Symbolism In The Warriors
The Warriors
Directed by Walter Hill
Conflict – Symbolism
Symbolism is a predominant convention used in The Warriors (1979) to show conflict between characters. The symbolism shows conflict between characters through the use of the colour red. The colour red is a (unofficial) globally recognized symbol of many things which include love, anger and teen anxiety. However the use of this colour is used appropriately in context to communicate a specific meaning. Many films that involve such themes like anger/teen anxiety/hatred have used the colour red as a symbol to portray these themes. It is used so that the audience will understand that the characters in The Warriors are experiencing external or internal conflict with characters, situation …show more content…
etc. This technique is quite important to the film as some of the themes used are that of betrayal and anger therefore giving the audience a better understanding of when these conflicts are arising.
At the very beginning of the movie the convention of symbolism is used when Ajax (a member of the Warriors gang) is seen expressing his view on the decision of the Warriors attending a “peace” meeting called by the “one and only” Cyrus. As he is expressing his view his face is washed with a red light as he says “I’ll bet nobody’s even gonna be there.” The red light on Ajax’s face represents the conflict he has with the decision made by Cleon (who is the leader of the Warriors). This indicates to the audience that Ajax doesn’t believe the decision to go to the “peace” meeting is the right one and if he were leader he would’ve elected not to attend. He challenges the leader’s decision of going to the meeting as he has a clash with the leader as he believes he should be leader. The red light on Ajax’s face can also to seen as foreshadowing his inevitable challenge to Swan’s right to be leader after Cleon is “wasted” after Cyrus is shot at the meeting as he believes he has as much as right to be leader as Swan does even though Cleon appointed Swan second in command. This indicates to the audience through the use of symbolism the conflict Ajax has with the leadership within the gang.
Another time conflict is shown through the use of symbolism is when the radio DJ marshaling gangs in intricate codes against the warriors. We see the radio DJ talking into the microphone and the background is a wash with red light and many of the dials have red colours at the very extreme and they keep flicking to that extreme when the music plays. The radio broadcaster is a representation of the voice of the gangs, and the red light in the studio communicates to the audience the aggression of the gangs in the city towards the warriors as the gangs think they have broken the truce that was set in play by Cyrus. The red can also be seen as a symbol towards the truce itself, as it indicates to the audience that the fellow gangs in the city have no regard for the warriors as they are out to get the warriors and that they will no longer be guaranteed a safe passage home to Coney Island. As the movie progresses this shade of red becomes “hotter” and more intense to communicate the ever increasing anger towards the warriors the gangs have as they make it one step closer towards safety.
A further display of conflict using the convention of symbolism is seen when Swan and mercy are walking through the subway tracks and Swan is talking to mercy about how her choice of lifestyle and how she can’t remember “who she has” on Friday and Saturday nights.
As Swan says “I bet you can’t even remember who you get on Saturday nights” a flash of red light washes swans face as he turns to face mercy. The sudden flash of red light signifies that swan is angry towards mercy’s choice of lifestyle (not remembering who she has slept with and not caring about it). Here, the red light symbolizes swans a different sort of anger. He is angry towards mercy because he believes she is better than that and shouldn’t live the way she does. Also he believes she should take pride in herself, this concept is reinforced on the train when the “prom kids” get on and look down on mercy for her appearance and as she tries to fix her hair swan pulls her hand away in a way to reinforce this idea of how she should just take pride in herself the way she is.
As red is seen as more of a gang related conflict towards the warriors the director has used blue washes to signify conflict between the authorities of New York (the New York police force). This is showed many times throughout the film to symbolize the conflict the warriors are having with the authorities. This is shown when all the warriors are against a fence in a parking lot and their way is blocked of by police cars and the blue light can clearly be seen flashing on all the members faces suggesting that the gangs aren’t going to be the only people trying to stop them getting back to Coney
Island.
However at the end of the film this motif of the red symbol slowly dies away until at the very end of the film when the warriors have just made it back to Coney Island and defeated the Rogues (the gang that framed the warriors for killing Cyrus) where they are standing on the beach and the sky is blue and the sun is out. There is no red light anywhere around them. This symbolizes to the viewer a resolution of the conflict that the warriors were facing is over because there is no red light surrounding any of then. This is reinforced when the leader of the Riffs says to Swan “you warriors are good, real good” and Swan replies “the best.” When he says this he has nothing but blue sky behind him and sunlight on his face, the audience will take from this that there is no more fighting or conflict for the warriors and all conflict has been resolved.
Characterization – costume
Costume is a very relevant convention in the film The Warriors to create characterization. The convention of costume is used to show characters individuality but also to portray this idea of holding on to what you believe in or ideals. Gangs in the 70’s through to this present day use this idea of “colours” (or costume, in other words) to present their own individuality on face value to an opposing gang or person. These colours can also be a representation of your ideals and not giving up your colours can be seen as holding onto your ideals. Costume is an important convention in The Warriors as it deals with gangs and their own colours and how important these concepts of individuality and beliefs are so important to them.
Costume is used throughout the whole movie in every scene as it is a necessary convention in every movie. However this idea of holding onto your beliefs through the use of costume was first presented to us in the very first scene during the montage sequence. It is presented to us when Cowboy says to Vermin (members of the warriors gang) “we’re wearing our colours out there, we can’t hid” which suggests that they will easily be recognized by people as a gang which during the 70’s in new york (where the movie is set) was quite a high time for gang activity. But then Vermin goes onto say “who wants to hid” which suggests that he does not want to hid what he believes in and which life choice he has made (that of being in a gang). He wants to show what he believes in to the public and the other gangs. Another example of this is when Swan is asked to take his “colours” off while walking through the Orphans (another gang in New York) territory.
