In the latest Saw movie, while the killing is still gruesome, the heavy emotion is so profound that we even think Jigsaw still has some empathy. The traditional rehabilitating method is too weak to truly transform a sinful person, so Jigsaw takes the matter into his own hands.
Inspiration Behind Jigsaw
John Kramer, also called Jigsaw, is a fictional character created by Leigh Whannell. He is a screenwriter who had serious migraines when he was younger. While he was having an MRI in the hospital, the silent death made him imagine, “What if I were given the news that your tumor was too severe to cure, and I would die soon?” Without feeling panic about this negative thought, he expanded his situation to a horror twist, “How the situation might look if a guy put people in a dire situation and said, ‘You have 10 minutes to live. How are you going to spend those 10 minutes? Are you going to get out of it?’“
He wondered how these people would react, what kind of person would do such things to people, and what might be that person’s motive. And the blueprint of John Kramer appeared.
Why Saws
Whannel’s pair, Director James Wan was inspired by a real-life criminal case he heard about when he was 17. A serial offender who broke into people’s houses to tickle their children’s feet, he told the police that he didn’t want to do it, but he received jigsaws with such orders.
So, there he has the idea that the victims mutilate a part of their bodies to become jigsaws if they want to survive in the time-limited trap, and these two horror geniuses come up with the idea that everybody part symbolizes what the person is missing in life.
It’s beyond me that an iconic horror movie figure, Jigsaw, is the product of one person imagining he might receive a death notice from the doctor, and the other hearing the crimes of feet tickler.
Whannel and Wan are two soulmate-like jigsaws for the creation of Jigsaw.
Go Back to the Roots
The advanced medieval torture machines, self-mutilating, blood, gore, and sinister dolls cross horror fans’ minds while talking about Jigsaw. But, the director wants to emphasize an epic quality inside Jigsaw. It’s more than just fear but there’s hope and hope damage.
The director told SFX, “People will really be surprised because, as good as the trailer is, it doesn’t convey much of the actual film. It’s more of an emotion-driven epic than anything else. This one is a standalone, grown-up version of Saw.”
God-Like Figure
I still get the adrenaline of horror and blow-minding barbaric cruelty from the movie. Furthermore, the emotional touch deepens the spirits of Saw.
I research extremely narcissistic disorders or God-complexion, people who are not only intelligent in plotting but also masters in human thinking.
A talented engineer with gifted psychological thinking, John could have been a devoted husband and responsible father.
However, the reality (the miscarriage, the divorce, and cancer) makes him commit a failed suicide, and realizes how he still wants to live by pulling a stake out of his leg. Therefore, he believes that only suffering can change a person to value their lives, confess to their misdeeds, and become a better person.
Although Jigsaw punishes people who, in his mind, should be rehabilitated, it still cannot justify his behaviors of acting like a God, a superior entity, deciding people’s life or death. The spree killing distracts John from making an effort to improve people’s lives forcing people to have the same logic of lives based on his standard of justice and ethics.
Religious Traps
The traps indicate a mixture of religious beliefs, like the core concepts of sins leading to punishments, hence the existence of heaven and hell; the karma of paying for what we did; and the chance of redemption through reincarnating.
The design of the reverse shotgun triggered me to ponder to what extent I’m willing to sacrifice to have a second chance at life. Jigsaw challenges people to find salvation inward but sacrificing lives to redeem a sin is against his principles of giving people a second chance.
Real-life Events
Jigsaw’s mindsets and behaviors remind me of the massive suicide led by Jim Jones, who was against the justice in authority, was disappointed with the reality, and insisted on his principles of how society should be. Both John and Jones are extremely intelligent, skilled at mind-reading, and regard themselves as absolutely right.
With the lack of ability to self-reflect, people will be self-centered, feel superior to others, and become the origin of catastrophe when they’re empowered by brilliance and their followers. What they contribute might be the inspirations of impressive horror films.
