Hey David, in the original Manga the name of the two cities was quite simply an anagram of Jerusalem. The floating city is Salem, the iron city is Jeru. Literally Jeru-Salem. Also in the manga the whole allegory is way more complex, the ultimate message being there is really no heaven nor hell, other than those inside yourself.
That's right, Jeru is the city in the other end of the space elevator, while Zalem is the city floating above the scrapyard, also the elevator used to be connected to the ground.
Great review. Side note: I find the media's criticism about her gaining an adult body to be very strange. She does not strike me as being overtly sexualized. Clearly she's no Scarlet Johansson, but I suppose Brie Larson's ironing board figure is the only body type that's permissible in current year.
I find it somewhat interesting and disturbing how both sides of the aisle seem to believe they have some sort of high ground while attacking each-other based on physical appearance. Those criticizing Brie, who by any reasonable measure is a striking individual, aren't any better then those seeing Alita go from child to teen and assume shes triggering the nether-regions of everyone around. One side simply takes a woman and tries to demean her by labeling her a teen, and the other takes a teen and pretends shes a woman. Why can't both sides be normal and limit perversions to leathers, chains, lathers and roleplay?
@@moonspotroxx9382 I can understand where you're coming from, but you don't see super hero movies starring men who aren't above average in their physiques, unless they're meant to be a walking contradiction. So this is a false equivalency. Look at Aquaman. Could you imagine how absurd that movie would have been had it starred a puny looking man? Male stars do get criticism when they assume roles which may or may not be right from them. But there's never any criticism for a male character being 'sexualized'. Even the 17 year old boy who played the Werewolf in Twilight was in the clear. So this is not a case of two sides who are equally in the wrong. One side is on both sides of the argument, wanting both equality and special consideration. Wanting both to blame others for body shaming, while doing it themselves.
@@dragonsmith9462 I don't disagree with you in regards to the male hero physical appearances, nor do I believe that having individuals who do not posses a physical appearance appropriate for a heroes role, or the type of hero they are, makes any sense. If people were highlighting Bries spaghetti arms, that would be one thing. Her butt and breasts are something else entirely and are quite inappropriate especially as they're being used in insults. I say this realizing that there are some who do speak about their(Alita & Brie) physical appearance from the grounds of an ideal which IS appropriate., but lets not pretend that that is what usually happens. It's something of a fine line that is worlds apart.
@@moonspotroxx9382 I still have to disagree with that. Even the male Superhero's have more butt than Brie. It's not just a matter of working out, some people, no matter how much they work out, don't fit the Superhero body type. A lot of guys might be in the dark about this, but women go to super hero movies to check out the handsome men. That's part of the appeal of superheroes. I really only brought up Brie to speculate as to how in the world someone one think Alita is sexualized. She doesn't look sexualized at all, but if you compare her to Brie Larson, then it makes sense. Brie Larson is below even average. A random man or woman off the street would have been better suited to play a superhero. Believe it or not, there was a time that Brie's body type was the one imposed on average women. That's why Sir Mix-Alot made the 'Big Butts' song, because he wanted ordinary women to feel better about not being 'Cosmo Models' like Brie.
Edohiguma Yes some of the most popular manga and anime are not set in Japan. Attack on Titan is set in a Germanic area where Asian looking people are an extreme rarity. And Gunnm isn’t set in Japan either as far as I understand.
Glad I'm not the only one who noticed the themes. Nearly every character in the movie held the idea of right and wrong as a detriment except for Alita herself.
@@marcins7671 Alita herself IS a fallen angel. the entire movie is based on inversion. God above in Zalem being an evil manipulative and oppressive God, And Lucifer (Alita) being the benevolent rebellious revolutionary fighting on behalf of humanity. That's some Babylonian Zionistic Kabbalah worshiping crap.
I too thought the fact that Alita came from Mars represented that she came from the "true" or higher heaven. This is even more interesting when you consider that Mars is the god of war in Roman mythology and is associated with war in medieval Christian cosmology. Thus, she is a warrior or "battle" Angel. Also, as an interesting side note, Grewishka literally takes her to the underworld during their second confrontation and states that he was "found" there. Personally, I thought this indicated that he was of demonic origin. I never considered the nephilim and will have to think more on that. Finally, it was interesting that both heaven and hell were shown to have layers or levels like in the Divine Comedy.
Very good analysis. The big eyes signalled to me that she is fully aware, and that she sees everything and because of that, through her heroes journey from innocence to the realisation of who she is, she is able to decide on her true path.
@@keopsps3474 Thanks. It came courtesy of JBP's lectures - particularly the Mesopotamian myths regarding marduk who, IIRC, had eyes all around his head to signal that the wise king has to be supremely attentive to all things to guide his or her people forward - something like that. Anyway, I found Alita to be very moving. Dave's analysis is pretty damn good IMO.
I always find it enjoyable when beneath what is a good story on the surface there is a hidden symbolism and one can trace inspiration from earlier renowned works, be they literary classics or religious texts. Listening to your breakdown of the symbolism it got me thinking: with so much Christian allegory what are the chances of Alita, as a trilogy, retracing Divine Comedy? If Alita's meant to return to true Heaven to which she belongs, and Zalem is but Purgatory, her navigating her way through Iron City is akin to Dante and Virgil navigating their way through Hell in order to find a way out of it. And like Virgil, Dr Dyson Ido (presumably) won't be able to accompany Alita on her upcoming journey through Purgatory. It certainly is an interesting idea.
The story is already there in the source material, the manga, so if you are interested enough you can certainly check it out. I myself started reading it after seeing the movie and it's really good.
Spoilers have never been a problem with me. Individually I like walking into a movie after hearing other people's opinions first. Thank you, Man. This introspective review is much appreciated. My dad passed away on Super Bowl Sunday. His name was also David. He hadn't left the house for a while and I know he would have loved this movie. Looking forward to buying Your Book. The insight You have given over the the years, Escpecially to music is invaluable. Thank you again, Sir.
My Father, has also passed away.. We bonded over the original star wars, and any great film that proceeded after that.. He Definitely would have loved this, as Alita is a Great character.. I, only hope that I have a daughter some day, and aspire her to be of similar character to her, and great female characters that have come in the past!!
@@ironprincedom2611 I sincerely am going to pray for you and your family. My sister is the best and I see our Father's strength and wisdom about Her all the time. I also want to have kids someday. From a Guy that had lived life to it's fullest, He always said this is the worst part. Even though they try to prepare us, I would give up everything to have Him back. Even though He would be the first to say "You gotta keep going on your own path." Maybe it is natural, but I still feel so lost. We have to keep strong, for Their sakes. Keeping in mind to not only make Them Proud, to help the ones we Love and be proud of our Family.
Hey, my father was also named David. His father was named David. His grandad and two uncles were named David. My godfather was named Daavid (Finnish). Never met a David who wasn’t didn’t distinguish themselves somehow. Sorry for your loss. RIP, dude.
Thank you Dave, this was an interesting take insight into the philosophical undertones. I loved the movie, but hadn't paid attention to its prior history (the original manga, or the anime). On my next viewing, I will be on the lookout for these points and looking forward to it.
I wish I noticed these themes when I watched it for the first time a couple of days back, but your interpretation of the story certainly makes me more enthralled with details like that. I'll have to focus on the themes more on my next viewing.
Something that was interesting to me was how Iron City did not seem that far down in the dumps. Life was tolerable from what we mostly saw: fair housing, thriving markets with fresh foods and chocolate, some kids playing in the street and a huge ecstatic crowd for motorball. Yet, even with a decent life, some people decide to look up at the unreachable sky city which is infinitely more magnificent, or so they think. Then you see people like Chiren and Hugo doing detestable things in order to warrant going to this perceived paradise, while people like Dr. Ido gave up on that pursuit and found a more-or-less humble life helping people with prosthetics.
She is underground at the time her "earthly body" is destroyed, so there's parallelism with death, burial, and resurrection. I also notice David and Goliath parallels with how she takes out the baddie.
