Foreshadowing in ASIB [SPOILERS]

[musicnotbling 1,692]

So ... the end of the movie ... wow. Since going back and rewatching the movie a second time, I realized a lot of things and signs were pointing to what was going to happen in the end. (trigger warning)

Spoiler

In the beginning of the movie when Jackson is in his car, we see sign with you-know-whats on it in the background. And then when Jackson went to rehab, he talks about how when he was 13 he tried to use a belt around the ceiling fan and his ceiling fan just broke and his dad never noticed. Then, when Ally comes to visit him, she brings the book with the love songs written in it and asks him if he's been hiding them from her. He told her he just left it so she could have them "whenever it comes back around to her" ... insinuating ... you know... considering Ally like froze a little bit and then went on to say, "well I found it" with a smile on her face ... realizing what he meant by that. Then, later on when he gets home from rehab, he tells his brother it was him he idolized, not his father -- the last thing he'd say to his brother. Then when Ally tells him about the cancellation of her European leg, he was pretty upset about it because prior to that, Ally's manager visited him and planted lies into Jack's clearly unstable mind which was ultimately the trigger point. So when Ally goes to leave he does the "Hey" "What?" "Just wanted to take another look at you" thing again -- because it was going to be the last time he got to look at her since he already knew what he was going to do. How do we know that? He later cooked a WHOLE STEAK for his dog before he went to "leave for the concert" -- making sure his dog had enough to eat. Then, he backs his truck up out of the garage, leading us to believe he's going to the concert --- but he's not. He was just backing it up for space for ... because when he sets down his hat, has his belt in hand, he walks to the garage door and we can see a ceiling fan in the background. 

 

Wow. It was so powerfully written. This movie has impacted me so much. The whole storyline is so beautiful and so tragic at the same time. The acting was so good it felt real. It felt like I was actually watching a real story. The chemistry is definitely real. It's def not only like that in the movie... 

[Glamourpuss 29,062]

This film should come with a trigger warning. The suicide scene set off my anxiety and depression. It's so well done from the writing to the acting that it was like I actually witnessed a real life man kill himself. I was bawling my eyes out. That feeling of death really stayed with me. I felt like I'd lost someone I knew. I don't expect anyone to understand but I've been low like that and it really hit me hard because the empathy I felt for Bradley's character was so overwhelming and the sadness I felt was more than I could bare and I almost had a panic attack. 

But I'm glad the storytelling was so powerful that it made me feel that way. It shows how good it is. I can't stop thinking about it ever since I watched it. 

[TheAlpha 3,830]

As someone who deals with suicidal thoughts and I also remember last year how I went to my backyard and was looking for ways to (trigger warning) hang myself. I knew what was happening. And when it happened, my body was in shock. But it wasn’t until Jackson (Spoiler) appears out of nowhere at the end when Gaga is singing I’ll Never Love Again that I actually cried.

[Trxstan 1,629]

Spoiler

This isn't really foreshadowing, but in Is That Alright?, the lyrics go "Wanna see your face when I fall with grace at the moment I die" which ties into the whole "I just wanted to take another look at you" as his last words to Ally? Idk just an observation I thought was interesting. And I'm sure there's got to be symbolism with the red ambient lighting vs the green, which is especially apparent in the Shallow performance. And maybe that ties into the first song Jackson sees ally sing is 'la vie en rose,' life in pink (pink as a derivative of red, or maybe that life was close to being pink, but was in red like danger?? I need to watch it again to catch all the nuances).

 

[musicnotbling 1,692]

1 hour ago, PussyGlam said:

This film should come with a trigger warning. The suicide scene set off my anxiety and depression. It's so well done from the writing to the acting that it was like I actually witnessed a real life man kill himself. I was bawling my eyes out. That feeling of death really stayed with me. I felt like I'd lost someone I knew. I don't expect anyone to understand but I've been low like that and it really hit me hard because the empathy I felt for Bradley's character was so overwhelming and the sadness I felt was more than I could bare and I almost had a panic attack. 

But I'm glad the storytelling was so powerful that it made me feel that way. It shows how good it is. I can't stop thinking about it ever since I watched it. 

I really honestly have felt the same way. I haven't been able to describe it but you did a really good job. I really feel impacted by Jackson's death  ... I really felt for Ally like it was real life. It was too real omg.

I guess maybe it also ties in with the fact that I saw so much of Gaga in Ally and I felt such a powerful connection between the two maybe it was Gaga who I felt for too. The acting was so good it was hard to distinct reality from acting. 

 

And the songs were so beautifully written. They added so much to the story. They really did an all out amazing job with this movie.

[Cavadour 2,559]

Many movie critics are pointing a 'confusion' of some sort in the second part of the movie considering it as a 'weakness' after such a 'flawless' first part. I think these viewers were in fact unconsciously triggered by all these things and signs well depicted in the hidden content of OP.

