Twister, "The Extreme", and Shine On

Last night we decided to watch the movie "Twister".  This was a 90's movie I remember watching when I was in high school, and I think that was the only time.  I guess a sequel to that original movie came out a couple days ago, so the original movie was either being promoted on streaming services because of that, or a bunch of people were watching it which made it come up as one of the first options when we were looking at the menu.

The story is fairly ridiculously unbelievable, but that is exactly the sort of story where some of these little gems seem to be found to compare with the equally ridiculously unbelievable story explored on this blog (think Xanadu, for example).  There were definitely some interesting things that jumped out at me.  Let's see what we have.

Twisters and Black Holes

Black Holes, and symbolism around them (such as Solar Eclipses, New Moon Shine, etc) were a big theme on this blog a few months ago, and then kind of faded into the background as I explored some other story elements.  They seem to come back, however, in this symbolism of the Twister or Tornado.  When the movie was just getting going, the comparison of Tornadoes with Black Holes came to my mind, though no specific mention of this was made.  It may have been mention of the "Suck Zone" that spurred the thought, though.  Philip Seymour Hoffman has a role in this movie, and at the beginning he is explaining tornadoes to another character, and mentions this zone as being where the tornado sucks you up.  You've gone too close, and the tornado pulls you in and up.

I think this commentary reminded my of a Black Hole's Event Horizon, the place of no escape where the Hole will "suck" everything in, including Light.  My understanding is that this "Suck Zone" for tornadoes may not actually exist, but it was used for purposes of the movie, and as you will see with some other comparisons, tornadoes sucking people up and transporting them to a different place has been used in movies before (i.e., Wizard of Oz).

Anyway, it wasn't until this morning that I looked up Tornadoes and Black Holes to see if they are in anyway considered analogous.  Two very credible sites - California Institute of Technology/ NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and the Esa-Hubble site (who manage the Hubble telescope) - make this analogy, so I think it is OK for our purposes.

Kip Thorne, who assisted with the movie Interstellar (which also had some interesting little Easter Eggs for us as highlighted in another post) on the science of Black Holes, made the specific comparison of Black Holes with Tornadoes in a paper he titled "Black Holes:  The Most Luminous Objects in the Universe, But No Light!".  The title itself was interesting given so much imagery we have explored around Beings and objects which are both luminous but also dark.

His specific mention was this:

If the star that imploded to create the black hole was spinning (and all stars spin, at least a little bit), then the black hole will spin.  The hole’s spin drags space into a whirling motion near itself – a fast whirl near the horizon and slower farther away, like the whirling air in a tornado.   See Figure 4b.  Anything that falls into the hole gets grabbed by the whirling space, like a straw grabbed by a tornado’s whirling wind, and gets whipped around and around the hole, faster and faster as it nears the hole’s horizon. 

Figure 5 is a precise map of the warped spacetime around a fast-spinning black hole, as predicted by Einstein’s relativity. 

Figure 5 that he references in his paper looks like this:

 The map Thorne depicts looks just like that of a Tornado.

This is all to say that I think my initial interpretation or original insight that Tornadoes in the movie might be representative of Black Holes, at least with some of the story elements I started playing around with, was a valid one.  This will be important for a few other interesting themes that emerged in my mind as I attempted to connect a few dots

Bill Harding:  "The Extreme"

The character of Bill Harding is one of the two primary protagonists in the film.  His wife Jo is the other one.  Bill and Jo are estranged, but still married, which is an interesting connection to a couple characters I've mentioned here - in fact, the two characters that seem to be getting the most air-time in my thinking:  Faramir and Eowyn.

Bill's name obviously stood out to me as I watched the film because, well, it is my own name, or a nickname for William (I go by Bill in my non-blogging life).   "Harding" I didn't think to look up until this morning, but that was interesting.  It means (I guess I should have known) The Hard One or The Firm One- seems to make sense with Hard in the actual name.  

