The symbolism of Venom and Brock, or the alien and the human symbiosis, is a wonderful metaphor for human romantic relationships. For if the fit is wrong then one slowly consumes the other until ill health emerges, regardless of the apparent bond. Only when the relationship is right will they be able to coexist as true symbiotes, each benefiting the other.
The dreamscape of the 2018 Venom movie is potent in the representation of the me vs. me struggle in difficult times, role modelling how to remain calm when there are so many sources of potential threat in our era. It can be challenging at times not to allow our own inner "Venom" to "bite people's heads off," yet as we learn to see this inner battle as our everyday reality, we have a real shot at learning how to become better people capable of dependable empathy.
There have been real villains and heroes of history, yet in everyday life aren't we a bit of both both? If the hero represents love and the villain represents indifference, aren't they both in us all? I know they're both in me. The real battle is how to be more hero and less villain, how to bring more healing and less hurt so we can care for ourselves and those we love, be happy and lead good lives.
When is it we feel our "venom" rise? When we feel threatened? That's natural. It's our primitive survival brain getting out of bed, taking over for a while. It comes when we are afraid, under pressure, unloved or simply scared. That's how we really live, isn't it? Isn't that why Venom is symbiotic and not parasitic? Because we evolved to have a survival mechanism and it's perfectly healthy in a society that doesn't trigger it all the time.
All we're really taking about is how fear and lack of support in our lives triggers our own primal brain, our survival instincts, causing us to feel more indifferent and less loving.
So perhaps from the ivory tower of the critic it's just a movie, but to those who feel the struggle of being pulled into indifference when we'd rather be loving and feel loved... this is a reality that hurts us.
The "Venom" is in us is simply a defence mechanism in a toxic culture. Why "venom"? Because that's the bite of a spider or snake, the same as the cold indifference that bites us every day and even then we're still fighting hard to be fully human. We're doing our best to limit that "reflex monster defence" instead of becoming monsters. It sucks that that's the best we can do, but it is what it is.
We should be asking why the audiences love Venom, looking for the deep psychological reasons and ask what it says about modern culture and what we humans really need to be healthy. Kids are smart, they know what helps their mental health and they know what hurts them.
Yes, if we use our "Venom" too much it will eat away at our hearts - the heart will "atrophy" when it should be "a trophy," the sacred core of our soul. And so when we learn to be truly symbiotic with our primitive drive, our need to survive, learning when and how we should defend ourselves instead of "biting people's heads off" randomly and with emotional indifference, we'll be okay. Then we'll have crowned love as the ruler of ourselves, we'll have calm brains and quiet souls, happy with what it means to be human. In noble-dark we defend from a feeling of love, from bravery and self sacrifice - that's when we need our "Venom."
I know when you're feeling the "venom," the anger switch flipped, you wanna "bite my head off." You wanna shout and tell me of all the pain you need to let out. So let it out little darlin' if that helps and I'll still love you, always be there when you need me. That pain, that "venom" will waste your heart away, kill you a bit at a time, unless you let your love shine through, channel it into a force that helps others, that becomes protective love. That's when you achieve "healthy symbiosis," your light and your darkness working together to make a better world, always with love in command, your heart making the rules. That's when Brock became healthy, right? And you can too.