Trivia: Shyamalan based the film on a story he told his children. This aspect of the production was questioned frequently, with one critic saying that if Shyamalan based his films on kid stories, he should go make films for Nickelodeon. Ironically enough, 4 years later he released "The Last Airbender" for Nickelodeon, which was considered to be one of the worst films ever released.
Lady in the Water (2006)
1 trivia entry
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Jeffrey Wright, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bob Balaban
Continuity mistake: When the scrunt forces his way through the door, it opens the wrong direction. The scrunt was inside the building trying to get out. When the latch broke, the door opened inward instead of outward, as if forced from the outside. How could the scrunt have done that? (01:38:15 - 01:38:45)
Question: What is the filmmakers's purpose in making Reggie (Freddy Rodriguez, the Guardian) only work out one half of his body? I don't get the symbolism.
Answer: It's not a matter of symbolism, but of making the audience remember who he is. If Reggie was introduced as a normal guy in the beginning, with no significant feature, the audience may not recognize him when he's introduced as the Guardian. The working-out-one-arm thing makes him memorable enough to be instantly recognized again later when necessary.
It is not that it makes him memorable - It is like Mr. Heep says - that he wants to be special. "Every soul has a purpose." Reggie is striving to find his - only it finds him.