When I realized this, I actually first thought back to the name Starerios.  "Ben" who has commented on this blog in the past, mentioned that Starerios might be translated under its Elvish components.  He said this in a comment to my post "Ancient Juice as something that will be brought with the Sawtooth Stone".  Star would mean "stiff, firm, hard", and Erios would be close to Eriol, which would be "One or Alone".  So "Firm One".  Just like Harding, which struck me as relevant, perhaps.

I have attached the title or name of Starerios with that of Faramir, and as you will see based on a few more nuggets in the movie, that is who I believe Bill Harding is meant to represent (loosely of course - we are just looking for little symbolic nods or winks buried in the story, not wholesale stories themselves or perfect matches from Hollywood).

An interesting discussion transpires around Bill at the house of Jo's aunt, Meg.  The question is raised by Bill's fiance Melissa (a name that has also come up here before) as to why everyone keeps referring to Bill by the nickname "The Extreme".  I will post the clip below, and then tie this back to a few things and I think you may see where I am going with this.

The story itself doesn't actually do much for me in helping to understand where The Extreme name came from, other than it succeeds in painting Bill as a fairly crazy dude that belies the mild-mannered character we have met so far in the story.

In the story that Dusty shares, one important element emphasized is that Bill was naked.  This is another one of those parts of the script that just stood out to me like a sore thumb.  Bill being naked is emphasized by pretty much every single character sitting at the table - they were all witness to his nakedness.  This is interesting because Faramir and Eowyn I have likened to Adam and Eve in the LDS temple drama, with Adam being Michael, who would have assisted Jehovah-Jesus in Creation (but again, "Adam" also refers to "Many", so several layers of meaning with that name, and multiple people referred to depending on which layer).  A major part of that story, and in the traditional bible account, is that Adam-Michael was naked in the Garden (as was Eve).

The reference to Jack Daniels as the drink that Bill tosses into the tornado is also interesting both for the presence of a drink in this story, and the name of the drink with Jack (John) appearing again alongside Daniel.

But, most interesting to me, is the actual nickname of The Extreme.  Again, the story didn't really touch on the name, or who first called him that  (as Jo said in that clip "You guys gotta get some new stories".  Amen.  We need new stories!), but if you look up Extreme on Etymonline, you will get the following:

outermost, utmost, farthest, last; the last part; extremity, boundary; highest or greatest degree

A few things that stand out to me here.  First, boundaries and the mention of "last".  Starerios, who I believe is represented by Orion the Swordsman, I have mentioned as being Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last.  This ties perfectly with the definition of Extreme - the boundaries of First and Last, and everything falling in between those two points.

Further, Faramir-Eonwe I have also identified with the star Kolob, from the LDS Pearl of Great Price and also Joseph Smith's Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language (GAEL).  Kolob is one of the Great Ones, which comprise of 12 or 15 Great Stars (depending on which passage you read), with Kolob set to govern the the 12.  I thought I put this in a post, but it was actually in a comment on my post titled "The Undiscovered Country, flying into stars, Neverland, and NUVO".  And this comment was actually in response to a comment William Tychonievich left in relation to Kolob.  In part of my comment, I linked Faramir with the star Kolob (I did have this stated more definitely in an existing draft post that I haven't finished or published):

God showed Abraham those 'stars', I think, not just to talk about planets, but to introduce the concept of Beings and their order. It is the most probably reason to me, actually. God (Eru) is the greatest, and next to him is the star Kolob. But I think this is meant to represent a Being also (a star and a man... a Light), and that would be the the Being Joseph Smith identified as Jah-ho-e-oop, and who I have guessed at being Faramir/ Eonwe/ Holy Ghost, etc., in a few of my posts.

 

Why is the idea of Kolob so interesting in relation to this mention of "The Extreme"?  In the GAEL, there are multiple translations of characters defining of Kolob.  I will highlight two of them:

Kolob in the first degree, It signifies the first great grand governing fixed Star which is the fartherest [sic] that ever has been discovered by the fathers which was discovered by Methuselar [sic] and also by Abraham

 

And

Kolob signifies the highest degree of power in government, pertaining to heavenly bodies

There are other definitions in the GAEL which include mention of First and Last, and being Swift, and all of that, but I highlight these two because you will note that they match the definition of Extreme perfectly.  "Farthest" and "Highest Degree" are both exact words that Etymonline uses for Extreme.   In other words, Kolob is "The Extreme", and I have guessed Kolob is represented by Faramir-Eonwe, or the Holy Ghost.

