good cop?). His names Is also Christian.
Sortilege
1.
the drawing of lots for divination; divination by lot.
2.
sorcery; magic.
3. The act or practice of foretelling the future by drawing lots.
Mickey (as in the Mouse): A key disney symbol tied into MKultra programming (see Kubrick Shining, EWS, FMJ, ACO, Britney Spears, Aguilera, MJ, JT, Katy Perry, Miley and the other mousekateers). Monarch symbols, rainbows, Goofy, mickey all over Kubricks movies. We see Mickey Transform into Wolfman...it fits perfectly.
If anyone wants to add their own thoughts/ideas and clever name meanings/interpretations, please share. I’m only just dipping my toes in.