Code-X (72)

By: Joshua Glenn
August 9, 2015

Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke

Call this cultural code: For Your Sins.

Definition: Heavy-handed crucifixion symbolism, intended to convey the message that this character’s ordeal is redemptive, in some way, for humankind.

GreenLantern_Arrow_Jesus

Notes on this code: First became popular in 1960s pop culture… these days, when we see it it’s usually ironic. But not always! Mel Gibson, for example, takes it seriously.

Tropic Thunder
Tropic Thunder

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SERIES INTRODUCTION | ALL POSTS IN THIS SERIES

MORE SEMIOSIS at HILOBROW: Towards a Cultural Codex | CODE-X series | DOUBLE EXPOSURE Series | CECI EST UNE PIPE series | Star Wars Semiotics | Icon Game | Meet the Semionauts | Show Me the Molecule | Science Fantasy | Inscribed Upon the Body | The Abductive Method | Enter the Samurai | Semionauts at Work | Roland Barthes | Gilles Deleuze | Félix Guattari | Jacques Lacan | Mikhail Bakhtin | Umberto Eco

Categories

Codebreaking, Semiotics