Posts Tagged ‘ghosts’

Ghosts

Sunday, February 24th, 2008

Mike and I watched The Eye a few nights ago. It was pretty interesting as far as Asian horror movies go. I must confess, I’m a moderate fan of horror…not quite sure why. I’ve always been fascinated by things that go bump in the night and what causes fear, I suppose.

Anyways – The Eye. The American remake got horrible review, and after watching the original, I can see why. The movie’s plot was very Asian, and if you’ve never lived in an Asian culture, a lot of the images and thoughts would not make sense or be as powerful for you.

That brought up a discussion of ghosts in Asian culture vs. Western culture. I found it fascinating that many of the ghosts in The Eye (if not all of them) were lingering on earth because of some unaccomplished task. One little boy had lost his report card (and had committed suicide because his parents wouldn’t believe him). Another ghost had not been able to warn others of a massive catastrophe. A wife and child ghost kept coming back to visit the husband, but he couldn’t see them, so they kept coming back again and again.

In Western horror movies (generally), the ghosts are pretty mean and there for vindication. It’s usually about some injustice that has happened to them, and it’s up to those who see them to right it. In the Asian movies, the ghost needs others to help them complete their tasks themselves.

It was interesting to think about, to say the least. I haven’t seen The Grudge or The Ring yet (in their original Asian forms), but I’m sure there is a theme of vindication in those. It will be interesting to compare those to other Asian horror movies. Actually, The Maid had themes of both unaccomplished tasks and vindication. I don’t recommend it (or many other horror movies), but it is interesting to think about.

Anyways, cheers…

-CT

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