Reading the signs in day by day's life can be tricky and truly induce a lot of paranoia. Now here, it's a film and these signs were deliberately written, in a subtle yet really obvious way. Even though it's the love story that is falling apart during the second hour, many people wrongly felt that it's happening to the movie itself !

Don't tell me about reading signs... 

 

[MattyXoxo 165]

*SPOILER ALERT* 

 

I really liked the foreshadowing in the film, of course you know what happens if you’ve seen the other renditions but still. The “I just wanted to take another look at you” and the nose thing bit in the beginning and at the end represent the start and the end of their love story. He talks about his suicide attempt by hanging when he was in rehab, then actually does it later on? The epitome of foreshadowing. But as I once read, a really good movie doesn’t make you feel emotion in the cinema, but when you leave and are driving home and it hits you then. This is what that film did. Yes anxiety and depression can be triggered but the scenes serve there purpose. 

[Smarticle 3,178]

That scene with him and then the cops coming was the most vivid scene that i still have in my mind

[elijahfan 26,808]

I'm only disagreeing about the part when Ally finds the note in the book - to me, what Jack says is that he wrote that song for her to find whenever she'd come back to her senses and stop making soulless pop songs. He made it pretty clear during the bathroom scene that he believes she's selling out by going pop, and insinuates it again during the rehab scene, hence Ally's awkward smile.

[GoldenPonyboy 2,430]

Maybe not foreshadowing but more of a easter egg. When jack puts his cowboy hat down at the end it reminded of the last moments of the joanne world tour when gaga outs the hat on the piano bench. To me she did that as a sign that she is moving on and saying goodbye and that also ties into the movie. Dont know if it was on purpose on not

[elijahfan 26,808]

1 hour ago, PussyGlam said:

This film should come with a trigger warning. The suicide scene set off my anxiety and depression. It's so well done from the writing to the acting that it was like I actually witnessed a real life man kill himself. I was bawling my eyes out. That feeling of death really stayed with me. I felt like I'd lost someone I knew. I don't expect anyone to understand but I've been low like that and it really hit me hard because the empathy I felt for Bradley's character was so overwhelming and the sadness I felt was more than I could bare and I almost had a panic attack. 

But I'm glad the storytelling was so powerful that it made me feel that way. It shows how good it is. I can't stop thinking about it ever since I watched it. 

Well, I know it is something very current to add trigger warnings everywhere, but that would pretty much give the ending away... Ultimately, the movie is rated R. And if anyone does seriously feel triggered whenever tough subjects are being dealt with, in discussions or in fiction, then maybe going to see a drama in theaters isn't the best thing to do 

I hope I'm not being clumsy by saying this, but sometimes we try to protect ourselves so much... In the end, what I take away from your post is that you've been able to relate to the story on a deep level, and I actually believe this is a good thing. We are touched by movies and stories when we see some of ourselves in it, and when we can empathize with what the characters are going through. Cinema isn't just entertainment - art should provoke emotions and make you think. That's what good movies do.

[JazzGa 14,623]

2 hours ago, PussyGlam said:

This film should come with a trigger warning. The suicide scene set off my anxiety and depression. It's so well done from the writing to the acting that it was like I actually witnessed a real life man kill himself. I was bawling my eyes out. That feeling of death really stayed with me. I felt like I'd lost someone I knew. I don't expect anyone to understand but I've been low like that and it really hit me hard because the empathy I felt for Bradley's character was so overwhelming and the sadness I felt was more than I could bare and I almost had a panic attack. 

But I'm glad the storytelling was so powerful that it made me feel that way. It shows how good it is. I can't stop thinking about it ever since I watched it. 

This is kind of how I felt too although I was more mentally prepared because I had the basic plotline spoiled by reading about the other 3 ASIBs. But I do remember Requiem for a Dream having this effect on me the first time I watched that movie. It completely blindsided me and left me in a blue funk for weeks.

[Glamourpuss 29,062]

Just now, elijahfan said:

Well, I know it is something very current to add trigger warnings everywhere, but that would pretty much give the ending away... Ultimately, the movie is rated R. And if anyone does seriously feel triggered whenever tough subjects are being dealt with, in discussions or in fiction, then maybe going to see a drama in theaters isn't the best thing to do 

I hope I'm not being clumsy by saying this, but sometimes we try to protect ourselves so much... In the end, what I take away from your post is that you've been able to relate to the story on a deep level, and I actually believe this is a good thing. We are touched by movies and stories when we see some of ourselves in it, and when we can empathize with what the characters are going through. Cinema isn't just entertainment - art should provoke emotions and make you think. That's what good movies do.

I meant it in a semi-serious way. I don't actually think there should be a trigger warning but that this film required one if that makes sense. 

I agree with everything you've said. 

[Quentin 6,526]

*Spoiler*

When Jack started crying I thought that he was going to say "I have suicidal thoughts"