Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Rosebud
Rosebud is perhaps the most famous symbol in movie history. What is the significance of the name "rosebud?" What is the significance of the sled? Is it the key to understanding Kane's life or just one missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle that does not explain much at all? A meaningful symbol or a MacGuffin? Are there other symbols in the film that are more meaningful or complement you reading of the sled (such as statues, jigsaw puzzles, Xanadu, etc)?
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Most people would claim that the entirety of Citizen Kane surrounds the term “Rosebud” and the significance behind it. Personally, I would argue that the film’s importance is through Charles Kane’s life, not this minute motif. This symbol has little significance as it is only placed in the movie to keep the audience interested and curious about Kane’s life, which is what this production is all about. “Rosebud”, to me, is just a MacGuffin, or a prop in the film added later on as an insignificant piece to spice up this wealthy newspaper man’s life story. Orson Welles further supports this fact as the last scene of Citizen Kane shows the sled, a mere toy from his childhood, burning inside the large fire with all of the other useless junk that Kane had lying around. The director here specifically indicates to the reader that just like the rest of Charles Kane’s inventory, this is just another dusty and forgotten piece from the past. Welles was trying to send a message to all of his viewers that life is meaningless without love. The cliché phrase “money can’t buy happiness” is exactly what he was attempting to get across and I feel as if the sled is no different than anything else that he owned. It was just another reminder of failed love, a common theme for his life. With that sled, Charlie was disowned by his family by the will of his mother so that her husband couldn’t touch the young Foster child (which is ironic because he was given up by his family). “Rosebud” was not an inspiring or important message, but a reminder of the love that neither his mother nor his father could properly provide in caring for their child.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I believe Rosebud is that missing piece of the puzzle that we put together throughout the entire movie. Throughout the movie, we get an insight into every part of his life from a different character except his childhood. The sled represents his childhood which is a mystery to all of Kane’s friends throughout the movie. The jigsaw puzzle complements this idea that the movie is like putting together a puzzle of his mysterious life. It is way more than a mere toy in my opinion. It represents a lost part of Kane’s life that no one can recall. The sled, even though no one solves the mystery in the movie, tells the audience what Charlie was truly thinking about when his life was at an end. With his last word, he managed to sum up his life even when the journalist refused to believe one word can do so. The entire movie was based around finding the meaning of that word. Upon finding out that it his sled, I immediately think of when he was a child. The sled shows us that Kane’s childhood was most dear to him. Overall it represents a time free of stress, money and obligations. A time of pure freedom and joy. Of all the wealth and power Kane had, he preferred life when he was a kid. The sled represents more than his childhood but a time of purity, freedom and joy. At his death, he cherishes freedom over wealth which tells people today it is better to have freedom rather than wealth.
ReplyDeleteI think rosebud is a very significant symbol that portrays Kane’s life. We first see the sled with rosebud on it when Kane was just a child. Life was simple and he had his entire future to look forward to. Like a rosebud, Kane was an un-blossomed flower that would soon bloom and turn his life into something beautiful. As Kane got older, the rosebud blossomed more. When he had just opened his newspaper company he was doing quite well and still a kind and endearing man. It was just like when a flower is at its most beautiful form, Kane’s life had hit the peak. Then, everything started going downhill. Money and success had gotten to Kane’s head and his ego grew. Kane thought he could control everyone, he thought he was everyone’s savior that could do no wrong. This part of his life is when the flower begins to die but you don’t want to throw it out yet because it still looks somewhat beautiful if you look at it from certain angles. As Kane aged, his power over others withered and he was no longer the same dominant man he once was. His second wife had left him and his once best friend despised him and the man he had become. He could no longer control those around him. At this point, the flower is drooping and can’t hold itself up; it’s time to throw it away. At the end of his life, Kane’s last words were rosebud because he wanted to go back to a simpler time. A time when he still had the chance to blossom and change the way things had turned out. Rosebud was the missing piece of the jigsaw that tied everything together. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to fully understand Kane’s life.
