Ghost World

This was such an interesting movie.

I didn't hate it, I didn't love it, I'm not really sure what to make of it but nevertheless it was fascinating. Apparently many people felt the same when the movie came out in 2001, mainstream audiences were not enthralled but critics really liked it, making this a major cult film. I wasn't even really sure what to expect from it, it centers on two friends Enid and Rebecca who just graduated high school and are trying to figure out what to do next. They're both very cynical and are easily the oddest girls in town, teasing gas station clerks, following a couple they claim to be satanists, and just interacting with the people of their town. And while they are looking for an apartment together, Enid comes across a personal ad in the newspaper and actually meets up with the guy, as we watch their friendship take off and grow. This slowly becomes a huge aspect of Enid's life and strains her relationship with her one and only friend, as she tries her best to figure out the best course of action. I really love these girls, they are so bizarre and yet so fun, it seriously made me realize I had an excess of friends like that through my teen years. I like the town they live in and the people they meet, the relationship between Enid and Seymour as their friendship grows is odd but endearing. You really have no clue where the movie is gonna go, and when it ends you do try to come to your own conclusions. That's not a bad thing by any stretch, but I think that's what hung me up on it. There is no clear resolution for really anybody and you do want to know what happens to these characters in the end. And surprisingly and I do mean surprisingly, this is actually based off a comic book and I reeeeally need to get my hands on that immediately, because I like these characters and I want to see them more. But beyond story details how is it? I like the dialogue it feels natural in that early 2000 fashion, the look of the film both in execution and substance is interesting forming a strange yet fully understandable environment. Maybe that's where the title inspiration comes from, the world feels just a touch off like you're seeing it from a unnatural viewpoint, or perhaps it means how our main characters are just shifting aimlessly, spinning their wheels going nowhere and having no idea where to go. Now that makes a lot of sense, because when you're a kid it's oh, go to school, do your homework, get good grades, for an absurdly long time, so what do you do when it's finally over? No more school to go to, a constant in your life removed from the equation, what comes next? A lot of young adults feel that, and true some plan for college or what have you, but most don't fully know what to do next. Why do so many high school movies always ask the question what are you going to do next or what do you want to be when you grow up? And this doesn't just come from high school teen movies, The Graduate had incredible uses of that same question so obviously it's there for some reason. Life is random, movies are calculated. It's always nice to look back on the past and remember the good times, but they don't stop there. Think of the future even if you're not sure what to do next, you'll move on eventually to a new life and maybe for the better.

Well it was fun to do this week, I was greatly surprised, had a lot of fun, and even got to wax philisophical like the old man I am. Pretty good week all things considered! But now comes the part where we say goodbye for now, I'll be back in August with more movies, ideas, and something special that I've been wanting to talk about for years.