MOVIES | Joe Dante | 1984

Gremlins is fundamentally a Christmas monster film, a classification that may initially appear surprising. Closer examination of the story’s core components reveals an inner coherence of analogies that is remarkable for a film that seems rather campy at first glance.

This intricate web of meaning assists in understanding the very essence of Christmas and its connection to both personal and cosmic symbolism.

Specifically, the narrative illustrates the manner in which the time of the winter solstice can be represented as a descent into chaos, darkness, and the breakdown of meaning, followed by the ultimate sunrise—the surprise of a new Sun coming to chase away the night.

The entire story can be comprehended as a descent into darkness. Although Gremlins might initially appear as an affront to the celebration of Christmas, it follows, in a strained way, the very structure of the solstice and the Christmas narrative itself.

#### The Genesis of Chaos: Acquisition and Rules

The Gremlins narrative commences with Mr. Peltzer, the father of the main character, Billy, exploring a foreign area. This setting, identified as Chinatown, is crafted to evoke a place of wonder and strangeness. Mr. Peltzer descends into a cave of treasures where he encounters a Chinese man, who serves as the guardian of a Mogwai, which is the Mandarin term for "monster".

The Mogwai, much like the foreigner, represents an encounter with something unknown—a challenge to the normal categories of existence, akin to any novelty. It exerts a fascination and courtesy, yet because it is unknown, it also carries the danger of destroying the established order.

The name bestowed upon the monster, Gizmo, reflects this concept of a novel yet unknown entity. The unknown element is also linked to the illegitimate, as Mr. Peltzer acquires the Mogwai despite knowing the old Chinese man’s reluctance to sell it to him.

Upon receiving the Mogwai, Mr. Peltzer is given three rules of paramount importance:

• Do not expose it to light, or it will die.
• Do not expose it to water.
• Especially, never feed it after midnight.

These regulations become critical, as breaking the rules of proper hospitality is the catalyst for chaos.

#### The Pathology of Order and Symbolic Inversion

The film portrays a series of locations and characters where the vehicles of order are pathological and distorted, where elements are not functioning as they should.

The authority of the police is depicted as non-functional and corrupt. The bank supervisor is abusive and condescending, proclaiming, "I would have fired you in a second". Another notable figure, Mrs. Deagle, is portrayed as a literal Scrooge, stating that "the bank and I have the same purpose in life to make money not to support a lot of deadbeat".

The film also introduces Marie Futterman, who embodies Nationalism and xenophobia, complaining about foreign technology and yearning for a time when people purchased American products, lamenting "damn foreign cars".

The ultimate embodiment of this systemic problem within the normal order of things is Mr. Peltzer himself, a failed inventor. Although he continually invents new things, his inventions consistently fail, thereby demonstrating his incapacity to adequately provide for the future.

Mr. Peltzer boasts of "fantastic ideas for a fantastic world," claiming, "I make the illogical logical". However, it is precisely his failure to do so that initiates a period of chaos. Since Mr. Peltzer cannot support his family, this responsibility falls to his son, Billy.

This corruption of the normal order is visually represented as an inversion.

This is subtly illustrated by Billy placing his nametag upside down on his bank desk. In cosmic terms, the father's failure precisely mirrors the yearly experience of the sun descending lower and lower in the sky. The days grow shorter as the solstice approaches, and darkness intensifies, instilling the fear that the darkness might prevail and the light might vanish forever. In the film, this escalating darkness is concretely shown by the eruption of the gremlins into the town.

Furthermore, the imagery of the father’s descent is depicted in two distinct instances. Firstly, Mr. Peltzer departs from his family for Christmas, an act symbolically equivalent to the Solstice.

More explicitly, this descent of the sun's light is best encapsulated by a story related by Kate, where she recounts her father dressing as Santa Claus, or Father Christmas, intending to surprise them by descending the chimney. Santa Claus's act of coming down the dark chimney and emerging into the fire pit, where the fire is kindled, is a precise image of the Sun setting into darkness and subsequently being reborn for the new year.

However, in Kate’s narrative, the father becomes stuck during his descent, and the darkness prevails, transforming Christmas not into a celebration of birth, but into an experience of death. This duality is a central concern of Christmas, where the divine logos, the origin of all meaning, is born in a dark cave amidst the rise of a foreign empire and the massacre of innocent children, all killed in the attempt to extinguish this new light, this new king.

#### The Duality of the Mogwai and the Birth of Vices

In the film, the dark potential represented by the Mogwai, or monster, is not inherently malicious, at least not at the outset. Gizmo appears rather benign, charming, and attractive due to its fascinating strangeness, much like novelty in general or the experience of the strange and foreign.

It is only when the rules of proper hospitality are violated that widespread chaos ensues. Gizmo is malleable; it can be influenced for good or for ill. In this sense, it possesses the capacity to be integrated into the normal order, to be tamed. This notion is particularly reinforced in a scene where Gizmo is shown sporting the American flag, portraying Gizmo as the integrated foreigner.

