by Spencer Norton

Although the protagonist clearly feels scared of the sunflower people, the fact that they are wearing bright colors which usually represent happiness gives viewers an uncertainty about their moral standing. Sunflowers are also usually symbolic of joy and warmth, rather than the more negative connotations associated with a typical antagonist.

Artist’s Statement

Ambiguity is a tool common in narratives which often directs viewers toward the narrative’s deeper message. By making a short film with an ambiguous narrative, I explored the ways in which the lack of narrative clarity can actually clarify a film’s purpose. There are many ways in which this film qualifies as an ambiguous narrative. It is vague in portraying the characters’ motivations, their morality, and their roles within the narrative. By keeping these aspects ambiguous, this film demonstrates the struggles of both conformity and nonconformity.

One of the main areas in which this film is ambiguous is in its morality. Although the protagonist clearly feels scared of the sunflower people, the fact that they are wearing bright colors which usually represent happiness gives viewers an uncertainty about their moral standing. Sunflowers are also usually symbolic of joy and warmth, rather than the more negative connotations associated with a typical antagonist. This contributes to an eeriness and an ambiguity when it is combined with the more threatening images of blood and darkness. This ambiguity prompts viewers to question whether or not these characters pose any real threat as the protagonist seems to assume they do. In this way, the ambiguity contributes to meaning in that it challenges the idea that nonconformity is dangerous.

This ambiguity is made even more extreme when a glimpse of a sunflower suit is shown under the shirt of the protagonist. Not only is the characters’ morality ambiguous, but this scene also makes it ambiguous whether the protagonist and antagonist are even on opposing sides. By blurring the line between the protagonist and the supposed antagonists, viewers are meant to question their face-value assumption that there is a black-and-white distinction between the protagonist and antagonist. Even though the sunflower people are clearly not conforming to societal expectations and norms, viewers are meant to consider the ways in which we all have unique qualities. It becomes not a question of whether an individual is unique, but whether they choose to express or suppress that uniqueness.

As the film goes on, it becomes a given that all characters have these sunflower qualities within them, which could be interpreted as symbolic for any qualities that fall outside of societal norms. Since everything else–morality, motivation, goals, etc.–is left ambiguous, viewers are left only to observe how each character chooses to express their sunflower qualities and what the effects of that are. In this way, the overwhelming ambiguity of the film directs viewers to the heart of its meaning. The people who are fully dressed in their sunflower costumes are portrayed as weird and unnerving to those around them, but they are the most colorful and apparently comfortable. The man who is expressing both the characteristics of a typical businessman as well as those of a sunflower appears to be very tense and uncomfortable. With blood coming from his face, it is apparent that he is in pain. The protagonist is shown aggressively trying to button up his shirt to cover up his sunflower suit, but he is clearly extremely physically uncomfortable while doing so. These different approaches and reactions to expressing sunflower qualities sends the message that, no matter where you are in the process of self-expression, there are negative aspects.

In order to convey this message about conformity and nonconformity, ambiguity is vital because there is no clear correct approach. While some of the characters seem more comfortable than others, they all experience different negative consequences due to their chosen approach to conformity. Not only does the film’s ambiguity direct viewers to this conclusion, but it also allows for an authentic portrayal of an issue which is, in reality, very ambiguous itself.

Head Editor
Gigi Valentine Knapp

Project Manager
Spencer Norton

Section Editor
Anna Lo Russo

Faculty Review
Benjamin Thevenin