Movies

Ghost world is a movie based on a comic novel by Daniel Clowes who did the screen play for the movie as well. The movie was released back in 2001 with the expertise of director Terry Zwigoff. (Terry Zwigoff, 2001) Ghost world is a story circling around the life of two teenage girls, Enid played by Thora Birch and Rebecca played by Scarlett Johnson. The motion picture is based in Los Angeles. (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)  Even though the movie did not win a big name in the box office, it has still made its mark in the eyes of the critics with a devoted cult following.

The tale rotates around the life and lies of Rebecca and Enid, both best friends and both societal outcasts in the summer following their high school graduation. Enid even though an outstanding artist, still has to attend remedial classes for arts in order to secure her degree. While Rebecca, is shown to be progressing well not only with guys but also in her job. The third major character in the movie is Seymor played by Steve Buscemi who is not only Enids companion but more or less her male Xerox in terms of aptitude and adjusting with the environment around. Seymor collects old records and like Enid, is an enthusiastic artist who is also a social outcast as he also has trouble adjusting to the society around him. Norman, the static character in the movie also constitutes an important and metaphorical image in the movie.

The movie travels around how the life of Enid changes with time, due to various reasons. These include her remedial arts class teacher who dismisses Enids work as childish imagery. Another reason is Enids attachment with Seymor and her growing affection for him, which stays veiled in her attempts to find him a girlfriend. Another reason for Enids changeover is her fight with Rebecca, loss of her best friend along with loss of her job coupled with loss of her scholarship which is awarded to her by her Arts teacher after showing her Seymors controversial piece of art. The following pages outline the flow of Enids thoughts and her character from the moment she passes Norman on the street to the point where she encounters Seymor.

During this small portion of the movie, Enid and Rebecca are still best friends and so far not any explicit sign of any conflict arising between the two. This segment of the movie commences from the point where Enid and Rebecca are walking down the street and on their way they encounter Norman. Norman at this point and throughout the course of the movie is seen to be sitting on the bench by the side of the road where he is anxiously waiting for the bus. This section of the movie shows Enid as being the carefree, cynical social outcast.

Of particular importance in this portion of the movie is Enids hair color. Being a rebel and a punk rock enthusiast she has dyed her hair green. Dressed up in casuals, Enid roams around with Rebecca, who is quite her opposite in terms of the attire. Enids carefree attitude is also reflected when she screams in Normans ear that the bus that passed from here stopped functioning two years ago. There is an explicit contrast between Norman and Enid here, and this particular incident serves as an echo back for Enid by the end of the movie. Norman here is portrayed as the emotional nostalgic soul as opposed to Enid.

After meeting Norman, Enid and Rebecca progress towards Joshs home. Josh in essence, serves as Enids punch bag. Again, we see how Enid reacts when Josh does not open the door. Her language and her dialect also reflect how carefree she is, as demonstrated by her use of language that includes offensive language as well. She is outspoken and also bold. As opposed to her Rebecca is again the quiet introvert sort in the scene. The setting and mood of the scene is also upbeat and hip hop and the weather is cool and the sun is on bright and the day is full.

The movie then progresses in to another direction where Enid takes Rebecca to a record shop. This is the first place in this portion of the movie where Enid faces explicit opposition with crude remarks being thrown at her by the people in the shop. Not only is she made fun of by terming her style of sense as outdated but also she is rudely asked to pay back the remaining cash that was due. Enids anger for once takes over her carefree and outspoken nature in this scene.

From there Enid is shown to return home and dye her hair black while at the same time listening to the record that she bought off from Seymors garage sale. She is shown to be listening to the song that Seymor suggested that she will love, again and again as she finds solace in it. It must be pointed out here that Enid plays this record in a state of a fine frenzy and anger after returning from the record shop.

Enid then returns back to Seymor in a somewhat sober outlook and talks to him about the record that he gave her the other day. Seymor excited then shows her other records of his as well. As mentioned earlier as well, Seymor is basically a record collector and he has a huge collection of old records which he also shows to Enid in the later part of the movie. This is the point in the movie where Seymor and Enid have a real conversation the end result being that they become close friends and this friendship develops in to love in the near end of the movie.

The importance of these scenes is that it helps to enforce the significance of Enids and Seymors characters. It shows the similarities that are in between them and how both of them can relate to each other. It also shows how Enid finds solace in Seymors Company and his choice of songs. Both of them are battling against the world for the fact that they are unconventional in their outlook and manner and both are not accepted by the society. The scene also portrays the importance of emotional attachment and hope that Norman so perfectly symbolizes. The movie has a wide amount of symbolism in it, which is reflected in the characters portrayal and this is perhaps one of the reasons why it has been so famous amongst the critics.