Adam's Apples

What happens if you eat the fruit of the Tree of Life? The Adam's Apple or laryngeal prominence is a feature of the male human neck. It is the protrusion that is formed by the angle of the thyroid cartilage surrounding the larynx. The larynx is commonly called the voice box. It houses the vocal cords and manipulates pitch and volume which is essential for phonation. In other words, the larynx produces our voice, our words, and our verbalized feelings and ideas. Figuratively, the Adam's Apple is a symbol for a man's word or a man's word of honor. By extension, a man who has two Adam's apples is a man with two words or a man without honor. By extending the metaphor a little further, the Adam's apple is the word, the fruit of the tree of life, and the tree of life is man. If a man eats the fruit of the tree of life, or if a man 'eats his words', he becomes similar to gods who knew the difference between good and evil. This is the essence of the film 'Adam's Apples'. Juan Bautista, the protagonist, knows that he is homosexual but he denies it to himself and to other people. This is the reason why Aurelio, a mystic character in the film, tells him he has two Adam's apples. Juan Bautista falls in love with Giovanni, and to prove he was straight, also fell in love with Olivia, Giovanni's sister. When confronted with a choice between Giovanni and Olivia, Juan chooses the female because he wanted to live a normal life - a life with a wife and children. The life he chose did not end the way he wanted it. His wife Olivia could not bear children. She has a congenital defect in her female anatomy which led to complications that needed drastic surgery. She became useless as a wife and mother, and because she loves Juan, she decides to set him free. Juan suffers temporary insanity. He heard voices that told him he was John the Baptist, his namesake. He escapes into a remote island where he preaches and baptizes unseen believers. After a confrontation with the devil and himself, Juan finally accepts the truth and tells his father that he is gay. In the final picture, Juan gets together with Giovanni. He is now able to say freely that he has one Adam's Apple.