Anyway, I thought that all came together fairly neatly with this nickname "The Extreme".

Jonas and the Son of Perdition

Dorothy is the invention and design of Bill, but as we find out a character by the name of Jonas stole the idea and plans and created his own version of the device, name D.O.T.  DOT is clear play on Dorothy, since Dot is a nickname for Dorothy.

Jonas and his caravan are characterized by their Black or Dark color.  The cars they use are all black, which is fitting for their villain role, compared with the motley crew of Bill and Jo's team, which is pretty rag tag bunch of varied vehicles and equipment.

Interestingly, the name Jonas means Dove and Gift of God.  The Dove is the sign of the Holy Ghost.  This is important for our movie analogy.  It is the character of Faramir as represented by Bill who is the Holy Ghost and who has the plans and means with which to get Dorothy up into that Tornado.  But Jonas has stolen those plans, and even stolen, in a sense, Bill's identity and role, as symbolized by his taking on the name of Dove.

Jo makes the point, though, once Bill finds out that Jonas stole his plans, that Jonas will "never get that thing up in the air".  Here is the part where Bill realizes that Jonas stole Dorothy and confronts the thief:

And (spoiler alert) this turns out to be mostly true about Jonas' DOT (and Jonas himself) never getting up in the air.  Of all of the primary characters in the movie, it is only Jonas and his driver who we see killed, ultimately getting demolished by a super massive F5 tornado.  I say mostly true, because the tornado does briefly pick up Jonas' truck before tossing it back down in a massive explosion.

As Dusty noted in that earlier scene, Jonas would come to rue the day he came up against The Extreme.

So what do I see in this?  Well, the Son of Perdition, of course.  All sins are forgiven, with the exception of those done against the Holy Ghost, of which Asenath and Faramir comprise, to my understanding.  Part of that involves not stealing their stuff and taking on their roles, it would seem, and trying to replace their family.  Jonas and his crew are referred to as 'sell outs' in at least one point of the movie.  This, in my opinion, is a direct comparison to the traditional biblical sell out, Judas Iscariot, who was said to sell and betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

But even in the stealing, not everything can be replicated, with the most important part of the plan or design seemingly unable to be truly stolen, even by expert thieves.  We'll see that in one major difference between Bill's Dorothy and Jonas' DOT, and it will bring us back to Stones and Names.

Dorothy and DOT

The plot of the story revolves around the Bill and Jonas' competing efforts to get their respective machines to go into the center of the Tornado, and there release sensors that will get sucked up by the tornado.

In the designs of these two machines, there is one critical difference which seems kind of ridiculous, but again, I think it means something.  In Bill's Dorothy, the sensors are small spheres (which we find out in the end actually light up as the enter the Tornado).  In Jonas' version, they are cubes.  Here are two pictures highlighting the difference:

It is by Stones that the Children of Abraham will be raised in my story (Asenath’s Crumbs) which I interpret as being very much like the Ball or Anor Stone which was given to Lehi and his family in their journey to the Promised Land.  This also corresponds with Joseph Smith's teachings that every person who enters the Celestial Kingdom will have a White Stone with a Name on it.

So, although Jonas stole the plans, he didn't and doesn't have any Stones at his disposal.  He is rather trying to get Cubes up this Tornado, which just isn't going to work.  Jo is right.  There is not Stone with his Name on it, and he isn't going anywhere.

Interestingly, Cube is used mathematically to express something raised to the power of 3.  This comes (per Etymonline again) from the ancient Greek practice of rolling 3 dice at a time.  Directly from that site:  "The mathematical also was in the ancient Greek word: the Greeks threw with three dice; the highest possible roll was three sixes."

Three sixes are 666.  If you think I am comparing Jonas' theft and attempt here with cubes in the place of spheres with the Satanic mark from Revelations, you are correct.  Seems to fit.  Why not.

