The Power of The Dog Explained | Ending Explained

a few days ago i saw the power of the dog twice and after that second viewing i was feeling so satisfied because i feel like i finally understand the ending how the ending played out what the ending means and the symbols and themes and references throughout this movie that make it such a powerful story with a fantastic message so to break it down we're gonna use three themes one mask of masculinity where we'll discuss phil's masculinity phil's arrogance filled sexuality bronco henry and george and rose's marriage two illusion of inferiority we'll discuss peter being bullied peter's image peter's qualities rose's alcoholism and rose's monologue about being unreachable and three king david's triumph we'll discuss the dog shadow in the mountains the meaning behind the title of the movie the biblical story of king david peter and phil's final night together phil's death and the ending with the bible verse and the rope under the bed and how it all relates to theme number one and theme number two and if you liked this video please leave a thumbs up and a comment it helps so much if you want to see more of these please make sure to subscribe as well let's get started theme number one mask of masculinity i want to start this analysis off by discussing our main character phil because he's clearly a multi-layered character and these layers of his character contribute enormously to the meaning of the ending phil is a character who is hiding something about himself and in order to hide his true self he acts as the roughest toughest cowboy on the ranch and this act works very effectively for him and the beginning of the film establishes that very well he dominates the dinner table socially he's the leader and center of attention with the funniest jokes and he celebrates his triumphs over the course of his life with his old mentor bronco henry but the beginning of this film also establishes that phil seems to be overcompensating for this thing about him that he is hiding because he leans so heavily into toxic masculinity he constantly calls his brother fatso he refuses to take a bath he talks about women in the most misogynistic way and he is relentlessly and unapologetically rude to peter and his mom rose and clearly the most common causes of toxic masculinity are societal pressures expectations from others and deep insecurity and this is exactly what phil is suffering from because phil is gay this is what he's hiding behind his facade of relentless toxic masculinity his mentor bronco henry wasn't only his mentor but was also his lover this is why phil remembers him so fondly and celebrates bronco henry's impact on his life and we get confirmation of this when we see phil getting lost in his romantic memories of bronco henry as we see the initials bh on the cloth feel keep to them and this realization for us as viewers peels back so many of the layers about phil he always seems like the most popular guy in the room but he's very obviously the most lonely the homophobic men and his crew are only friends with the facade phil has created while they dance and flirt with women phil remains by the bar by himself he's always impatiently waiting for his brother george's return because that's the only person around him who he knows actually loves him but george doesn't talk to him much and feels disconnected from phil because phil is so cold and condescending and isn't the true person who george probably remembers him as therefore george is also very lonely and this is why george marries rose without telling phil and why george says the warmest most touching line i just want to say how nice it is not to be alone so phil of course feels like he's losing his brother when rose moves in and is also losing any form of dominance control or power he used to have in the house but the entire power dynamic of the story gets dramatically shifted when rose's son peter moves in so let's talk about that in theme number two illusion of inferiority the relationship between phil and peter in the beginning is pretty straightforward and obvious they don't like each other phil torments and targets peter at every single opportunity and peter has done nothing wrong i believe the reason for this is because peter likely reminds phil of the kid he used to be the things he's learned to hate about himself that he should never have hated it's very obvious that so much about peter doesn't represent the traditional dominant male archetype especially at a time like the 1920s at a ranch in montana he likes to make paper flowers and draw and put together collages in his book he's awkward skinny lanky he talks with a lisp and he's not very athletic besides when he's hula-hooping to relieve his anger and stress so on the surface from all of this peter seems like the non-dominant and inferior character between him and phil but there are so many traits that peter naturally has which in my opinion actually makes peter the superior and dominant figure over phil peter explores his truest interests and engages in activities to express his passions he's driven to sharpen his skills in hopes of becoming an expert in this profession he's comfortable with expressing his emotions he had the courage to bring his dead father down from the rope he used to hang himself and he also has the courage to walk with his head high in front of countless men insulting and belittling him which is a very important scene that i will discuss in theme number three but overall peter is in so much more control of himself and who he is at his core phil sadly has very little control and very little independence peter's life is the life phil seems to have run away from at a young age as we see glimpses of his education in his gorgeous handwriting and we hear briefly he studied at yale now all phil can do is torment rose and peter as a desperate attempt to gain dominance over them and get back his brother the only person he is close to and rosa's alcoholism is caused by phil's harassment combined i'm sure with the grief of losing your old husband and old life as well as the pressure of living up to the expectations of her new husband's upper-class family and rose wants nothing less than for peter to end up like phil this is why while super intoxicated she gives him the talk about being unreachable like the stars phil's toxic masculinity and fear of self-expression has made him unreachable it's almost impossible to genuinely connect with someone like him phil has succeeded in making rose miserable who was already anxious and in pain but there is no way someone as broken as phil can control someone as strong as peter which brings me to theme number three king david's triumph as you've seen in this movie in the final third there seems to actually be this positive connection that develops between peter and phil there's this camaraderie here now that was never there before and i think it starts with this shot right here as said before peter walks with his head up between numerous ignorant men calling him a series of unfriendly names