I just watch it tonight. The whole time I was seeing biblical themes throughout it. At the end I felt uncomfortable because I never made the connection between Mars and a true heaven. I think that lines from Nova like “I see everything.” Made me think that he was supposed to be god and that the story being told was one of a fallen angel proving god wrong and defeating him. I loved the movie over all, so it was frustrating me, but your interpretation of the film is far more likely and rich. The whole film I felt that it was more than a story. It felt like Mythology.... Christian mythology. Thanks for the insight.
Excellent analysis David! Really enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time to do it. Alita was so refreshing to see after over a year of tripe from Hollywood. Here’s to hoping that the sequel is made.
Salem in the Japanese was changed in the original VIZ mangas to Tiphares because they wanted to not have the unwanted association with the Salem witch trials. This was done before the Japanese mangas revealed Jeru / Salem the twin cities in the sky. When VIZ did the english translation for the anime they changed the names back to the Japanese names . But to get around the Salem witch trail problem they spelt it Zalem and pronounced it Zolem. The milton quote is not in the manga or anime . The manga quotes Nietzsche which seems to be where the Japanese author learnt about Christianity (my guess)
I really enjoy finding biblical symbolism whether it be movies or books, not from a Christian point of view, but just because I find it interesting that some archetypes manage stay so throughout culture
When I see Alita in her new body she does look reborn and breathtaking beautify, like an Angle would be. Something we have never seen before and don't have words for as well.
This scene told me the wonder of restauration. Mere seconds before she lost horribly even with a bang but she lost. She was about to get crushed. Her body shredded to pieces. Then came the operation were you see her body fits to her subconscious image of herself. After awaking she makes a one finger stand, jumps around and shows happiness and gratitude for being alive. Also Ido and her made peace again. Both have learned something valuable.
A couple of other Biblical themes… Alita’s famous quotes also have Biblical implications. When she says “I will not stand by, in the presence of evil.” That is what all believers are called to do, as opposed to those who choose to ignore or wallow in evil. Obviously, the notion of evil is a theological concept as well. Her other quote “You have made the biggest mistake of your life… underestimating who I am.” is also Biblical in nature. Satan and evil forces will always underestimate believers because they see the strength and value of a fallen human being, when in fact, they wield the power of God and hold infinite value in His eyes. People also complain about the cheesy romance, but it gets pretty real like you said. When Alita finds out that Hugo attacks cyborgs (her kind), strips them of parts and sells them, she is faced with 2 choices, she chooses a third option… to forgive him. Not only that, she then saves his life and continues to fight for him. Sadly, this makes Hugo’s death more impactful… She’s able to save him in more ways than one, but not the one way she wanted. Great movie, I’m glad you made this video.
Thank you for talking about this and making a video on it,,it lets "us" ie, the ones that also picked up the symbolism not feel alone. Great points great video thank you!
@All - What the movie did not address was that flying machines were forbidden, and on the cables connecting the upper city to the ground were spiked rings the city would throw down to prevent people from climbing up, or that food was limited and disgusting compared to the upper city.
I figured these key points would of made the movie make more sense, besides that I didn't care for a lot of the characters back ground stories. They changed a lot, and I figured it really made the movie distasteful. The fact they made Hugo into a thief stealing machine parts instead of human spines, or the fact they gave Alita a super nano machine body, as she was a Martian Rebel. It was irrelevant. Then their was the Mechanics love story, as they had a child together, it just was unnecessary. What was the point of the rollerball game? Was he just throwing that in there to make the upper city seem more civilized? I really prefer the anime, an how they made the upper city seem more mecha, that tossed humans/cyborgs down to Earth like rats/garbage. I prefer the dystopian look in the anime rather than the luxurious city below in the movie. I think the part that hurt the most, was at the beginning of the movie he addresses why Guns were outlawed, however never talked about how flying machines were outlawed and Hugos brother/lover how he was killed. The whole gun outlawed part was ridiculous, most of them are cyborgs, WTF a gun going to do. Lot's of key points were skipped, and faulty, Alitas background story shouldn't of existed, let alone the whole Martian touch, it should of been left out completely.
Nice review! I saw the film as an interpretation of C. Jung's 'Individuation' and Maslow's 'Self-actualization'. The various roles that the archetypes play as they assimilate into the conscious psyche is apparent in the "body suit" i.e. ego/self (adapting to her subjective self-image!) and is discovered laying dormant in a submerged vessel that responds only to her pressence was a paticularly powerful metaphore. Also liked how the romance serves as a setup for the inevitable moral dilemma which occurs in the later stages of Abraham Maslow's self-actualization. The subjective nature of these archetypes, combined with the rather simle story structure allows the veiwer to derive a profoundly personal meaning by way of projecting their own life experience into the story. This is what makes the character easy to relate to and empathize with regardless of one's race, gender, age etc. A great film that will be enjoyable to rewatch for many years to come.
A lot of Anime and Manga contain biblical symbolism and such. So it doesnt surprise me that Battle Angel Alita got so much hints. I think the name "Alita" even means something like "The one-winged" or something like that.
Alita means something like "little wing" in Spanish if I recall correctly, while her original name Gally which comes from english gall (or bile) could mean envy. Also, Nova's full name is Desty Nova which is a play on word destiny. I'm right now going through the manga after watching the movie and there is a lot of interesting stuff. Certainly material for more than one sequel. I kinda love how symbolism, wordplay and hidden meanings are used so much in so many mangas, it's something I personally often miss in western popculture and wish it could be used more.
@@ironprincedom2611 I am French, "Alita" doesn't mean anything in my language. The French for "Chosen One" is "élue", very far from "Alita". It could be close to the latin "Electa" which is the feminine form of "chosen". But it's not very convincing. And as a Frenchman, I can see a proximity between Alita and Joan of Arc, a great badass girl!!!! As a catholic, for me the "Battle Angel" refers to the Archangel st Michael. I think this movie is catholic-inspired in some parts of it, or at least christian-inspired. And I loved it!!!
I don’t know about any of these interpretations, but Alita sounds a little bit like Akita which was the place of a Marian apparition in 1973. Akita is a place in Japan, and the seer was said to be blind and/or deaf and saw the statue of Mary weeping while praying.
What if the mark on his forehead isn't the mark of Cain but the mark of the beast? And the fact that he removed it shows that he has repented. And his wife keeping hers shows that she is still following Satan
The Mark on the Forehead is also seen as part of the Covenant you have made with God. In the Roman Catholic liturgy, you cross your forehead, your lips, and your heart when the Gospel is read. This also has roots in the Jewish understanding of the covenant to love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself.
Just watched this, enjoyed the movie and felt that there are symbolisms everywhere.. Great explanation about the biblical references, I think its spot on man.. Thanks!
Quite interesting. I haven’t seen the film, and have only heard good things about the film from people who aren’t critics, and this is defiantly a different video regarding the film. I never knew or thought there would be any biblical or religious themes in Alita. Great video David.
I absolutely agree with what you said here about Mars being true Heaven, and Zalem being a fake paradise meant to lure people in and then tear them appart. After all: "My kingdom is not of this world" Great analysis!
Interesting stuff, thanks for the video! There were other things I've seen people mention like the fact that Hugo and Chiren were both redeemed in the old church they go to earlier in the movie (when Hugo takes Alita to the roof of it to look at the view). Well, even if Hugo technically isn't redeemed per se until right before he's kill, but y'know. There was some other stuff, but I can't remember all of it. Still, great video!
Delightful insight! Thank you for your interpretation of this enjoyable film. I noticed two references from the Apocryphal book of Judith; which is in the Roman Catholic canon. And of course, the David and Goliath story; which is an allegory, concerning courage married with faith.
definitely worth reading the original manga - which you can do for free currently on comixology through a 30 day trial. Lots more biblical and religious references and philosophical exploration of the human experience.