Again, the plan from the Good Guys that has been developed and is currently in some stage of execution, in my opinion, is to bring the Family of Light home.  They have been numbered, counted, and named, and these Stones associated with each of them are part of that numbering and counting.  You can't fake or replicate that, I don't believe, no matter how much else you steal or copy.

The name Dorothy, of course, is a reference to the Wizard of Oz, and the main character who finds herself in Oz after travelling there through a tornado with her dog Toto.   We see a picture of Dorothy on the machine itself:

Dorothy means "Gift of God".  I can't speak specifically to other Christian views or teachings (because I don't want to misrepresent them), but in LDS theology it is the Gift of the Holy Ghost that we are to receive.  I believe this Gift is an actual thing, relates to these Stones probably, and is our ticket home.  Thus the importance of receiving this gift.

You may not remember, but another name meaning "Gift of God" has come up before on this blog very recently, in response and in an attempt to interpret the names on the slipper/ shoe cubbies at William's school in his post "Leo, Egbert, Peter".   That name is Jessie, the name that was on the cubby above the 3 name string that seems to refer to Peter-Pharazon (again, in current view).  In my first attempt, I thought Jessie might refer to the gift or blessing of Pharazon returning home with John.  In my follow-up post, I corrected this (I think) to have Jessie to refer to the Holy Ghost, as a third name in that name string in addition to Peter-Pharazon and John, which I still think is the accurate way of interpreting the names we see on those cubbies.

So Jessie is synonymous with Dorothy here.

Dorothy is interesting not only for her journey within a tornado to another place, but for what she is wearing on her feet.  Probably one of, if not the, most famous pairs of shoes in movie history.

Feet and Footwear are significant, at least symbolically.  Both Jesus and Abinadi (the Holy Ghost) testified that there are and will be Beings living on "Mountains" with beautiful feet publishing Good Tidings.  Dorothy, of course, is well known for having beautiful feet because of the Ruby Slippers she obtains once she arrives in Oz.  They are actually her own key for returning Home, she finds out at the end, only needing to click her heels together 3 times (3 knocks) while saying "There's no place like Home" (as she wears the slippers), and she will find herself once again home, with everything OK again.

The connection to some of the winks recently are pretty direct, a few of which have actually been on William's end.  Again, it was a series of shoe and slipper cubbies which had those names.   In William's school, all students must change into slippers before proceeding upstairs.  Further, in a vision he later related, he saw a Ruby descend into a cup, from which fruit came as a box turtle attempted to peer at it.  I have recently guessed that the Sawtooth Stone is actually Red in color, and likely (in my opinion) represented by that Ruby in the cup.  And my guess for quite some time, even before I guessed the Stone was Red, is that the Sawtooth Stone represents some way Home.

All things beings considered, some of the symbolism seems to match up well.  The Red Sawtooth Stone will be the means by which some Beings will "walk" Home.  From this event, a Gift will be given to many others, who will be gathered home via some straight path and gate that brings them there.

Shine On

Just quickly on this.  Shining plays a strange role in this movie.  In a scene at a drive-in movie theater, a tornado strikes at night while the movie "The Shining" is playing.  

Throughout the movie, a song plays with a chorus that has someone singing "Shine On".  It is actually pretty conspicuous.  I had to look the song up, because although the song sounded familiar, I couldn't place it.  It is actually called "Humans Being" and written/ performed by Van Halen.  It turns out it was actually written just for the movie Twister, and would prove to be the last song that featured Sammy Hagar.  That fact that it was Hagar is too funny.

I didn't recognize the rest of the song besides the chorus, and actually didn't care for the song too much, but it was interesting to read some of the lyrics.  The mention of "Shine On" stood out the most, as part of my story involves the Family of Light shining once again.

As part of the film climax, Dorothy finally does work and all of those balls are released (they were enhanced with aluminum propellers to help make them fly), with them being sucked up into the Tornado as planned.  As they are released into the Tornado, each of them has a light that turns on - the balls start to shine.

Anyway, just a few things that crossed my mind as I watched the film and looked into this a bit afterwards.   There are a few other things, names, etc. that I found interesting, but this is long enough and I think I hit some of the major points.

Here is that Van Halen song.