Directed by Walter Hill
Conflict – Symbolism
Symbolism is a predominant convention used in The Warriors (1979) to show conflict between characters. The symbolism shows conflict between characters through the use of the colour red. The colour red is a (unofficial) globally recognized symbol of many things which include love, anger and teen anxiety. However the use of this colour is used appropriately in context to communicate a specific meaning. Many films that involve such themes like anger/teen anxiety/hatred have used the colour red as a symbol to portray these themes. It is used so that the audience will understand that the characters in The Warriors are experiencing external or internal conflict with characters, situation …show more content…
etc. This technique is quite important to the film as some of the themes used are that of betrayal and anger therefore giving the audience a better understanding of when these conflicts are arising.
At the very beginning of the movie the convention of symbolism is used when Ajax (a member of the Warriors gang) is seen expressing his view on the decision of the Warriors attending a “peace” meeting called by the “one and only” Cyrus. As he is expressing his view his face is washed with a red light as he says “I’ll bet nobody’s even gonna be there.” The red light on Ajax’s face represents the conflict he has with the decision made by Cleon (who is the leader of the Warriors). This indicates to the audience that Ajax doesn’t believe the decision to go to the “peace” meeting is the right one and if he were leader he would’ve elected not to attend. He challenges the leader’s decision of going to the meeting as he has a clash with the leader as he believes he should be leader. The red light on Ajax’s face can also to seen as foreshadowing his inevitable challenge to Swan’s right to be leader after Cleon is “wasted” after Cyrus is shot at the meeting as he believes he has as much as right to be leader as Swan does even though Cleon appointed Swan second in command. This indicates to the audience through the use of symbolism the conflict Ajax has with the leadership within the gang.
Another time conflict is shown through the use of symbolism is when the radio DJ marshaling gangs in intricate codes against the warriors. We see the radio DJ talking into the microphone and the background is a wash with red light and many of the dials have red colours at the very extreme and they keep flicking to that extreme when the music plays. The radio broadcaster is a representation of the voice of the gangs, and the red light in the studio communicates to the audience the aggression of the gangs in the city towards the warriors as the gangs think they have broken the truce that was set in play by Cyrus. The red can also be seen as a symbol towards the truce itself, as it indicates to the audience that the fellow gangs in the city have no regard for the warriors as they are out to get the warriors and that they will no longer be guaranteed a safe passage home to Coney Island. As the movie progresses this shade of red becomes “hotter” and more intense to communicate the ever increasing anger towards the warriors the gangs have as they make it one step closer towards safety.
A further display of conflict using the convention of symbolism is seen when Swan and mercy are walking through the subway tracks and Swan is talking to mercy about how her choice of lifestyle and how she can’t remember “who she has” on Friday and Saturday nights.
As Swan says “I bet you can’t even remember who you get on Saturday nights” a flash of red light washes swans face as he turns to face mercy. The sudden flash of red light signifies that swan is angry towards mercy’s choice of lifestyle (not remembering who she has slept with and not caring about it). Here, the red light symbolizes swans a different sort of anger. He is angry towards mercy because he believes she is better than that and shouldn’t live the way she does. Also he believes she should take pride in herself, this concept is reinforced on the train when the “prom kids” get on and look down on mercy for her appearance and as she tries to fix her hair swan pulls her hand away in a way to reinforce this idea of how she should just take pride in herself the way she is.
As red is seen as more of a gang related conflict towards the warriors the director has used blue washes to signify conflict between the authorities of New York (the New York police force). This is showed many times throughout the film to symbolize the conflict the warriors are having with the authorities. This is shown when all the warriors are against a fence in a parking lot and their way is blocked of by police cars and the blue light can clearly be seen flashing on all the members faces suggesting that the gangs aren’t going to be the only people trying to stop them getting back to Coney
Island.
However at the end of the film this motif of the red symbol slowly dies away until at the very end of the film when the warriors have just made it back to Coney Island and defeated the Rogues (the gang that framed the warriors for killing Cyrus) where they are standing on the beach and the sky is blue and the sun is out. There is no red light anywhere around them. This symbolizes to the viewer a resolution of the conflict that the warriors were facing is over because there is no red light surrounding any of then. This is reinforced when the leader of the Riffs says to Swan “you warriors are good, real good” and Swan replies “the best.” When he says this he has nothing but blue sky behind him and sunlight on his face, the audience will take from this that there is no more fighting or conflict for the warriors and all conflict has been resolved.
Characterization – costume
Costume is a very relevant convention in the film The Warriors to create characterization. The convention of costume is used to show characters individuality but also to portray this idea of holding on to what you believe in or ideals. Gangs in the 70’s through to this present day use this idea of “colours” (or costume, in other words) to present their own individuality on face value to an opposing gang or person. These colours can also be a representation of your ideals and not giving up your colours can be seen as holding onto your ideals. Costume is an important convention in The Warriors as it deals with gangs and their own colours and how important these concepts of individuality and beliefs are so important to them.
Costume is used throughout the whole movie in every scene as it is a necessary convention in every movie. However this idea of holding onto your beliefs through the use of costume was first presented to us in the very first scene during the montage sequence. It is presented to us when Cowboy says to Vermin (members of the warriors gang) “we’re wearing our colours out there, we can’t hid” which suggests that they will easily be recognized by people as a gang which during the 70’s in new york (where the movie is set) was quite a high time for gang activity. But then Vermin goes onto say “who wants to hid” which suggests that he does not want to hid what he believes in and which life choice he has made (that of being in a gang). He wants to show what he believes in to the public and the other gangs. Another example of this is when Swan is asked to take his “colours” off while walking through the Orphans (another gang in New York) territory.