One interesting theme I found in Alita was the classist structure in society between the iron city and zalem. The inhabitants of the iron city chase capital through work while having their work exploited up the food chain by a faceless, almost spiritual entitiy (I believe the end scene face reveal took more away from the narrative than it added). This entity that takes many forms as has a definite agenda, but is rather content with it's position of absolute power.
I have been big fan of the manga and would recommend it. It's very gruesome, though, so those who find that distasteful might want to stay away. Much of these themes found in the movie do apply to the manga as well. - The sky city's original Japanese name is Zaremu, so it can be argued that Salem or Zalem is equally correct. However, on the other end of that shaft extending to the heavens there is an orbital city called Jeru (Eru), so it's even more on the nose with the religious themes and clear what it's going for. - War in heavens theme is definitely also present and Alita is a fallen angel from that war, but it takes a long time for details about that to be revealed. - Nova is somewhat different character. He's an exile like Ido and a mad scientist type. He's obsessed with conquering one's karma. That's probably why his name is Desty Nova, as in destiny. He'd most likely tear down the system than run it. He would still fit the role of the Devil, just a bit differently.
The floating city has been called Salem, Zalem and Tiphares. Interesting point about the equator and space elevators, oddly in the Manga it's above Kansas. And Zalem isn't technically "in heaven" unless you view it as in the lowest of the 3 heavens, also called "the air". Hence Prince and Power of The Air. Alita is from above the air, from Mars. And Zalem isn't actually floating, it's suspended from the orbital space ring... its power is therefore derivative of what is given it by the higher heavens.
She comes from Mars in the original Manga, too, so it may not be at all intended, but Mars also plays a big role in C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, which predates the manga. Although I don't know if it would have influenced Kishiro much (I know there's translation and many Japanese know English, but I have no idea how popular C.S. Lewis is over there), there's probably a greater chance of James Cameron being a fan, particularly because a lot of people wondered if the Space Trilogy influenced "Avatar." Mainly, those from Mars have not fallen, with Satan being a problem contained to Earth. So an angel or any creature from Mars, would have higher defenses against corruption and be in a better position to help those on Earth fight the influence of Satan.
I'm surprised you didn't mention the symbolism of the U.R.M. plasma arc technology of the new angelic body... Parallelism with the Ark of the Covenant and it's power? Especially since the Doctor said he did not know how to control it. You covered just about everything else I could think of. Maybe also there might be something to do with the Freemasonry? I just noticed the black and white tiles in the factory where they collected the bounty's and wondered if that was intended to reference the tiles of the masonic Lodge (Good v. Evil).... Maybe? Because of the hierarchy structure of the freemasons, and the hierarchy with the motorball championship... Just my thoughts
#AlitaChallenge #AlitaBattleAngel I've watched it thrice with my family. It was absolutely fun and the best anime adaptation for the big screen. I want to see more Anime done correctly like this. Alita is a movie done with 💓 heart. 15,000+ employed to make it. Makers donated real bionic arms that changed little girls lives. This movie starring a Latina Female showing true female empowerment. Go watch it and have fun.
Great video ! Both the manga and the movie are filled with biblical symbolism (Zapan, the number 99, Melchizedek the AI protecting Zalem, etc etc), you should have a look at it mate I think you'd like it
Nice review and very interesting point. In addition, The original manga also included Bhuddism because Dr. Nova was experiment about "Karma" and the way to resist/breakthrough Karma rule. That's why he interest in special/elite people and give them power to study more about Karma. Karma is very much like "Sin" but also include What will happen if you do that Sin (Action = Reaction). Every living things are live by those rule. You get what you do. Every action has a sequence. Yukito Kishiro is such a genius mangaka (mangaka = manga artist).
You need to look into the history of the source material. You need to read and look into the source material. You read a lot into the movie. Not just the manga, but the OVA. All the themes are not just christian, but are universal archetypes of hero’s journey and corruption: for example Epic of Gilgamesh.
In the American translation, the floating city is Tiphares. In the Japanese manga, it is Salem, but a mistranslation of the anime is where Zalem comes from.
Spoiler Alert: In the manga, Salem is the lower part of the floating city, the Upper part is called Jeru, which is located outside the atmosphere, and these two parts are connected by a elevator. The lower part is a kind of experiment for a perfect human society, just to test if human being withstand a long period of time to live in harmony, so that they can live through galactic space travel which takes a long period of time. Jeru, on the other hand, are the port for space travel. Jeru + Salem, together they become Jerusalem.
Good show David.. I didn't expect you to anlalyze this aspect but it was a splendid surprise that you did------->after your Grinch vid briefly touched upon the dissapointment we all suffer from the deconstruction of the actual meanings/reasons of religious themes in more and more films, especially Christmas oriented ones.. Again, beautiful rendition and thanks a bunch. [Alita is a BluRay must AND---->since Cameron's known for extended cut releases, UltraHD-HDR {3D?.. hmm.. don't really think so} is essential and since done the right way down to an original soundtrack {Junkie XL?.. (relatively) not too shabby at all} the real cherry would be in an uncompressed sound format from Dolby or DTS.. Would they ever go that extra mile?.. What a great way that would be start this library]
In the movie the old church is the place of real redemption (cf. Chiren's good choice), and harbour of peace. This old church faces the modern/brilliant Babel ironically called "Zalem" by the men who built it. Chiren says : what I'm lookig for is not in Zalem", but she found it at the church. So I don't think this movie is gnostic, I'd rather think it's christian inspired. Moreover, the spacecraft scene clearly refers to baptism : her real heavenly origin, and her true vocation is revealed by this baptism. I loved this movie. In some way also Alita looks like Joan of Arc (I am French :).
Alita (Ah-lee-tah) is a common name in Spain. Derived from the latin "elite," meaning special. A variation of the name is Elita, (EE-lee-tah) or (El-lee-tah). The English meaning is "Winged". Alternatively the French meaning is "Noble" or "Chosen One".
Interesting analysis! However I must disagree with your statement that the war between the angels is mainly apocryphal. The book of Revelation speaks of the casting down of one third of the angels by archangel Michael.
I found that amusing and sad: “sorry your mythology got hijacked to tell a great story, and sorry you think any reference to your mythology is either evangelism or satanism”... I mean she is Lucifer of sorts but only because Nova thinks he’s god and Alita is the winged ‘lightbringer’, but - wait for it - none of it’s real ☺️
BTIsaac i don’t think I was jabbing at Christianity - some people think mythology, rather than virtues it’s trying to espouse, is real; and when they lose their shit over fiction using it as allegory they invite ridicule because they’ve exposed their own insecurities
Great video, just wanted to give a quick note; the exact wording of the Genesis quote is "The Nephilim were on the Earth in those days and afterwords, when the sons of God married the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were heroes of old, men of renown." The Hebrew word Nephilim comes from the root "to fall," so literally the nephilim are the fallen/falling ones, or the ones that cause others to fall.
4:30 well, Zalem wasn't done by Rodriguez they used that in the original OVA translation in the early 90s (there are two. the other translation calls it Tiphares) but they probably changed it for the same reason they moved it to Panama for and gave Alita (originally named Gally but given the hispanic name in the OVA) a spanish voice actress: Politics! it's a japanese property but it was given spanish words and decades later lo and behold it is no longer recognizable as such when Hollyweird finally gets around to making it. : P The irony of us championing this against Captain Marvel is not lost on me. the wiki lays this out pretty quick, too, and it's worth a read
@@mogaman28 Yes, I am aware of that, I just think that it's an appropriate name for the girl nonetheless. My thought is that the change in the movie brings it to another level.
While politics might have been the true reason for moving the location to Panama, it's entirely justified by the physics of space elevators. Kansas is way too far from the equator to have a vertical space elevator.
@@mogaman28 the Daughter thing works better. Ties him more directly with Chiren & adds a greater sense of tragedy to the two. Everything is about the character/romantic melodrama in Alita
Japanese media has a pretty bad track record with space elevators, at least from my experience (the Endymion in the Toaru franchise specifically should either not be in Japan, OR be at a ~50 degree angle to the ground, not vertical). I'm glad they moved the space elevator in Alita the live-action movie to a more reasonable location (Kansas is pretty far from the equator alright).
