I have occasionally read really in-depth symbolism analysis that made me think, "Oh, come on, now you're getting carried away." But probably 8 out of 10 of those times, as I gave it further thought or explored the ideas more carefully, I would realize they had merit.
Most people must recognize that the movie and story are chock-full of symbolic references. So to shrug off any particular one seems short-sighted. If the wind can represent Jack, and Jack's bedroom can represent the campsite, and the dead sheep can represent this and beans can represent that and so on ... Then who's to say snow can't represent something? Or water? Or the color red? Or the little horses? Or Aguirre's conversation on the phone?
I laughed at FRont-Ranger's bucket thread when I first saw it! And after I read it, I wasn't laughing ...
So now I'd much rather give those possibilities a chance. And when I see someone automatically dismiss some idea as reading too much into something, or protest that some line that I think has subtextual meaning is "just there to advance the plot" ... well, I feel like that person is missing out on some really interesting aspects of the movie.
Can anybody think of specific ideas they've heard mentioned that they thought were ridiculous? Or maybe ideas that they initially thought were ridiculous but eventually came to agree with?