What Signs is really about (SPOILERS!)

Rating: 7/10 (16 September 2002)

WARNING: FULL OF SPOILERS!
After leaving the cinema, I was somewhat confused, but sure that the movie was NOT about alien invasion. Later on, I figured out some pieces of the puzzle. First of all, I was shocked after reading some many posts in which people thought that the movie was crap, because the aliens had no weapons, earth is covered by water mostly, the aliens were green, man-like and so on... It think it was pretty clear, that it wasn't about aliens invading earth (this was definitely a metaphor).
There are many scenes that should really disturb you when think this movie has no second, subtle meaning: E.g., the boy killing the dog with a bbq fork (very strange, should be impossible, and the reaction of the other people is strange as well). Generally, some of the main characters act strangely in numerous scenes, which together with some of the little girl's comments might hint at a dream. The vet who accidently killed Gibson's wife plays a very important role. He is sorry for what he did, but Gibson is unwilling to forgive him (in one of the key scenes of the movie). He lost his faith including forgivingness as one of the major parts of chritistianity. Before leaving, the vet tells him that there is an alien in his house. This alien is the ONLY one that is seen in the entire movie (except the one on TV). This is Gibson himself, i.e. his faithless part, a demon. He created this demon by giving up his beliefs. The vet was haunted by the demon, couldn't take it anymore, and left. Most importantly, you never see an alien doing harm to anyone! Even when attacked by Phoenix, he does not defend himself. This is not an alien and he is not hostile. I believe the main topic of the movie is Gibson's bad relation to his son (after having lost his faith): his son wishing Phoenix was his father, the dispute at dinner,... If you paid attention, you might have noticed, that the alien (Gibson's faithless part) only haunts his son (in the cellar, upstairs). One of my friends was 100% sure to see a kind of reflection of Gibson on the alien's skin in one of the final scenes. This could be explained by the fact that the alien represents a part of Gibson. The three remaining characters are able to jointly displace the demon: Phoenix' baseball bat, the boy's asthma, the girl's water toxication problem. You can basically forget most the stuff that is shown on TV and said in the radio (about the invasion) as this is NOT real. E.g., it could be part of a dream. However, some things are hinting: "people in middle-east" found out how to get rid of the aliens (middle-east is the birth-place of many religions), water (holy water is of great importance in various religions) destroys the demons,...
Things that are ambiguous, but that I don't understand (yet :) :

The boy killing the dog (the dog became aggressive when they tried to give him water...) - The killing of the second dog - The army office scene - It seems like the little girl had some ambiguous lines, that I was unable to comprehend

Finally, I wonder how one can ignore the subtle meaning of the film: aliens that can fly through space but cannot open wooden doors?? The same alien that Gibson met at the vet, comes to his house to take his son? And, think about it: If the director would have wanted to show evil aliens, he would have at least made a different "fighting" scene at the end. The "alien" seems pretty harmless. There are no flying saucers, just "lights".
Besides all that stuff, I didn't like the movie that much. I liked the first part, but was disappointed by the ending. The same holds for Unbreakable.