Thank you for this. You are pretty good! Did you happen to notice the box that contained the brain and other body parts, that on top of it, it had something that looked similar to the Ark of the Covenant.
the scene where she smears the blood of the dog on her face before fighting gruishka seemed to be possibly referencing genesis (specifically the passage when god confronts Cain after killing Able.."your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground"). Alita confronts injustice wearing the blood of the innocent. her dialog is also very symbolic, "I do not stand by in the presence of evil". She pursues gruishka into the depths not to protect, at least not in any immediate sense, but because she can not stand existence of gruishka, or evil, at all.
@Michael Dawson, Great comment. Not many movies have shown using blood as warpaint, especially the blood of innocents. Alita has won our hearts for doing this as she takes down evil.
Didn’t Yukito Kishiro explicitly state that this was a religiously themed story? I know I read something about that and I thought he wrote it but I can’t find it
Wow I'm surprised I didn't pick up on all these themes being a Christian who is familiar with the book of Enoch. I definitely caught the whole thing about the fall but I guess I just wasn't connecting those dots for some reason. But you're right it's all too clear now. I wonder if the creator of the manga had the stuff in mind or if it was brought in more by James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez. I've read the first couple chapters so far of the manga. I'll definitely be looking at it from a new perspective as I read though now. Thanks for bringing this up!
Did ANYONE notice the "ARK of Covenant" in vectors office with three items in it? Body parts..the ark had three items in it and there two angels facing each other with a lamp"light"in the center.
The thing that I picked up on was Grewishka being originally from the city under Iron City. He was a giant, like the people that inhabited Israel when the Jews moved in.
I saw that more in the context of Grewishka being reborn in darkness, representing evil, while Alita was reborn in light, representing good. They even show this visually because Alita's bathed in light when Ido finds her in the scrapyard.
Hey man love the channel! I had a question. Is there an archetype or a name for a character that represents what the main character could accomplish but is not a mentor?
I know this is a two year old comment/question, but I would answer that I think the archetype would be that of a rival/antagonist. You could say that this is what Satan is to the Saint. We are tempted by the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life by seeing everything we could possibly accomplish, but it is a test to see what we are made of.
I can’t believe I never saw this video till now, it’s very thought-provoking! I always noticed the detail that Ido has removed the mark of Zalem from his forehead in the movie, but did not in the manga. I never thought much of it though, but now that you’ve brought it up, I wonder if it could also have any similarities to the mark of The Beast in the book of Revelation. Not saying that this is an intentional allegory, as it can of course be interpreted multiple different ways. I actually should have noticed of a lot of this stuff sooner as not only a writer but also a Christian who is familiar with the bible, whoops. Thanks for showing me!
You got it in reverse. Zalem is the original title, it got translated as Tiphares before for some reason. But it could be a Romanization of the English Salem into the Romanji Zalem.
For those that are into psychology, Myers-Briggs Types/Socionics, etc. James Cameron and company did a really good job at CORRECTLY implementing and weaving the 4 archetypes (-NT- "Rationals", -NF- "Idealists", -S-P "Artisans", and -S-J "Guardians) into the story with actors/character portrayals. This will SOUND crazy to those that don't "see" it like Alita's eyes do, but hear it out to the end. NO OFFENSE MEANT TO ANYBODY. You are who you are. You can change your outlook on life. First off to extroverts: Introvert in this context/system does NOT refer necessarily to anti-social, but rather creative and introspective. This can be seen in the introverted INTP-esque inventor Dr. Ido, who like a Rational God, creates life and resurrects and saves those who would otherwise be destroyed by Satan. But, alas, since Dr. Ido is just a man he can't truly create life. Only God can. Desty Nova is clearly Lucifer, an ENTP- like character who like Satan (and Zapan), was once a noble, reasonable, and just angel who served god, but fell from grace and tries convince himself he is god be stealing ideas, matter, concepts from others and re-molding them into something that is a counterfeit to bring about godliness. Same goes for tough-and-mighty ENTJ-esque Grewishka. -S-P Artisans tend to think/behave (like Hugo and company) as though fun, games, hedonism, and naively collecting goods are what life is truly and ONLY about. -S-J Guardians like Vector and Dr. Chiren don't often consciously realize (just like the real world today) that they are puppets on strings who are manipulated, controlled, and brainwashed into obeying those who are more powerful and evil than they are by running governments and other organizations as bureaucrats of corrupt systems that they BELIEVE and THINK they control. Alita is an INFP-esque idealist who (although not creative and extremely rational) strives to provide a human example to others about WHO one should serve and WHY.
"Well you came on like some blazing supernova, with a flame that burned so brightly in the sky. Then you woke up and your long white night was over, and you cursed the world that dared to pass you by. So now you blame the ones who love you for your sorrow. Dealing dirty while you steal the higher ground. But you cheated, and you lied, and life took you for a ride, and now your standing on the 'UPSIDE LOOKING DOWN'....And O, the hero in disguise, believing his own alibis, you run so scared your standing still, I know you are I know you will, be the first to call it quits and run for cover. While your little world is crumbling all around. But you punked out on yourself, you can't blame nobody else, now that your standing on the ' ' '...".
Hey David, in the original Manga the name of the two cities was quite simply an anagram of Jerusalem. The floating city is Salem, the iron city is Jeru. Literally Jeru-Salem. Also in the manga the whole allegory is way more complex, the ultimate message being there is really no heaven nor hell, other than those inside yourself.
Wait, wasn't Jeru the space port on the other end of space elevator?
Great point. There's also some symbolism with Greweda (however it's spelled) being a giant from the ruins that the Iron City is built on.
That's right, Jeru is the city in the other end of the space elevator, while Zalem is the city floating above the scrapyard, also the elevator used to be connected to the ground.
I believe this is what the bible teaches. That heaven and hell is different states of man.
Mind... BLOWN!!! 🔥
Hugo's actual quote from the movie was "Thank you for saving me."
Great review. Side note: I find the media's criticism about her gaining an adult body to be very strange. She does not strike me as being overtly sexualized. Clearly she's no Scarlet Johansson, but I suppose Brie Larson's ironing board figure is the only body type that's permissible in current year.
I find it somewhat interesting and disturbing how both sides of the aisle seem to believe they have some sort of high ground while attacking each-other based on physical appearance. Those criticizing Brie, who by any reasonable measure is a striking individual, aren't any better then those seeing Alita go from child to teen and assume shes triggering the nether-regions of everyone around.
One side simply takes a woman and tries to demean her by labeling her a teen, and the other takes a teen and pretends shes a woman.
Why can't both sides be normal and limit perversions to leathers, chains, lathers and roleplay?
@@moonspotroxx9382 I can understand where you're coming from, but you don't see super hero movies starring men who aren't above average in their physiques, unless they're meant to be a walking contradiction.
So this is a false equivalency.
Look at Aquaman. Could you imagine how absurd that movie would have been had it starred a puny looking man?
Male stars do get criticism when they assume roles which may or may not be right from them.
But there's never any criticism for a male character being 'sexualized'.
Even the 17 year old boy who played the Werewolf in Twilight was in the clear.
So this is not a case of two sides who are equally in the wrong. One side is on both sides of the argument, wanting both equality and special consideration. Wanting both to blame others for body shaming, while doing it themselves.
@@dragonsmith9462 I don't disagree with you in regards to the male hero physical appearances, nor do I believe that having individuals who do not posses a physical appearance appropriate for a heroes role, or the type of hero they are, makes any sense.
If people were highlighting Bries spaghetti arms, that would be one thing. Her butt and breasts are something else entirely and are quite inappropriate especially as they're being used in insults. I say this realizing that there are some who do speak about their(Alita & Brie) physical appearance from the grounds of an ideal which IS appropriate., but lets not pretend that that is what usually happens. It's something of a fine line that is worlds apart.
