MovieChat Forums > The Shadow Line (2012) Discussion > Does Gatehouse represent the Angel of de...

Does Gatehouse represent the Angel of death/the devil? (spoliers)

posted 12 years ago by orangewarm
4 replies | jump to latest

His name is Gatehouse -- suggesting you pass him to go somewhere -- like Charon the ferryman who ferried the dead to the underworld
He seems to be indestructible -- he has supernatural skills and strength and has the heart of a 20 year old (he does not age).
He wants control -- like Lucifer before he was cast out of Heaven
He has no conscience or scruples and at the end he tries to tempt Jonah (Gabriel)over to the dark side, asking, "why do you do this...so you can stand in the light..."
just some thoughts i had

[–] ben_connelly55 12 years ago

I think you're getting 1 + 1 = 5

He's an exceptionally dark character, there's no question of that but he appears to operate outside the law, breaking the law and manipulating the black market for the sake of police pensions. He clearly has high level training from somewhere like Special Branch, Mi5 or 6 or even an agency beyond even them who work for the government but in theory have no government ties.

There's clearly high level corruption going on and he's the vehicle which makes it happen. Is he an agent who's gone rogue or is there an even darker truth to his role whatever it truly is?

[–] Jessica_Rabbit69 12 years ago

I like orangewarm's ideas. The first one maybe a bit far-fetched, but why not.

He does seem indestructible. Like some higher (evil) power, indeed Angel of Death. Nothing and nobody seems to be able to stand in his way. He seems to know everybody's move even before they do and never makes a mistake.

He also doesn't have any kind of human relationship, no matter how superficial.

It would have been interesting to know more about him personally. Where he came from, who he used to work for...

All in all, he was utterly creepy.

Jessica Rabbit
"I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way."

[–] orangewarm 12 years ago

Yes, I know all that; I'm talking about the literary/moral/mythic connotations.

[–] Speed-the-plow 12 years ago

I totally agree. There is no doubt in my mind that's what Gatehouse represents. Jung said, "The shadow is the invisible saurian [reptilian] tail that man still drags behind him," and the most common variant of this archetype, when projected is the Devil, who, in Jung's words in Two Essays on Analytical Psychology represents the "dangerous aspect of the unrecognized dark half of the personality." In literature we see symbolic representations of this archetype all the time.

And the shadow side of the angelic archetype manifests through people who directly or indirectly, as Gatehouse does, make claims or seems to be in touch with angelic guidance for the sake of control or ego enhancement, or who act INNOCENT or angelic to mislead others about their true nature. This is Gatehouse's M.O. One of the characters, the wife of Peter's son, even called him "sweet."

The shadow Angel is frequently associated with Satan or Lucifer.