ReplyDeleteSome people would say that “rosebud” is just an object that drives the movie forward because without it there would be no plot, but I think it has deeper meaning to the life of Charlie Kane. I think that rosebud is something that really represents Kane’s life. A rosebud is something that hasn’t bloomed yet and, like the younger Charlie, got taken away from his childhood and could never be the same person as he could have been there. Even though the movie couldn’t move forward without the driving curiosity of what Kane’s dying word truly meant, I think that it is more than just a MacGuffin. We first saw rosebud while Charlie was just a child playing outside in the snow. He was an un-blossomed flower that that had his whole future ahead of him and could do anything he dreamed of. But, then he was abruptly taken away from his family and simple life which changed him into something that wouldn’t have happened if he continued his life. For the rest of his life, he was a man who could only truly love himself and was forever scarred by his longing for a simple life. Rosebud is something that he thought of throughout his entire life up until his inevitable death. He never got to become the person he wanted to be when he was younger so he was forever left as just a rosebud. Although that word reminded him of a happier time in his life, it also brought pain with it for his want to be back home as a child.
ReplyDelete“Rosebud” is the most well know symbol in Citizen Kane, perhaps the most well know symbol in film history. “Rosebud” symbolizes Kane’s wish to revert back to childhood, before his life became controlled by wealth and power. It is important to the film because it is the only thing we hear from Kane’s perspective; “Rosebud” is not tainted from other points of view as is much of the film. Even though “Rosebud” is a strong symbol, there are other powerful symbols in the film. One of these symbols is the second sled in the film, “Crusader”, which appears in an ominous Christmas scene between Kane and Thatcher. The scene is very poorly lit; Thatcher is shot from low angles to make him appear large and menacing, whilst young Kane is shot from high angles making him seem small and afraid. As “Rosebud” symbolizes the potential Kane once had; “Crusader” predicts what Kane is to become. As a young adult Kane uses The Inquirer to start a crusade for the working class against Wall Street, and against Thatcher. This crusade is best summarized in the montage scene of Thatcher reading The Inquirer headlines with increased anger. Another powerful symbol in Citizen Kane is The Inquirer. When Kane was young and idealistic, he tells Thatcher that the only one of his assets he is interested in is The New York Inquirer. In the beginning, Kane uses the small Inquirer to fight for the working people, even writing and signing a Declaration of Principles. As The Inquirer grows and begins to spread nationally, shown through dots on maps, Kane begins to become less idealistic and obsessed with power and money. Kane stops focussing on the working class, and runs for office, wanting both power and the love of people. Kane’s idealism eventually dies. He becomes over obsessed with money, building Xanadu and opera houses. He loses his drive to work for the people, this is shown when he eventually tears up his Declaration of Principles. This loss of idealism is symbolized through The Inquirer, as when the Great Depression hits, most of the newspapers are shut down.
ReplyDeleteRosebud is unarguably one of the most famous symbol in movie history. I believe that the sled and the name rosebud are a very key part to understanding Kane’s life, and I believe that Kane knew that this was the point in his life when he changed the most. While I think that there is an immense significance to the sled and the word rosebud I do not think that the specific name rosebud matter carries much significance. While one could see rosebud as a metaphor, as this was the point that Kane is blooming in his life and starting on a new course of his life, I think that this metaphor is overshadowed by the other connecting that can be made. In the beginning of the movie we see Kane as an innocent boy. He plays with his sled imagining himself taking part of the civil war. When Kane is given away by his mother, I think that he undergoes a change that affects his for the rest of his life. He is changed from an innocent boy to someone who understand the cruelty of the world. When he comes into money, he decided to take his life in a direction to try to help the poor by using the newspaper, a decision that can only be explained by the rosebud and sled image. His new job will be one where he will use a prominent position of the newspaper to help the poor by slandering the rich. I see this as a dig at his past especially at his mother. He sees the poor and sees people whom the system has failed and doesn’t look after, much like how his mother doesn’t care about him either. He uses his position to become the light in the dark for these people, however in this process he invests so much time in his work that he forgets how to be a moral person and how to take care of the people he cares about in his life. This symbol of the sled and rosebud remind him of a time where he was still innocent and had parents to watch over him. He most likely wishes to go back to a time like this.
ReplyDeleteIn this way, the imagery of the rosebud and sled are in fact the key to understanding his life.