Jewish Symbolism in Mothman Prophecies

June 14, 2008 5:30 PM

Did anybody else notice all of the Stars of David in the movie the Mothman Prophecy? If so, what did you think it meant?

Just watched the movie for the first time and noticed an awful lot of
Star of David images and I was wondering what they represented/meant? Obviously I know what the Star of David means in the usual contexts.

posted by Raichle to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

It's an easily recognizable religious symbol that has a cast of conspiracy theories tied to it. As symbols go its probably one of the "big ones" you can throw into a film with no context to ad an air of mysticism. You'd have a harder time doing that with a cross-symbol, for instance, since it is easily tied to a short list of meanings by the American viewing audience. Or maybe it's just Jews in Space.

In short: It probably doesn't "mean" anything, other than as a sight gag...
posted by wfrgms at 5:49 PM on June 14, 2008

The director of the movie is Mark Pellington. I'd tend to agree with the assessment that there may not be a grand "meaning". Certainly the imagery is mysterious and highly visual. Kind of like all those music videos he directed.
posted by tfmm at 5:45 AM on June 15, 2008

OK, I've just re-watched The Mothman Prophecies again with your question in mind.

The only image I found that even faintly resembles a Star of David is the insignia on Sgt Connie Mills' cap which, like many law enforcement insignia, incorporates a six-pointed star in its design.

There are a few 5-pointed stars scattered among the Christmas lights at the end of the film, but that's hardly significant.

I'm sure you can't be referring to the recurring Y image, which is explained, to the extent that anything is explained, by the final image of the lights in the river.

I'm not having the "My God! It's full of stars!" reaction while watching this film, so I'm not sure what images you were referring to.
posted by SPrintF at 2:43 PM on June 15, 2008

I've watched it several times because the Mothman story is interesting to me. My mom says I'm related to half the town of Point Pleasant... my great aunt lived right down the road from the TNT plant, where we visited her several times. Anyways, I've never noticed a ton of stars either... care to point them out?
posted by IndigoRain at 4:58 PM on June 15, 2008

Response by poster: I don't have a copy of the movie to go over but I distinctly remember seeing it quite a few times and not the 5-point ones (I can count). It's all fuzzy in my head now, but I do remember it being on some buildings that did not look like synagogues. I'll have to see if I can borrow it again.
posted by Raichle at 5:15 PM on June 15, 2008

Well, when Klein goes to visit Leek in Chicago, there's a shot of a church whose windows have a six-petaled arrangement. This is somewhat related to the Star of David, but it's pretty subtle.
posted by SPrintF at 1:14 PM on June 16, 2008