@@moonspotroxx9382 I still have to disagree with that. Even the male Superhero's have more butt than Brie. It's not just a matter of working out, some people, no matter how much they work out, don't fit the Superhero body type.
A lot of guys might be in the dark about this, but women go to super hero movies to check out the handsome men. That's part of the appeal of superheroes.
I really only brought up Brie to speculate as to how in the world someone one think Alita is sexualized.
She doesn't look sexualized at all, but if you compare her to Brie Larson, then it makes sense.
Brie Larson is below even average. A random man or woman off the street would have been better suited to play a superhero.
Believe it or not, there was a time that Brie's body type was the one imposed on average women. That's why Sir Mix-Alot made the 'Big Butts' song, because he wanted ordinary women to feel better about not being 'Cosmo Models' like Brie.
Edohiguma Yes some of the most popular manga and anime are not set in Japan. Attack on Titan is set in a Germanic area where Asian looking people are an extreme rarity. And Gunnm isn’t set in Japan either as far as I understand.
Loved Alita, well worth the night out! Definantly worth the cinema experience!
Glad I'm not the only one who noticed the themes.
Nearly every character in the movie held the idea of right and wrong as a detriment except for Alita herself.
@@marcins7671 Alita herself IS a fallen angel. the entire movie is based on inversion. God above in Zalem being an evil manipulative and oppressive God, And Lucifer (Alita) being the benevolent rebellious revolutionary fighting on behalf of humanity. That's some Babylonian Zionistic Kabbalah worshiping crap.
I too thought the fact that Alita came from Mars represented that she came from the "true" or higher heaven. This is even more interesting when you consider that Mars is the god of war in Roman mythology and is associated with war in medieval Christian cosmology. Thus, she is a warrior or "battle" Angel. Also, as an interesting side note, Grewishka literally takes her to the underworld during their second confrontation and states that he was "found" there. Personally, I thought this indicated that he was of demonic origin. I never considered the nephilim and will have to think more on that. Finally, it was interesting that both heaven and hell were shown to have layers or levels like in the Divine Comedy.
"Thank you for saving me" Either thanking Alita for saving his physical life or saving his soul from being totally corrupted.Or both.
Very good analysis. The big eyes signalled to me that she is fully aware, and that she sees everything and because of that, through her heroes journey from innocence to the realisation of who she is, she is able to decide on her true path.
They signalled me as an anime girl eyes.
But your idea is better
@@keopsps3474 Thanks. It came courtesy of JBP's lectures - particularly the Mesopotamian myths regarding marduk who, IIRC, had eyes all around his head to signal that the wise king has to be supremely attentive to all things to guide his or her people forward - something like that. Anyway, I found Alita to be very moving. Dave's analysis is pretty damn good IMO.
@@michaelstanwick9690 i found my homework for today.
I only read the book about Ghilgames and that's as far as my knowledge go for Mesopotamian mythos
I always find it enjoyable when beneath what is a good story on the surface there is a hidden symbolism and one can trace inspiration from earlier renowned works, be they literary classics or religious texts. Listening to your breakdown of the symbolism it got me thinking: with so much Christian allegory what are the chances of Alita, as a trilogy, retracing Divine Comedy? If Alita's meant to return to true Heaven to which she belongs, and Zalem is but Purgatory, her navigating her way through Iron City is akin to Dante and Virgil navigating their way through Hell in order to find a way out of it. And like Virgil, Dr Dyson Ido (presumably) won't be able to accompany Alita on her upcoming journey through Purgatory. It certainly is an interesting idea.
The story is already there in the source material, the manga, so if you are interested enough you can certainly check it out. I myself started reading it after seeing the movie and it's really good.
Alita asks Ido about all the different languages spoken in Iron City. Reminds me of the story of Babylon.
Awesome movie, something totally different than all the overdone superhero remakes.
Spoilers have never been a problem with me. Individually I like walking into a movie after hearing other people's opinions first.
Thank you, Man. This introspective review is much appreciated.
My dad passed away on Super Bowl Sunday. His name was also David. He hadn't left the house for a while and I know he would have loved this movie.
Looking forward to buying Your Book.
The insight You have given over the the years, Escpecially to music is invaluable.
Thank you again, Sir.
My deepest sympathies D:
Condolences, brother. Hope you two had a good relationship.
My Father, has also passed away.. We bonded over the original star wars, and any great film that proceeded after that.. He Definitely would have loved this, as Alita is a Great character.. I, only hope that I have a daughter some day, and aspire her to be of similar character to her, and great female characters that have come in the past!!
@@ironprincedom2611 I sincerely am going to pray for you and your family. My sister is the best and I see our Father's strength and wisdom about Her all the time. I also want to have kids someday. From a Guy that had lived life to it's fullest, He always said this is the worst part. Even though they try to prepare us, I would give up everything to have Him back. Even though He would be the first to say "You gotta keep going on your own path."
Maybe it is natural, but I still feel so lost.
We have to keep strong, for Their sakes. Keeping in mind to not only make Them Proud, to help the ones we Love and be proud of our Family.
Hey, my father was also named David. His father was named David. His grandad and two uncles were named David. My godfather was named Daavid (Finnish). Never met a David who wasn’t didn’t distinguish themselves somehow. Sorry for your loss. RIP, dude.
Thank you Dave, this was an interesting take insight into the philosophical undertones. I loved the movie, but hadn't paid attention to its prior history (the original manga, or the anime). On my next viewing, I will be on the lookout for these points and looking forward to it.
I wish I noticed these themes when I watched it for the first time a couple of days back, but your interpretation of the story certainly makes me more enthralled with details like that. I'll have to focus on the themes more on my next viewing.
Something that was interesting to me was how Iron City did not seem that far down in the dumps. Life was tolerable from what we mostly saw: fair housing, thriving markets with fresh foods and chocolate, some kids playing in the street and a huge ecstatic crowd for motorball. Yet, even with a decent life, some people decide to look up at the unreachable sky city which is infinitely more magnificent, or so they think. Then you see people like Chiren and Hugo doing detestable things in order to warrant going to this perceived paradise, while people like Dr. Ido gave up on that pursuit and found a more-or-less humble life helping people with prosthetics.
Well, that is just the movie, because a western hollywood audience would be uncomfortable with a less pleasant quality of life.
She is underground at the time her "earthly body" is destroyed, so there's parallelism with death, burial, and resurrection. I also notice David and Goliath parallels with how she takes out the baddie.
Ok this is actually awesome, makes the world building and story that much more interesting.
I loved the movie, and after watching this video, it just became 5 times better!
I just watch it tonight. The whole time I was seeing biblical themes throughout it. At the end I felt uncomfortable because I never made the connection between Mars and a true heaven.
I think that lines from Nova like “I see everything.” Made me think that he was supposed to be god and that the story being told was one of a fallen angel proving god wrong and defeating him. I loved the movie over all, so it was frustrating me, but your interpretation of the film is far more likely and rich.
The whole film I felt that it was more than a story. It felt like Mythology.... Christian mythology. Thanks for the insight.
Excellent analysis David! Really enjoyed it. Thanks for taking the time to do it. Alita was so refreshing to see after over a year of tripe from Hollywood. Here’s to hoping that the sequel is made.
The manga has a lot of biblical themes as well as 18-19th century philosophy.
Another great analysis.
Salem in the Japanese was changed in the original VIZ mangas to Tiphares because they wanted to not have the unwanted association with the Salem witch trials. This was done before the Japanese mangas revealed Jeru / Salem the twin cities in the sky. When VIZ did the english translation for the anime they changed the names back to the Japanese names . But to get around the Salem witch trail problem they spelt it Zalem and pronounced it Zolem.
The milton quote is not in the manga or anime .
The manga quotes Nietzsche which seems to be where the Japanese author learnt about Christianity (my guess)
The Nietzschian tones come out even more in the follow up series Last Order. Alita can be read both as a messiah or as an ubermensch.
