MovieChat Forums > Poltergeist (1982) Discussion > The tree and the tornado

The tree and the tornado

posted 2 years ago by spurtle467 (1547)
3 replies | jump to latest

We see a number of times once the poltergeist enters into the house through the TV that it is able to manipulate things and make them look real to people when they're not, which made me wonder about the occurrence of the tornado coming and sucking up the tree. Was the tornado in fact real or some sort of manipulation again? Because it seemed like it only affected them and nobody else. Also, the tree was apparently very old and had been there already for years so I guess this was just a tree being manipulated into being evil by the poltergeist, like the toys and skeletons? Perhaps this reinforces the idea of the tornado being real then, as you'd expect the tree if being manipulated to just return to its normal state, only it was sucked up permanently.

Just this aspect of the film alone kind of raises some interesting questions.

[–] RedVIII (76) 2 years ago

My interpretation is the poltergeist is only associated with the tree, the tornado is Spielberg throwing in a "subtle" nod to God in his spirit-and-afterlife movie (he supposedly believes in a god).

The tornado interrupts the poltergeist from using the tree. The tornado barely touches down just enough to only remove the tree. It's a miracle, an act of God.

[–] spurtle467 (1547) 2 years ago

I'd agree with your take and it seems like a logical one, only it then leaves you wondering why if sucking an evil tree up in a very localised tornado, is an act of God, why wouldn't God do more in helping the Freeling family. I guess you could say that God trusted in the situation to have a happy resolution, which it eventually did, but at that particular moment he really did need to intervene otherwise Robbie may have been killed?

To be fair, you could interpret it like it isn't God at all, and that it was all part of the evil poltergeist's plan, to distract the rest of the family while taking Carol-Ann, and once it did that it could relinquish the tree.

[–] RedVIII (76) 2 years ago

We could assume the tornado is a phenomenon like the sucking we see coming from the children's closet I suppose. That seems like such a huge force we only ever see the likes of again when the house implodes.

When Robbie and Steven fall off the tree, only then does the tree uproot from the tornado. When it grabs Robbie's leg with it's root that's the only point of action the tree takes; if the poltergeist is controlling the tornado why does it only suck up the tree, and why does the tree grab his leg like it's a last ditch effort to get him while getting sucked away into the tornado?

If the tornado is the same sucking phenomenon seen in the children's closet, just outside in the open air why didn't it suck up any/all of the family outside, instead choosing to only uproot an entire tree (the tree struggled to get Robbie as it got hurled away; that's fighting against the tornado)?

To me from most to least likely it's: 1. God's tornado. 2. Just a random tornado. 3. Poltergeist's tornado.