he seems not to really be bothered and i think in this moment phil feels somewhat inspired by peter's confidence with who he is almost as if he's who phil deep down wishes he would have been so right after this moment phil befriends peter and asks him to spend some quality time teaching him things around the ranch and in a scene shortly after we get a moment where phil and peter are looking at the shadows on the mountains peter immediately sees a shape of a dog which phil is shocked by because no one else ever saw it we get an earlier scene where phil's friends are trying to see what phil sees but they can't see it phil even mentions that george can't see it the only three people that have seen this shadow of the dog are phil peter and bronco henry and this realization speaks volumes about the title of the movie which i need to break down so it all makes sense the title the power of the dog is inspired by the verse in the book of psalms in the bible psalm 22 20 deliver my soul from the sword my darling from the power of the dog and this verse in simpler modern terms translates to this free my soul from the ways of authority that have trapped me save my soul from the power of my enemies phil is a gay man bronco henry was a gay man peter sexuality is never confirmed and we'll talk about that later but all three of these men face immense adversity and pressure from society to conform to what is expected of a man in their environment or else they're relentlessly taunted and excluded by their enemies this exclusion and alienation is the power of the dog only phil bronco henry and peter can feel the agonizing pain from the power of the dog this is why only these three characters can see the symbol of the barking dog in the mountains and that bible verse about the power of the dog is also most commonly perceived to have come from the mind of david king of israel king david faced a series of tragedies before and after his rise to power and this verse is known to be a plea to god to save him from his enemies and the greater forces that are causing him so much pain king david is also most popularly known for the story of david and goliath where he conquered the beast of a man who no one believed he could defeat and this story of david and goliath has a very important parallel to the ending of this movie so let's now talk about how the ending plays out when peter is speaking with phil he asks phil if any of the cavs die from wolves phil says there's always a few of them that get tore up or hamstrung or die of anthrax we call it black leg peter eventually after learning to ride a horse goes out into the hills on his own and collects the hide from an animal that's clearly infected later on we see him researching in his book about how the body can become infected with the disease like anthrax and this plan that he's putting together actually all relates to peter's narration during the opening credits of the movie before the movie even really starts when my father passed i wanted nothing more than my mother's happiness for what kind of man would i be if i did not help my mother and soon enough peter has the perfect opportunity to eliminate phil from his life and most importantly from his mother's life peter notices that phil cut his hand pretty deeply when lifting wood and fortunately rose gave away phil's hides in exchange for a pair of gloves phil comes back and he is enraged by rose's decision to give away his hides as it indicates a loss of dominance and control he wanted to burn the hides to maintain his desperate feeling of control and power he also very badly wanted to finish the rope for peter who he has developed a very close connection with however phil is relieved when he finds out peter collected the hide for phil to finish the rest of the rope phil is incredibly thankful for the friend he has made who he is seeing so much of himself in of course though this is all part of the plan peter is executing to save his mom but phil doesn't know that phil finishes the rope with the anthrax infected hide with the deep cut in his hand this entire scene signifies a moment of vulnerability for phil that he hasn't had with someone else in years phil even opens up enough to tell peter about an intimate moment between him and bronco henry we were way up in the hills shooting elk and the weather turned mean bronco kept me alive by laying body against body in a bed roll i fell off to sleep that way then peter has the courage to ask naked and filled as an answer this whole moment solidifies phil finally allowing himself to be this vulnerable with someone he's comfortable with the moment also solidifies peter's new undeniable dominance over phil and the next moment further solidifies peter's dominance over phil as he passes the cigarette back and forth from him to phil but keeping the cigarette in his hands this is something that someone as rough and tough as phil would never let anyone else ever do with him and i know some people theorize that peter and phil slept together on this night but i doubt that i think the point of this scene is to keep peter's sexuality ambiguous and drive further one of the biggest messages in the movie that sexuality masculinity and dominance are all in no way synonymous concepts no matter how peter acts in his daily life or what his sexuality is he is the dominant male in this final moment between him and phil a wild contrast to their very first moment together where phil seemed to be the dominant male over peter so the next morning phil is very sick his body is shutting down he is taken to the doctor but cannot be saved the doctor's conversation with george at the funeral confirms that it was anthrax and in the very final scene we see peter putting the diseased rope under his bed with his gloves on we also see him reading about the power of the dog in the bible signifying the parallel of him like king david defeating phil the giant goliath and signifying the overarching theme of the pressure of the cruel expectations of masculinity peter smiles as his mother returns home where she can live and love happily and will no longer be tormented by a sad broken man infected by the power of the dog alright that's my analysis subscribe for weekly videos and please send me recommendations and i would love to hear your thoughts and interpretations about the power of the dog i would love to discuss i hope to see you again and thank you so much for watching see you later

Channel: Lucas Blue

Views: 39,269

Keywords: the power of the dog explained, power of the dog explained, power of the dog ending explained, the power of the dog explained ending explained, power of the dog, the power of the dog, power of the dog movie explained, power of the dog netflix, power of the dog analysis, power of the dog breakdown, power of the dog ending, lucas blue, power of the dog 2021 movie, power of the dog video essay, power of the dog review, power of the dog spoiler review, film criticism, netflix, 2021

Id: jknL1Wv3jzc

Length: 13min 48sec (828 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 01 2021