What was going on in this hospital? Body parts everywhere a doctor injecting a long needle into his forehead. The doctor telling him he's dead already. What was the significance of the hospital scene as well as the chiropractor busting in and "saving him"?
shareSpoliers: As this entire movie is Jacob experiencing a bad trip as he fights for his life. And that it is a losing battle, so he is essentially "dead already" and he knows it/senses and thus becomes a theme in his vision. And Jacob being saved by his chiropracter (who Jacob referred to as "Angelic" earlier.) from the hellish hospital is another one of these contrasting evil and good tug of war moments.
shareYup. It almost seems as if God and the Devil are fighting over Jacob throughout the movie. Tons of biblical references. Clearly, this was a bit more than your average trip. BZ mixed with adrenaline and DMT...Jacob could have... In a way..entered a higher dimension with multiple timelines. His spirit is is all over the place. Present, Past, future, past, future, present. After a mental meditation back at his family's house, he comes to peace and eventually follows Gabe (Gabriel) up the bright stairway. He is content with that reality and believes it, essentially-dies with it.
As a soldier, I'm sure he has seen a field hospital or some other kind of medical triage center for combat wounds. I think those places on their own would spawn all manner of nightmare visions -- basically people screaming in agony while somebody tries to keep from dying with all manner of hail-mary procedures, like huge syringes to suck fluid out of lungs, emergency tracheostomies, etc.
It's not a great leap from that reality to the nightmare hospital.
Unfortunately the nightmare hospital was, horror embellishments aside, not totally dissimilar to regular hospitals of the time period never mind a field dressing station. I know from personal experience that a major NYC hospital used old, crumbling dimly lit subterranean tunnels dating back to the 19th century to bring patients to the operating theaters-- and that was a children's hospital. Take out the madhouse and body parts and Jacob's stretcher ride to xray was actually quite realistic
shareI think this is less about old hospitals being scary than old hospitals simply being large collections of buildings that grew in size in awkward ways and ended up with functional units not accessible by main hallways. Imaging is in building B, patient rooms in C, operating rooms in D, and some newfangled zillion dollar machine in an addition to building A because it wouldn't fit anywhere else.
The only way to get patients around the place is through old steam tunnels which have mostly been retrofitted with lights and some kind of coat of paint to make them into transportation corridors.
At the University of Minnesota, you could get very nearly 3 blocks under the entire Health Sciences complex through these kinds of tunnels, which most people sorted out because it beat walking in below zero weather to class. I think I ultimately discovered I could make it halfway across campus through various tunnels like this. I'm sure none of them were intended as pedestrian passages when built, but they all pretty much got pressed into service this way because of the convenience.
He's dreaming he's in a kind of a purgatory with the demons aiming to drag his soul down to hell. Ultimately he's rescued and returned to the righteous path with the help of his guardian angel chiropractor.🐭
shareWhat was going on in this hospital? Body parts everywhere a doctor injecting a long needle into his forehead. The doctor telling him he's dead already. What was the significance of the hospital scene as well as the chiropractor busting in and "saving him"?
I always took his getting jacked in the forehead as an assault on his third eye, which pretty much fits the movie to the letter.
Wikipedia:
The third eye (also known as the inner eye) is a mystical and esoteric concept referring to a speculative invisible eye which provides perception beyond ordinary sight.[1] In certain dharmic spiritual traditions such as Hinduism, the third eye refers to the ajna, or brow, chakra.[2] In Theosophy it is related to the pineal gland.[3] The third eye refers to the gate that leads to inner realms and spaces of higher consciousness. In New Age spirituality, the third eye often symbolizes a state of enlightenment or the evocation of mental images having deeply personal spiritual or psychological significance. The third eye is often associated with religious visions, clairvoyance, the ability to observe chakras and auras,[4] precognition, and out-of-body experiences. People who are claimed to have the capacity to utilize their third eyes are sometimes known as seers.
In some traditions such as Hinduism, the third eye is said to be located around the middle of the forehead, slightly above the junction of the eyebrows. In other traditions, as in Theosophy, it is believed to be connected with the pineal gland. According to this theory, humans had in far ancient times an actual third eye in the back of the head with a physical and spiritual function. Over time, as humans evolved, this eye atrophied and sunk into what today is known as the pineal gland.[3] Dr. Rick Strassman has hypothesized that the pineal gland, which maintains light sensitivity, is responsible for the production and release of DMT (dimethyltryptamine), an entheogen which he believes possibly could be excreted in large quantities at the moments of birth and death.[5]