Let's Discuss This Painting: The Scream

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I'm sure most of us have seen this famous painting before, but what does it mean? We see a terrified man standing on a dock. The question is, why is he terrified? Why does the background appear twisted and distorted in the way it is? Is the subject's terror because of his twisted surroundings? Did he just watch "Home Alone" and decided to imitateMacaulay Culkin? The people behind him seem almost fluid, like ghosts. Is this man trapped in a spirit world, and that is the reason for his horror, or are the spectres the source of his fear?
Share your thoughts. All of them!

It scares me :(

My 10 second analysis suggests that this lightbulb man is in fear and this fear kinda distorts his perception, which ironically worsens his condition.

Obviously he dropped his keys over the bridge.

My 10 second analysis suggests that this lightbulb man is in fear and this fear kinda distorts his perception.

one_plum

Expressionists are weird.

Looks like an alien to me "Oh **** should've taken that left turn at Andromeda."

I love this painting

This man saw your face, he was scared. He is beginning to faint, so the world is starting to distort and everything is becoming blurry. The people are fading away as his body attempts to remain conscious.Mousetaches

Well the sky is orange-redish. That might symbolize fear from whatever is in the distance. He's probably afraid of the ocean.Nerd_Man

I love this painting

nelson415

he like "OMG I'm on gamespot off topic"

It looks pretty crappy.

Someone just showed him 2 girls 1 cup on their laptop:lol:

Someone just showed him 2 girls 1 cup on their laptop:lol:

LostProphetFLCL

[QUOTE="Nerd_Man"]Well the sky is orange-redish. That might symbolize fear from whatever is in the distance. He's probably afraid of the ocean.harashawn

I love this painting

nelson415

Did he just watch "Home Alone" and decided to imitateMacaulay Culkin?

harashawn

That has got to be it.

[QUOTE="harashawn"]Did he just watch "Home Alone" and decided to imitateMacaulay Culkin?chikinlad

I did a little further research on it, check my last post above. Nerd_Man

[QUOTE="Nerd_Man"] I did a little further research on it, check my last post above. harashawn

I think the person in the painting was going for a walk to get some fresh air only to realize, through obsessive contemplation, that his life is a depressing, living hell causing him to scream in agony. Don't know much about Edvard Munch except that he has had a tough life.

I had that painting as a skin for my ipod once. It was pretty awesome.

I think he just experienced rule 34

The man is scared of the end of the world. Everything is fading away and hes scared becuase hes about to die

I believe I read on wikipedia that the picture is supposed to depict a man experiencing a panic attack.

My two cents peeps: Firstly, the man's expression and posture denotes a feeling of extreme anxiety; this is, in my opinion, due to what the subject percieves as the collapse of order within his universe. We can see from the image, that the sky, land and sea, perhaps a person's most important points of reference and physical orientation has been distorted and swirled, representing the abolition of traditional views of order and coherence in the universe; quite simply, reailty itself is collapsing.

Furthermore, this destruction is finalised when the man's body itself seems to be losing all objectivity and shape, as shown by the wave like motion of the lower part of his body. Not only is the external world around him collapsing, but his own body is becoming alien to himself. This is the ultimate source of his anxiety.

The Scream The wikipedia page for the painting. I found it rather interesting.