Ghost World Forum

Ghost World

Forum

This is the greatest movie for those who like movies with quirks
Be prepared for reeeeally weird people, but great stories, and acting. I personally had to DL alot of the movie soundtrack after viewing this wonderful masterpeice!

>>By Superb Boy (Monday, 23 Dec 2002 10:00)

Though this movie was extreeeeeeeeemly strange I loved it and I found it had an excelent element of mystery to it.

>>By Wuzzzup (Monday, 30 Dec 2002 22:22)

I dont think i have ever seen a movie that i was able to so strongly identify with. I loved this movie so much i watched it again about 3 hours after the first viewing.

>>By TIm (Saturday, 22 Feb 2003 09:47)

I too thought this movie was strange. I didnt get why the blonde chick was such a bitch to her best friend though hey. But i can relate to the movie me myself always finding myself having crushes on older guys, like much older, like 30 year olds LOL
i know what you are thinkin ewwwww but comeone you cant acctually say you have never thought old guys can be a tad bit hot hur hur hur !!!!!

>>By meeee (Saturday, 1 Mar 2003 08:30)

maybe I am looking to deep, or maybe everyone else has seen this, but doesn't Enid commit suicide at the end?

>>By sophie (Wednesday, 2 Apr 2003 15:02)

I think that Enid kills herself too. The bus showing up on a closed line is the first and only situation that breaks with the reality created from the rest of the film. I think she sees that the bench is empty, realizes the old guy must have died and gets the idea that she might take her own life.

>>By rob (Friday, 23 May 2003 07:55)

Perhaps the bus represents transition from world to world. For the old man, it was from life to death, but for Enid, it was from childhood to adulthood. While she packs, she listens to the little girl singing about a ribbon in her hair and during the film there are various references to her reluctance to let go of her childhood (the garage sale for example). At the end, I felt that perhaps she was saying goodbye to all this - but I didn't feel she was killing herself.

>>By tab (Monday, 23 Jun 2003 05:10)

Although Daniel Clowes mentions that the old man waiting for the bus was inspired by a real life situation, and that the guy in question disappeared when the bus line was actually reinstated, I agree that the bus scene (in fact all the scenes with Norman) departs from the more "realistic" tone of the rest of the film. Both times the bus appears, it is empty and has no destination on the front. On both occasions, Norman and Enid are the only passenger. What interests me is the use of red in pivotal scenes, especially the final scene. Note that the scene in which Enid is waiting for the bus sends us back to the opening scene of the film, via the image of the darkened building with rooms illuminated by tv sets. In the first scene of the film, we see Enid dressed entirely in red (her graduation gown). She is also dressed entirely in red when she gets drunk and sleeps with Seymour, but more importantly confesses her desire to "just disappear, and they'll never see me again". In the final scene, Enid is again dressed entitrely in red. Also, the wall behind the bus stop is painted red. Consequently, all the scenes featuring the bus stop feature a red background. Why the powerful symbolism of red? Depending on which culture you check, red can mean almost anything. However, it is closely associated with life-giving powers, magic and weddings. In ancient times, people were buried with red ochre to give them life in the afterworld. I agree that Enid's final appearance has a ghost-like quality, particularly because from a distance, her face (and choice of glasses) gives her face a pale, "ghost-like" quality. Her face is one of the most expressive devices in the film, from the transnformations she enacts on it via make-up, glasses, hairstyle, patrticularly her eyes, which are so magnified by her glasses. Note other uses of colour: Enid wears a yellow t-shirt in scenes connected closely to her childhood and upbringing (i.e. the Garage Sale and the scene where she listens to the song about the girl with a ribbon in her hair) and her failure to let go of these things. One final thought: why does the very last scene feature a bus crossing a bridge? The bridge doesn't really fit into the geography of Ghost World. Either it is just the exit from the town itself, or something more. Oh, it's symbolic of something I guess, but who knows what?!

>>By Richard (Saturday, 5 Jul 2003 15:23)

I'm a guy, so dont make fun of me, when I say my favorite movie is ghost world.
thora and scarlette as well as Buscemi are so.... WOW
I thought Scarlette Johansen was better in this then she was in girl with a pearl earring, or lost in translation.
but so anyways.... I can really relate to Enid because I can really relate to nobody... I'm just so different... I dont fit in anywhere.... I'm not goth... definietely not punk, prep..... im a bit of a dork....
RAR
but so anyways.... the movie... was sortof finding myself a bit.... I think that the bus at the end is literal.... she actually gets on a magic bus and never returns again... not suicide... or going to adult hood.

I would ride the bus

>>By bagelboy13 (Sunday, 11 Apr 2004 19:39)

also the soundtrack goes along with a lot of the movie

>>By bagelboy13 (Sunday, 11 Apr 2004 19:40)

hmmmmm........ read the comic book too... its much different...

but they both have there own unique qualities to them

>>By bagelboy13 (Friday, 23 Apr 2004 04:32)

Great movie that reminds me of those few girls I went to high school with that I felt completely intimidated by.

>>By The Walrus (Friday, 23 Apr 2004 16:36)

The DVD blurb says "out of synch with the world around them". I was happily empathising with the girl characters on that, & then the Steve Buscemi character appears, too much like me. I think the "Ghost World" is the world of people who see the conventional world as irrelevant, not rebels, just sidelined & 'not there' to others. (disaffection without protest) I will admit to wondering about the ending, I hope it meant that Enid had the strength to make a break for it / for her self / from "the world around" her. Sadly, Richard above makes me suspect the bus was death, but I have made my own interpretation according to my situation, a work of art is a pointer, not a rulebook!

>>By flamencoprof (Monday, 27 Jun 2005 14:33)

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