What is the explanation of "act of killing a bug"?

What is the explanation of "act of killing a bug"? - Brown Wooden Blocks on White Table

DoodleBug is a short psychological thriller film by Christopher Nolan. It is about a man trying to kill a bug like creature. At the end of the film, we get to know that he was trying to kill a shorter version of himself a larger version of a man is trying to kill this man. Watch the film on YouTube

I read some articles on this short film. One of the interpretations was:

This means destiny. What ever you do to control it, Karma always surprises you.

Other people gave their interpretations in some posts too.

But what was Nolan trying to convey by this "act of trying to kill"?



Best Answer

After watching this short-film multiple times and going through various articles and Q/A like this one from Quora and from my own understanding, I deduced that the
short represents Past, Present and Future.

First we see a filthy man in a dirty house searching for a small bug or rodent like thing to kill and he shows signs of Misophonia or Phonophobia. Which looks like a sign of anxiousness and paranoia in the action of the character but the main part comes when we see what that bug is:

enter image description here

It's miniature version of him. And we see that miniature version doing the same thing which the current version will be going to do next:

enter image description here

And then we see that the current version going to face the same fate too:

enter image description hereenter image description here

This whole scenario seems like running behind the past and ignoring the consequences of current actions. Our main character (Present) running behind the Miniaturize-self (Past) ends up crushes by the giant-self (Future).

Also the film name is Doodlebug which itself doesn't have any significance for the story but if we break it, Doodle means:

A figure or design drawn or written absent-mindedly.

Which show the state of our main character who is running after his bugself absent mindedly.




Pictures about "What is the explanation of "act of killing a bug"?"

What is the explanation of "act of killing a bug"? - Brown Wooden Blocks on White Table
What is the explanation of "act of killing a bug"? - Black Wooden Framed Wall Art
What is the explanation of "act of killing a bug"? - Self Care Isn't Selfish Signage



What is the film the act of killing about?

The Act of Killing (Indonesian: Jagal, meaning "Butcher") is a 2012 documentary film about individuals who participated in the Indonesian mass killings of 1965\u20131966. The film is directed by Joshua Oppenheimer and co-directed by Christine Cynn and an anonymous Indonesian.

What kind of documentary is the act of killing?

Well this film is one everyone should see. It's really hard to believe sometimes that people like these death squad leaders really exist and travesties like this really have and continue to happen. This film absolutely blew my mind. It is unquestionably one of the very best documentaries I've ever seen.



Werner Herzog and Errol Morris talk about \




Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Brett Jordan, Brett Jordan, Yudha Aprilian, Madison Inouye