the nude people...

[Revolver_04]

i cau understand to usage of the nude couple in the Undertow booklet, but did they have to be so ugly and fat??

C

[brent]

i dont want to get too "deep" on this one.....but you claim (and i pretty much agree) that the naked individuals in the album insert were "ugly and fat." i personally cant come up with any quick explination, except that i think tool is once again trying to portray things as neither "ugly" and grotesque. but that you can find beauty in all things. that there is a necessary reason to find the beauty in anything, no matter how over-weight the individual might be. plus it doesnt hurt the hype. actually, and unfortunately, i never got around to listening to undertow until AFTER Aenima came out. of course i had heard sober on the radio and MTV. but i do recall quite a lot of hype referring to the inside of the booklet. the fact that stores like Wal-Mart dis-continued the sale of undertow until they changed the album artwork only PROVES their point. i dont know......i guess some things are just more "shocking" to others.

-s p i r a l - o u t - k e e p - g o i n g-

[Christopher]

i think they thought it was funny......doesnt really have a reason.

[sidez]

I do not agree that they are "ugly and fat." All right, by Western standards the woman is obscenely grotesque because of her large physique, and the man has no obvious muscle mass and his hair could be considered "too long," but it is all a matter of perspective and opinion. The woman must mean something more than just a partner to the man, considering she is depicted in two other images in the booklet. What confuses me most are the two rings she wears on her hands.

[scorpioali]

what a strange thing to say. "why did they have to be so ugly and fat?" i'm sure it goes along with the theme of the album, so why even ask such a question?

[manifestcontent]

i thought i heard somewhere that it had something to do with obesity. obesity being one of the seven deadly sins. i dunno. and yes ugly and fat is quite the immature response.

[Nothing...]

well saying that they are fat and ugly i belive has nothing really to do with it sept for the fact that the woman is bigger than the man and has her arms around him maybe the subject is the man maybe he is freeing him self from all the vanity "bull" but on the other hand maybe the woman is controlling him. i could even go as far to say that in most ideale relationships the man is useally bigger than the woman perhaps this is a twist on that.
also, lots of people belive that to prove you love you should succom to sex maybe the man is proveing his love for this woman who.. most would deem "ugly" and i think its beautiful but the true answers ly in adams head id love to take another look.

[national]

when you look at the picture you imeadatly think disdust.
but its far from it,
the 2 figures are somehow connected, relatioship wise, the eye contact between them shows this.
the pitcure shows the ironic compatibility between 2 very different poeple.

who's to say that the woman is a woman. ?

[ShackledEidolon]

Just for more info on this think about any statue or depiction of a mother entity or nature entity such as mother earth. These are always very large women. Back when food was scarce it was a favorable thing to be fat because you could survive better and also would be able to produce milk for your offspring and survive hardship. So it seems to me that this entity is a motherly figure and the weak-man figure is the thing which needs sustenence and nurturing. So perhaps it is upon these first observations of weakness of the soul that we are also made aware that there is a way to strengthen it. Embrace this motherly entity...perhaps the shadow? something that will birth us into a new world and keep us warm and safe and help us to grow stronger.

Then again it can also just be a shock statement...boy have our tastes in women changed in the last 800 years or so

[Hyatir]

i agree, and the woman seems quite pale - unattractive and ugly to us, however a tan skin implied peasantry to a Middle Age noble. I think it shows how our values have changed, but beauty, true inner beauty, has nothing to do with physical appearance. Somewhat like my first reaction to the music was my reaction to these pictures, a mixture of shock and disgust. It just shows how deeply entrenched i was, we all were, in the commonly held ideals.

[iampete]

this may be very dumb. but i just had the thought that maybe he's sort of feeding off of her and there's no esape from the dependancy. like a drug, and her grip is the undertow.

[iampete]

and maybe her obesity and ugliness represents the reputation of drugs. but in the pic it appears that they have a loving relationship and as if she (the drug) is comforting him.

[neochrist]

if it does have some secret meaning i dont care, its amusing, thats good enough for me.

[naked_but_oblivious]

i'm hiding here and being happy. and i think the ugly epople represent the feel of the album

[AnemicDisposition]

my own interpretation is the male is represenated as the undertow and the female is the helpless victim losing herself and wanting to get out but finding herself "far too comfortable" to try.

[iampete]

my own interpretation is the male is represenated as the undertow and the female is the helpless victim losing herself and wanting to get out but finding herself "far too comfortable" to try.

that's basically exactly what i said a few posts back but i figured that the huge woman was the undertow and that the man was the addict.

[Double17]

hm... did you ever thought of obviousness? If you read this question here, and if you read the answers, you will find your answer... These people SHALL look "ugly and fat". That IS the secret. Don't you think that this is the whole meaning?

Well.. I do not think they're ugly. Neither do I think that they're "fat". These are two words are filled with human stupidity. These two people are what they are. Nothing else. And just your MIND makes you think "oh... how ugly and fat... I dislike them". Trust your EYES and you will see that there's nothing disgusting on them.
Ah... and just by the way... If you can... go and search some Photos of Oliviero Toscani and you will SEE what I mean.

[illusorycorelation]

The man's hands are on his ribcage, possibly suggestingn that he wishes to open himself up, grow... and the woman's hands overlaping his suggest her approval, support and help with this undertaking. Or maybe he is opening himself to her, thus becoming vulnerable and taking a chance.