The cities were always spelled with a Z. Yeeru and Zaaremu
I really enjoy finding biblical symbolism whether it be movies or books, not from a Christian point of view, but just because I find it interesting that some archetypes manage stay so throughout culture
Was refreshing to hear an analysis about Alita's new body that didn't revolve around her being sexualized for the male gaze.
When I see Alita in her new body she does look reborn and breathtaking beautify, like an Angle would be. Something we have never seen before and don't have words for as well.
This scene told me the wonder of restauration. Mere seconds before she lost horribly even with a bang but she lost. She was about to get crushed. Her body shredded to pieces.
Then came the operation were you see her body fits to her subconscious image of herself. After awaking she makes a one finger stand, jumps around and shows happiness and gratitude for being alive.
Also Ido and her made peace again. Both have learned something valuable.
Nice in depth review, if only those bad critics writers would understand this...
The theme is noticeable but not overdone.
A couple of other Biblical themes…
Alita’s famous quotes also have Biblical implications. When she says “I will not stand by, in the presence of evil.” That is what all believers are called to do, as opposed to those who choose to ignore or wallow in evil. Obviously, the notion of evil is a theological concept as well. Her other quote “You have made the biggest mistake of your life… underestimating who I am.” is also Biblical in nature. Satan and evil forces will always underestimate believers because they see the strength and value of a fallen human being, when in fact, they wield the power of God and hold infinite value in His eyes.
People also complain about the cheesy romance, but it gets pretty real like you said. When Alita finds out that Hugo attacks cyborgs (her kind), strips them of parts and sells them, she is faced with 2 choices, she chooses a third option… to forgive him. Not only that, she then saves his life and continues to fight for him. Sadly, this makes Hugo’s death more impactful… She’s able to save him in more ways than one, but not the one way she wanted.
Great movie, I’m glad you made this video.
Thank you for talking about this and making a video on it,,it lets "us" ie, the ones that also picked up the symbolism not feel alone. Great points great video thank you!
Thank you for this interesting analsysis!
Thank you for the insight, I'm not one to pick up on themes when they are under the surface.
@All - What the movie did not address was that flying machines were forbidden, and on the cables connecting the upper city to the ground were spiked rings the city would throw down to prevent people from climbing up, or that food was limited and disgusting compared to the upper city.
I figured these key points would of made the movie make more sense, besides that I didn't care for a lot of the characters back ground stories. They changed a lot, and I figured it really made the movie distasteful. The fact they made Hugo into a thief stealing machine parts instead of human spines, or the fact they gave Alita a super nano machine body, as she was a Martian Rebel. It was irrelevant. Then their was the Mechanics love story, as they had a child together, it just was unnecessary. What was the point of the rollerball game? Was he just throwing that in there to make the upper city seem more civilized? I really prefer the anime, an how they made the upper city seem more mecha, that tossed humans/cyborgs down to Earth like rats/garbage. I prefer the dystopian look in the anime rather than the luxurious city below in the movie.
I think the part that hurt the most, was at the beginning of the movie he addresses why Guns were outlawed, however never talked about how flying machines were outlawed and Hugos brother/lover how he was killed. The whole gun outlawed part was ridiculous, most of them are cyborgs, WTF a gun going to do. Lot's of key points were skipped, and faulty, Alitas background story shouldn't of existed, let alone the whole Martian touch, it should of been left out completely.
Just went to see it because of this review. It's awesome
Great review, I would also add that Nova, the 'devil' character, can possess those who are fallen.
Nice review! I saw the film as an interpretation of C. Jung's 'Individuation' and Maslow's 'Self-actualization'. The various roles that the archetypes play as they assimilate into the conscious psyche is apparent in the "body suit" i.e. ego/self (adapting to her subjective self-image!) and is discovered laying dormant in a submerged vessel that responds only to her pressence was a paticularly powerful metaphore. Also liked how the romance serves as a setup for the inevitable moral dilemma which occurs in the later stages of Abraham Maslow's self-actualization.
The subjective nature of these archetypes, combined with the rather simle story structure allows the veiwer to derive a profoundly personal meaning by way of projecting their own life experience into the story. This is what makes the character easy to relate to and empathize with regardless of one's race, gender, age etc. A great film that will be enjoyable to rewatch for many years to come.
A lot of Anime and Manga contain biblical symbolism and such. So it doesnt surprise me that Battle Angel Alita got so much hints. I think the name "Alita" even means something like "The one-winged" or something like that.
Alita means something like "little wing" in Spanish if I recall correctly, while her original name Gally which comes from english gall (or bile) could mean envy. Also, Nova's full name is Desty Nova which is a play on word destiny. I'm right now going through the manga after watching the movie and there is a lot of interesting stuff. Certainly material for more than one sequel. I kinda love how symbolism, wordplay and hidden meanings are used so much in so many mangas, it's something I personally often miss in western popculture and wish it could be used more.
It is also.. The Chosen One, in French or something!
@@ironprincedom2611 I am French, "Alita" doesn't mean anything in my language. The French for "Chosen One" is "élue", very far from "Alita".
It could be close to the latin "Electa" which is the feminine form of "chosen". But it's not very convincing.
And as a Frenchman, I can see a proximity between Alita and Joan of Arc, a great badass girl!!!!
As a catholic, for me the "Battle Angel" refers to the Archangel st Michael. I think this movie is catholic-inspired in some parts of it, or at least christian-inspired. And I loved it!!!
It is “excellent” in Hebrew if you are going biblical.
I don’t know about any of these interpretations, but Alita sounds a little bit like Akita which was the place of a Marian apparition in 1973. Akita is a place in Japan, and the seer was said to be blind and/or deaf and saw the statue of Mary weeping while praying.
Well commented David. There's much I could say about Nova and Solem too.
What if the mark on his forehead isn't the mark of Cain but the mark of the beast? And the fact that he removed it shows that he has repented. And his wife keeping hers shows that she is still following Satan
Chiren didn't have time to remove her mark before her death. She repented but it was too late.
The Mark on the Forehead is also seen as part of the Covenant you have made with God. In the Roman Catholic liturgy, you cross your forehead, your lips, and your heart when the Gospel is read. This also has roots in the Jewish understanding of the covenant to love God with all your heart, all your mind, and all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself.
Just watched this, enjoyed the movie and felt that there are symbolisms everywhere.. Great explanation about the biblical references, I think its spot on man.. Thanks!
Quite interesting. I haven’t seen the film, and have only heard good things about the film from people who aren’t critics, and this is defiantly a different video regarding the film. I never knew or thought there would be any biblical or religious themes in Alita. Great video David.
Give it a chance. You may be very pleasantly surprised! The movie is breath of fresh air and a really enjoyable ride.
Yes it's a very good movie be sure to go see it. I dont think you'll be disappointed.
Its a truly amazing manga,and fantastic movie. Great review,subbed.
I absolutely agree with what you said here about Mars being true Heaven, and Zalem being a fake paradise meant to lure people in and then tear them appart. After all: "My kingdom is not of this world"
Great analysis!
Do you know the manga? There is less than nothing heavenly about mars.
Interesting stuff, thanks for the video! There were other things I've seen people mention like the fact that Hugo and Chiren were both redeemed in the old church they go to earlier in the movie (when Hugo takes Alita to the roof of it to look at the view). Well, even if Hugo technically isn't redeemed per se until right before he's kill, but y'know. There was some other stuff, but I can't remember all of it. Still, great video!
Delightful insight! Thank you for your interpretation of this enjoyable film. I noticed two references from the Apocryphal book of Judith; which is in the Roman Catholic canon. And of course, the David and Goliath story; which is an allegory, concerning courage married with faith.
definitely worth reading the original manga - which you can do for free currently on comixology through a 30 day trial. Lots more biblical and religious references and philosophical exploration of the human experience.
I think he says “thank you for SAVING me.”
It broke her heart when she thought he killed someone, but she still saved him. There is always room for redemption.
Excellent video, absolutely brilliant break down.
Great video.
