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Anderson Ou
Intro to Fiction
Mary Hays
24th February 2015
Ryan: Symbolism and the Significance of the Decimated Body Parts and Felicity Fanjoy
In 2004, Chris Landreth directed a short film—Ryan. Within merely thirteen minutes, he
introduces Ryan Larkin, a talented ex-animator with revolutionary short films such as Walking,
and a brief portrayal of his life. Though once a well-respected animator, he’s now an alcoholic
who panhandles.
After watching the film, the first thing that appealed to me were the decimated body parts
of Chris and Ryan. In the beginning of the film, Chris implies that those decimated body parts
symbolized disastrous events that have took away a feature of their lives. Consequently, Chris
also hints that Ryan has gone through great hardships and challenges in his life that cost him
most of his “body parts.” As we could see, Ryan had a lot more decimated body parts. Chris
probably used this to portray the transformation of Ryan from a child prodigy to a beggar.
Although Chris’s idea of eliciting the character’s broken past by using decimated body parts is
interesting, I think that the scene when he introduces Felicity Fanjoy is the most significant.
Felicity Fanjoy is Ryan’s ex-girlfriend and Ryan explains that the time spent with her was
one of his happiest times in his life. I think the “joy” in Felicity’s name symbolizes happiness
which is evident from Ryan’s account. Also, I recall the scene when Felicity “puts” her hands on
Ryan’s hands. Although Felicity didn’t physically do so, Chris used that scene to further
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emphasize Felicity’s importance to Ryan. In addition, when Felicity had her hands on Ryan.
Some decimated parts were started to grow back. And at that moment. Ryan’s body was much
more complete than before. I think this also symbolizes how Felicity fill the gap in Ryan’s life.
But as a result, the absence of Felicity caused another gap in Ryan’s life.
Despite the length of the film, I think Chris manages to convey a lot, especially regarding
to Ryan’s life experiences. The role of Felicity and how Chris chooses to portray it really amazes
me. This is a film I will recommend and have recommended to my friends and family. The
symbolism and artwork is definitely worth watching and learning from.