The 1990 film Ghost is a drama and fantasy film. It was nominated for multiple Academy Awards. Starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn and Whoopi Goldberg, written by Bruce Joel Rubin and directed by Jerry Zucker. In this movie there are two protagonists, Sam Wheat and Molly Jensen. In Joseph Campbell's term monomyth the main hero would be Sam Wheat. Sam is a banker living in New York City. After returning from a movie theatre one night, Sam and Molly are mugged by a man named Willy. As Sam fights Willy for the gun, Sam gets shot and dies.
This is where Campbell's 'Hero's Journey' Monomyth first stage called departure: refusal of the call occurs. After getting shot, Sam finds himself walking back to Molly to only find Molly crying and holding him in her arms. He then lives in a different dimension, and sees himself in the hospital and is able to view other ghosts who like himself are in denial of death. It is only after he is dead that he realizes he was murdered. His coworker/ friend Carl was behind a money-laundering scheme and hired Willy to mug Sam. Sam helps Molly understand why he was killed and protects her from Carl and Willy with the help of a spiritualist. The next departure is called supernatural aid. Sam meets Oda Mae Brown. Oda Mae Brown is a con artist posting as a spiritualist. Sam learns that Oda Mae can hear him but not see him. So he decides to use her in order for him to be able to communicate with Molly.
Campbell's 'Hero's Journey' Monomyth second stage called initiation: road of trials is where Sam wonders the city of Manhattan. He encounters a ghost in the subway. The ghost has learned to move objects from the living world dimension and teaches Sam how to move solid objects as well. By learning this technique, Sam is able to make himself present to the living world by being able to move anything. The next initiation is viewing the whole picture. Sam realizes that the only way he can help Molly know the truth about his death is with the help of Oda Mae Brown. He tells Oda Mae the address of where Molly lives. She visits her several times till Molly believes her. Towards the end Sam acknowledges his death and Oda Mae allows him to enter her body. This is the final encounter between Sam and Molly. The Third stage is called return: freedom. Now that Molly is safe and knows about his murder and why he was killed, Sam can face his death. Sam then leaves Molly and rests in peace.
Some major symbols shown throughout the film are heaven, hell, light, ghost, shadow, earth, darkness, and blood. Blood represents life form; it is the sign that shows Sam’s life is gone. The symbol heaven and hell are presented a lot because the film provides an after life experience of the commonly way life after death is presented. Being that when a person dies, it is likely known that one either goes to heaven or hell. Heaven is perceived as a holy place where good deeds are recognized and accepted. However, hell is the opposite of heaven, meaning that hell is a place where souls suffer for the bad done deeds, sort of as a punishment. In this film, light is a characteristic of heaven as darkness is hell’s characteristic. Earth is where Sam’s soul is still remaining because he has not accepted his death. Earth is in between heaven and hell. It is where Sam can communicate with Oda Mae Brown. Sam randomly visits a psychic shop and meets Oda Mae during one of her spiritual sessions and realizes that she is a fake. He laughs at her and notices that she can only hear him but not see him. This allows Sam to be able to communicate with Molly by using Oda Mae.
Being able to acknowledge the symbols of this movie allows the viewer to better understand what heaven, hell, light, blood, darkness, etc is all about. Blood can be determined in many ways but the way it is shown in this movie is death. Death then allows us to undergo two major symbols of after life, which is heaven and hell. Either one is recognized in many ways. In this film, heaven is viewed with lights coming from the top. Meanwhile hell is seen as dark shadows rising from the ground. The lessons to be learned from this film would have to be good deeds go to heaven, bad deeds go to hell. As Willy and Carl both died, their souls went to hell. While Sam’s soul went to heaven for the good deed(s) he has done.
No comments:
Post a Comment