Wow. I'm really going to have to watch this.
One interesting theme I found in Alita was the classist structure in society between the iron city and zalem. The inhabitants of the iron city chase capital through work while having their work exploited up the food chain by a faceless, almost spiritual entitiy (I believe the end scene face reveal took more away from the narrative than it added). This entity that takes many forms as has a definite agenda, but is rather content with it's position of absolute power.
Just watched it and found it extremely interesting. Really good analysis!
This was a really cool video it's insightful seeing Alita through a different lens
I have been big fan of the manga and would recommend it. It's very gruesome, though, so those who find that distasteful might want to stay away. Much of these themes found in the movie do apply to the manga as well.
- The sky city's original Japanese name is Zaremu, so it can be argued that Salem or Zalem is equally correct. However, on the other end of that shaft extending to the heavens there is an orbital city called Jeru (Eru), so it's even more on the nose with the religious themes and clear what it's going for.
- War in heavens theme is definitely also present and Alita is a fallen angel from that war, but it takes a long time for details about that to be revealed.
- Nova is somewhat different character. He's an exile like Ido and a mad scientist type. He's obsessed with conquering one's karma. That's probably why his name is Desty Nova, as in destiny. He'd most likely tear down the system than run it. He would still fit the role of the Devil, just a bit differently.
The floating city has been called Salem, Zalem and Tiphares.
Interesting point about the equator and space elevators, oddly in the Manga it's above Kansas.
And Zalem isn't technically "in heaven" unless you view it as in the lowest of the 3 heavens, also called "the air". Hence Prince and Power of The Air. Alita is from above the air, from Mars. And Zalem isn't actually floating, it's suspended from the orbital space ring... its power is therefore derivative of what is given it by the higher heavens.
Thank you very much. For posting this review.
She comes from Mars in the original Manga, too, so it may not be at all intended, but Mars also plays a big role in C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, which predates the manga. Although I don't know if it would have influenced Kishiro much (I know there's translation and many Japanese know English, but I have no idea how popular C.S. Lewis is over there), there's probably a greater chance of James Cameron being a fan, particularly because a lot of people wondered if the Space Trilogy influenced "Avatar."
Mainly, those from Mars have not fallen, with Satan being a problem contained to Earth. So an angel or any creature from Mars, would have higher defenses against corruption and be in a better position to help those on Earth fight the influence of Satan.
Great insight! Great movie!
I'm surprised you didn't mention the symbolism of the U.R.M. plasma arc technology of the new angelic body... Parallelism with the Ark of the Covenant and it's power? Especially since the Doctor said he did not know how to control it.
You covered just about everything else I could think of.
Maybe also there might be something to do with the Freemasonry? I just noticed the black and white tiles in the factory where they collected the bounty's and wondered if that was intended to reference the tiles of the masonic Lodge (Good v. Evil).... Maybe? Because of the hierarchy structure of the freemasons, and the hierarchy with the motorball championship... Just my thoughts
The biggest biblical thing I picked up on what is David and goliath fight David being alita, and goliath being greWishkah
The book of Enoch is awesome. Love this video.
Great analysis.
#AlitaChallenge #AlitaBattleAngel
I've watched it thrice with my family. It was absolutely fun and the best anime adaptation for the big screen. I want to see more Anime done correctly like this.
Alita is a movie done with 💓 heart. 15,000+ employed to make it. Makers donated real bionic arms that changed little girls lives. This movie starring a Latina Female showing true female empowerment.
Go watch it and have fun.
Great video ! Both the manga and the movie are filled with biblical symbolism (Zapan, the number 99, Melchizedek the AI protecting Zalem, etc etc), you should have a look at it mate I think you'd like it
This is interesting. I didn't catch these elements when I saw the film. I've never heard of the book of Enoch before; I'll have to look it up.
Nice review and very interesting point. In addition, The original manga also included Bhuddism because Dr. Nova was experiment about "Karma" and the way to resist/breakthrough Karma rule. That's why he interest in special/elite people and give them power to study more about Karma. Karma is very much like "Sin" but also include What will happen if you do that Sin (Action = Reaction). Every living things are live by those rule. You get what you do. Every action has a sequence.
Yukito Kishiro is such a genius mangaka (mangaka = manga artist).
You need to look into the history of the source material.
You need to read and look into the source material. You read a lot into the movie.
Not just the manga, but the OVA.
All the themes are not just christian, but are universal archetypes of hero’s journey and corruption: for example Epic of Gilgamesh.
He also ignores a ton of buddhist themes...
In the American translation, the floating city is Tiphares. In the Japanese manga, it is Salem, but a mistranslation of the anime is where Zalem comes from.
This is VERY interesting
Great video!
Spoiler Alert: In the manga, Salem is the lower part of the floating city, the Upper part is called Jeru, which is located outside the atmosphere, and these two parts are connected by a elevator. The lower part is a kind of experiment for a perfect human society, just to test if human being withstand a long period of time to live in harmony, so that they can live through galactic space travel which takes a long period of time. Jeru, on the other hand, are the port for space travel. Jeru + Salem, together they become Jerusalem.
Good show David.. I didn't expect you to anlalyze this aspect but it was a splendid surprise that you did------->after your Grinch vid briefly touched upon the dissapointment we all suffer from the deconstruction of the actual meanings/reasons of religious themes in more and more films, especially Christmas oriented ones.. Again, beautiful rendition and thanks a bunch.
[Alita is a BluRay must AND---->since Cameron's known for extended cut releases, UltraHD-HDR {3D?.. hmm.. don't really think so} is essential and since done the right way down to an original soundtrack {Junkie XL?.. (relatively) not too shabby at all} the real cherry would be in an uncompressed sound format from Dolby or DTS.. Would they ever go that extra mile?.. What a great way that would be start this library]
In the movie the old church is the place of real redemption (cf. Chiren's good choice), and harbour of peace. This old church faces the modern/brilliant Babel ironically called "Zalem" by the men who built it. Chiren says : what I'm lookig for is not in Zalem", but she found it at the church. So I don't think this movie is gnostic, I'd rather think it's christian inspired.
Moreover, the spacecraft scene clearly refers to baptism : her real heavenly origin, and her true vocation is revealed by this baptism.
I loved this movie.
In some way also Alita looks like Joan of Arc (I am French :).
that is a point i hadn't considered before- but i noticed that in the concept art the church had a cross on top that was omitted in the movie
Alita (Ah-lee-tah) is a common name in Spain. Derived from the latin "elite," meaning special. A variation of the name is Elita, (EE-lee-tah) or (El-lee-tah). The English meaning is "Winged". Alternatively the French meaning is "Noble" or "Chosen One".
Hmm, I wonder if Alita is supposed to be a deviation of Alice or Allison since both mean noble in French.
Interesting analysis! However I must disagree with your statement that the war between the angels is mainly apocryphal. The book of Revelation speaks of the casting down of one third of the angels by archangel Michael.
Fascinating
Good talk!
David, the world of the movie is not very negative, in fact it looks like a pretty nice place to live.
Great analysis. The parallels to the book of Enoch are on-point.
I find this so fascinating, especially considering that there's another video on YT, that seems to declare Alita the Antichrist.
That poor paranoid soul.
I found that amusing and sad: “sorry your mythology got hijacked to tell a great story, and sorry you think any reference to your mythology is either evangelism or satanism”... I mean she is Lucifer of sorts but only because Nova thinks he’s god and Alita is the winged ‘lightbringer’, but - wait for it - none of it’s real ☺️
@@hellfish2309 I pitty the fool who would seriously look at Desty Nova as God.
Another? As in only one more?... Nah sadly there seem to be more with that kind of view of this film :(
BTIsaac i don’t think I was jabbing at Christianity - some people think mythology, rather than virtues it’s trying to espouse, is real; and when they lose their shit over fiction using it as allegory they invite ridicule because they’ve exposed their own insecurities
Edo's wife is like Lot's wife. She doesn't become a pillar of salt, but does dematerialize in a similar way
DVS with that crushing tone from the Mesa in the background \m/
Great video, just wanted to give a quick note; the exact wording of the Genesis quote is "The Nephilim were on the Earth in those days and afterwords, when the sons of God married the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were heroes of old, men of renown." The Hebrew word Nephilim comes from the root "to fall," so literally the nephilim are the fallen/falling ones, or the ones that cause others to fall.