The other Mogwai, however—those that erupt from Gizmo—are not benign. They are mischievous and destructive, seeking to propagate and augment their power, not as integrated exceptions but akin to a foreign invasion. A practical way to understand these other Mogwai is to consider them on a personal level. Imagine an individual possessing desires at the periphery of their being, thoughts and potential actions within them.

A fundamental desire, such as that for food, sex, or pleasure in general, is not inherently negative if properly regulated. Such desires can, in fact, be beneficial. However, if one breaks the given rules—plunging these desires into water, which symbolises chaos and potentiality itself, and allowing them to multiply; or feeding them after midnight, in the dark moment where light and order are at their lowest—then one will generate vices in one's life that will eventually take over and lead to destruction. This mirrors how the gremlins begin to destroy the city. The act of surrendering to impulse and desire is depicted as a regression from the mammalian to the reptilian brain in the film.

#### The Bar Scene: A Saturnalian Inversion

This regression is vividly displayed in the bar scene, considered one of the film’s best, where a more pagan influence becomes apparent. The Winter Solstice in ancient times was also observed as Saturnalia, a period in the year when all the structures, morality, and taboos of a society were inverted. It was a festival of inversion.

The bar scene showcases the outcome of the rule of darkness, where all the tropes of human vices are caricatured and merged into one colossal, chaotic, and orgiastic event. Initially, it depicts a surrender to leisure activities such as games, dancing, drinking, smoking, and eating.

This progresses to rowdiness, violence, gambling, perversion, theft, and murder, all conflated together. It is in this environment that Kate comprehends that darkness can only be dispelled by light.

This realisation directly relates to the third rule: not to expose the creature to light. The Mogwai, and particularly the gremlins, embody this dark potential, chaos, the unknown, the undetermined, the imaginary, and the nightmare.

This is why the first casualty of their appearance is a scientist, as they precisely represent that untamed and uncontained domain. Bringing these dark entities to light is precisely how they are destroyed: by naming and framing them properly, accomplishing exactly what Mr. Peltzer claimed he was meant to do – making the illogical logical.

This is how these dark things are tamed, and their wildness dissipates. Consequently, Kate not only employs fire in the bar scene but also uses a camera, which casts light on the gremlins while simultaneously documenting them.

#### Gremlins as Modern Monsters: Technology and Cleansing

Gremlins are a rare instance of a modern monster. Their legend first emerged during World War II as a personification of accidents and breakdowns in technology, specifically in aircrafts and machinery. They were playfully depicted as one of the adversaries to be confronted in the war efforts.

Technology is inherently a form of warfare.

This is not exclusively a conflict against other people, but also a war against the dangers of the natural world in general. It involves utilising the potentiality of nature to defend against nature itself, serving as a supplement to protect humanity, to enhance its power, and to diminish its vulnerability to cold, darkness, disease, and human limitations.

Ultimately, technology can also manifest as weapons against political enemies. In this context, the monstrous Mogwai can be perceived as the potentiality of the natural world itself.

This potentiality possesses the capacity to both destroy humanity and to be focused, tamed, and channelled towards a greater defence against the dangers of that very natural world. This interpretation aligns with the Chinese man’s statement at the conclusion of the film, asserting that the Mogwai represent the very force of nature itself and that the Americans are not prepared to gain the keys to that force, as they are acting irresponsibly.

The film fully explores the paradox of technology. While technology empowers humanity, it simultaneously renders it more vulnerable; human lives are dependent on the smooth functioning of vehicles, electrical systems, and appliances. Although the advent of the gremlins is excessively destructive, it also functions as a strange kind of cleansing.

The gremlins embody chaos, but this chaos acts as a flood to cleanse the city. Consequently, all the images of pathology—Mr. Futterman, Mrs. Deagle, and the policemen—are destroyed in this dark transition. The deaths of the "bad apples" in the movie are specifically attributed to technology turning against its user in a time of chaos, exemplifying the demise of Mrs. Deagle, the police officers, and Mr. Futterman.

#### The Return of Light and the Restoration of Balance

To comprehend the coherence of the concluding scenes, where the gremlins are ultimately destroyed, one must first consider the relationship between gremlins and technology.

The malleability and influenceability of Gizmo render it not only the origin of the gremlins but also the solution to them. Just as the gremlins caused fatalities through a breakdown in the normal functioning of technology, Gizmo orchestrates a final inversion. By losing control of a toy car, Gizmo finds itself in the precise location to finally terminate the long night, reigniting the fire at the solstice’s lowest moment and allowing sunlight to re-enter the narrative.

The return of the Sun and the restoration of balance are also signified by a return to the pristine natural world, represented by the garden setting in the final scene.

As the gremlins melt away into formless chaos, the father also returns with the sunlight, reinforcing the entire structure and pattern of the movie.

The return of the Sun in the film occurs on Christmas morning, seamlessly integrating all the imagery with the Christian understanding of the birth of the Christ child as the dawn of a new era.