As it is said at the beginning of the film, people today want to rebel but can not find the direction. The emergence of the Wave collective gave them a way to vent, or the forbidden fruit of the "fascist" made them taste the sweet of rebellion.

However, if taboo has a special appeal, what about breaking it? Carol was just such a special existence -- she was the only "red" in many white shirts, abrupt and drastic change in the tide; she was a soft, rigid presence in a group of able-bodied men. The film critics seemed to be trying to set off the firmness and greatness of her consciousness by drawing a strong contrast between such a "weak" female image and her stubborn resistance.

But she didn't start out that way. She once believed in Mr. Wenger's opinions, she came up with the name of Innovator for the group, and she was thrilled to wear a white shirt when Mr. Wenger proposed to have their own uniforms. So what made her suddenly change her mind and finally take a step in an even crazier direction? Here the film passed, treating in the most vague and dreamy way. It is not hard to imagine that her change may be related to the open mind of her native family. The "tolerance" of her parents had cultivated her freedom and self-awareness out of her bone marrow, which made her unwilling to go with the flow. But I can't help speculating at my worst malevolence -- why she chose a bold red on a day when everyone else was wearing a white shirt, but was plainly dressed in normal days. Is this a radical version of "not going with the flow", hoping to highlight her value by swimming against the "tide"? Did she hope to become the mainstay of Innovator by overturning the Wave?

Actually, she may have opposed the organization not because of a selfless anti-statist crusade, but because it did not evolve as she wished -- the name she came up was not accepted; raising hand in class but was ignored; the crew rehearsed even better without her than before. Gradually, she was isolated by everyone, so with a strong sense of self-esteem, she naturally stood on the opposite side of the group.

These "evil" thoughts aside, I honestly don't think Carol's rebellion had a positive effect on Wave.Stealthily printing out fliers at night and throwing them during highly anticipated swimming events had done nothing but caused a certain amount of chaos and even more to unite the Wave. In fact, what finally defeated the tide was not the people outside the group, but the people inside——the extreme incarnation Tim killed himself by shooting, and also pried open a huge hole for the seemingly impenetrable collective.

To be frank, everyone in this movie is more or less self-lost. A lot of people don't know why they exist, joining an organization gives them such a meaning. Although Carol was not a member of the organization, she could still be regarded as losing herself ——she found her self-value through fighting, which was not wrong in itself, but she relied too much on fighting, which backfired and led her “alien” in people's eyes.

As Mr. Wenger puts it ,“ We exclude those who are different from us.” Carol was an alien in the eyes of the Wave, and even Tim eventually became an alien in group. The "alien" is always around us, and it has nothing to do with Fascism or the collective Wave. Such “aliens” need to learn how to survive better in society and life, and others should also learn how to treat and enlighten them kindly. In this way, the society can be a more colorful and harmonious one.