Have Jordan Peterson do a meaning or symbolism interpretation of this Alita!! 🤩
Seconded!
That would be interesting
Please!
4:30 well, Zalem wasn't done by Rodriguez they used that in the original OVA translation in the early 90s (there are two. the other translation calls it Tiphares) but they probably changed it for the same reason they moved it to Panama for and gave Alita (originally named Gally but given the hispanic name in the OVA) a spanish voice actress: Politics! it's a japanese property but it was given spanish words and decades later lo and behold it is no longer recognizable as such when Hollyweird finally gets around to making it. : P The irony of us championing this against Captain Marvel is not lost on me. the wiki lays this out pretty quick, too, and it's worth a read
MerlosTheMad "Gally" could very well be an abbreviation of "Galatea" too.
@@Seele2015au In the manga Doctor Ido names GAlly after his deceased cat.
@@mogaman28 Yes, I am aware of that, I just think that it's an appropriate name for the girl nonetheless. My thought is that the change in the movie brings it to another level.
While politics might have been the true reason for moving the location to Panama, it's entirely justified by the physics of space elevators. Kansas is way too far from the equator to have a vertical space elevator.
@@mogaman28 the Daughter thing works better. Ties him more directly with Chiren & adds a greater sense of tragedy to the two. Everything is about the character/romantic melodrama in Alita
Have you / will you do a overview of the matrix movies? I know you have referenced it a couple times and it one of if not my favorite series
Awsome video, just about every other video on TH-cam is about ticket sales numbers. Kinda wanna see thus now.
Thanks for this👍🏾
Japanese media has a pretty bad track record with space elevators, at least from my experience (the Endymion in the Toaru franchise specifically should either not be in Japan, OR be at a ~50 degree angle to the ground, not vertical). I'm glad they moved the space elevator in Alita the live-action movie to a more reasonable location (Kansas is pretty far from the equator alright).
Thank you for this. You are pretty good! Did you happen to notice the box that contained the brain and other body parts, that on top of it, it had something that looked similar to the Ark of the Covenant.
the scene where she smears the blood of the dog on her face before fighting gruishka seemed to be possibly referencing genesis (specifically the passage when god confronts Cain after killing Able.."your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground"). Alita confronts injustice wearing the blood of the innocent. her dialog is also very symbolic, "I do not stand by in the presence of evil". She pursues gruishka into the depths not to protect, at least not in any immediate sense, but because she can not stand existence of gruishka, or evil, at all.
Its interesting that the upper part of 'Zalem' is called "Jeru." Together: "Jeruselum"
@Michael Dawson, Great comment. Not many movies have shown using blood as warpaint, especially the blood of innocents. Alita has won our hearts for doing this as she takes down evil.
Didn’t Yukito Kishiro explicitly state that this was a religiously themed story? I know I read something about that and I thought he wrote it but I can’t find it
Seems like the Scrapyard is similar in pattern to new Jerusalem from revelations.
Wow I'm surprised I didn't pick up on all these themes being a Christian who is familiar with the book of Enoch. I definitely caught the whole thing about the fall but I guess I just wasn't connecting those dots for some reason. But you're right it's all too clear now. I wonder if the creator of the manga had the stuff in mind or if it was brought in more by James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez. I've read the first couple chapters so far of the manga. I'll definitely be looking at it from a new perspective as I read though now. Thanks for bringing this up!
Neither, if I had to guess. It was whoever did the original dub/sub translation for the OVA in the early 90s. And there are two that were made.
Christian symbology was even more complex in the manga.
Did ANYONE notice the "ARK of Covenant" in vectors office with three items in it? Body parts..the ark had three items in it and there two angels facing each other with a lamp"light"in the center.
good eye! plus notice Grewishika pierces Alita in her side
The thing that I picked up on was Grewishka being originally from the city under Iron City. He was a giant, like the people that inhabited Israel when the Jews moved in.
I saw that more in the context of Grewishka being reborn in darkness, representing evil, while Alita was reborn in light, representing good. They even show this visually because Alita's bathed in light when Ido finds her in the scrapyard.
Hey man love the channel! I had a question. Is there an archetype or a name for a character that represents what the main character could accomplish but is not a mentor?
I know this is a two year old comment/question, but I would answer that I think the archetype would be that of a rival/antagonist. You could say that this is what Satan is to the Saint. We are tempted by the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life by seeing everything we could possibly accomplish, but it is a test to see what we are made of.
@@MissPopuri hey thanks
I can’t believe I never saw this video till now, it’s very thought-provoking!
I always noticed the detail that Ido has removed the mark of Zalem from his forehead in the movie, but did not in the manga. I never thought much of it though, but now that you’ve brought it up, I wonder if it could also have any similarities to the mark of The Beast in the book of Revelation. Not saying that this is an intentional allegory, as it can of course be interpreted multiple different ways.
I actually should have noticed of a lot of this stuff sooner as not only a writer but also a Christian who is familiar with the bible, whoops. Thanks for showing me!
You got it in reverse. Zalem is the original title, it got translated as Tiphares before for some reason. But it could be a Romanization of the English Salem into the Romanji Zalem.
The Ancient city of Salem meaning city of peace becomes Jerusalem when Israel returns from Egypt and conquers the land
For those that are into psychology, Myers-Briggs Types/Socionics, etc. James Cameron and company did a really good job at CORRECTLY implementing and weaving the 4 archetypes (-NT- "Rationals", -NF- "Idealists", -S-P "Artisans", and -S-J "Guardians) into the story with actors/character portrayals. This will SOUND crazy to those that don't "see" it like Alita's eyes do, but hear it out to the end. NO OFFENSE MEANT TO ANYBODY. You are who you are. You can change your outlook on life. First off to extroverts: Introvert in this context/system does NOT refer necessarily to anti-social, but rather creative and introspective. This can be seen in the introverted INTP-esque inventor Dr. Ido, who like a Rational God, creates life and resurrects and saves those who would otherwise be destroyed by Satan. But, alas, since Dr. Ido is just a man he can't truly create life. Only God can. Desty Nova is clearly Lucifer, an ENTP- like character who like Satan (and Zapan), was once a noble, reasonable, and just angel who served god, but fell from grace and tries convince himself he is god be stealing ideas, matter, concepts from others and re-molding them into something that is a counterfeit to bring about godliness. Same goes for tough-and-mighty ENTJ-esque Grewishka. -S-P Artisans tend to think/behave (like Hugo and company) as though fun, games, hedonism, and naively collecting goods are what life is truly and ONLY about. -S-J Guardians like Vector and Dr. Chiren don't often consciously realize (just like the real world today) that they are puppets on strings who are manipulated, controlled, and brainwashed into obeying those who are more powerful and evil than they are by running governments and other organizations as bureaucrats of corrupt systems that they BELIEVE and THINK they control. Alita is an INFP-esque idealist who (although not creative and extremely rational) strives to provide a human example to others about WHO one should serve and WHY.
Ignore the crossed out aspect of the text. Read as if normal.
Gotcha.
"Well you came on like some blazing supernova, with a flame that burned so brightly in the sky. Then you woke up and your long white night was over, and you cursed the world that dared to pass you by. So now you blame the ones who love you for your sorrow. Dealing dirty while you steal the higher ground. But you cheated, and you lied, and life took you for a ride, and now your standing on the 'UPSIDE LOOKING DOWN'....And O, the hero in disguise, believing his own alibis, you run so scared your standing still, I know you are I know you will, be the first to call it quits and run for cover. While your little world is crumbling all around. But you punked out on yourself, you can't blame nobody else, now that your standing on the ' ' '...".