Ghost World (2001), directed by Terry Zwigoff
Review of Ghost World (2001), directed by Terry Zwigoff
I went to a high school where I majored in writing, and my sophomore year we had a class that was writing geared towards the digital world. So we did podcasts, experimental writing, graphic novels—the entire shebang. And so when we were preparing for our graphic novels unit, Ghost World was one of the graphic novels that our writing teacher recommended to us to study. I never actually got around to reading the Ghost World series, as I had chosen to read the graphic novel Daytripper instead which was pretty lovely to read.
So when I was looking around on Amazon Prime Video for what to watch, I saw the name Ghost World atop one of the movies and became interested immediately. I remembered high school and so, in my boredom, I pressed play and sat back to watch. And man, should’ve really read the comics because this was pretty fun to watch.
With that being said, let’s dive into the review, shall we?
Content
Before we begin, I will admit, it took me a ridiculous amount of time for me to realize that the one girl was literally just a young Scarlett Johansson. Like, as in two days after the movie, I finally was sitting there and made this grand revelation. I’m not the best at remembering people if you can’t tell.
I imagine this movie is titled Ghost World because the people depicted in it live on the fringes of the real world and seem to linger about as ghosts. Our main characters are Rebecca and Enid, but we tend to focus more on Enid in the film. Enid has to take a remedial art class lest she’s not given her high school diploma, and she is seeing an older man named Seymour throughout the film. Both Enid and Rebecca are cynical when it comes to life and the world, Rebecca less so, which complicates their lives in a way that isn’t very helpful.
Personally, some of my favorite scenes in the movie was the art class with the pretentious teacher. She’s a teacher, not an art critic, but she tries to assume the role of cultural gatekeeper when it comes to her critiques at the student’s artwork. Enid has to take this class in order to graduate, but the teacher will basically only accept art that superficially has some quote-on-quote social meaning. She hasn’t gotten the hint that art is largely subjective. Enid manages to con her way into a good grade by presenting a piece about racism, which then gets her in trouble with the school.
Both of these girls are so negative, but as Rebecca begins to turn away from this lifestyle, we see how Enid will be trapped in it forever. She’s not going to change, even as she apologizes to Steve and faces action against her because of her art piece. Enid is stagnant, stuck in the ghost world looking in at the normal people. But, at the same time, we get commentary about not having to fit into society, about the consequences of staying true to yourself or straying from who you are.
Seymour has the most authenticity in this film though, that’s for sure. He’s just a nerdy record collector super passionate about what he’s doing. And while he gets burned and dragged the most in this film, it’s his story, not the coming-of-age one, that really appeals to me. Because he’s the most true to himself, even if it looks pathetic to an outsider. At the end of the day, authenticity trumps all, even though his methods are questionable when it comes to the extent of his romantic loneliness and eagerness to sleep with Enid.
Overall Thoughts
I can see how this film is able to be become a cult classic. It wasn’t a film that was great to me, nor a coming-of-age story that I would find myself returning to, but it has its merits. It emulates the vibes that suburban American tends to give off, such as the soullessness of of these suburban spaces for those who long for culture. Many might not like this film on a first glance, but it’ll grow on you the more you end up watching it.
