Ghost World movie review- "I can't relate to 99% of humanity"
Steve Buscemi is a manic pixie dream boy.
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Writer: Daniel Clowes, Terry Zwigoff
Cinematographer: Affonso Beato
Cast: Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, Brad Renfro
Year: 2001
Ghost World revolves around the world of neo-hipster Enid (the brilliant Thora Birch) and simple Rebecca (the wonderful Scarlett Johansson), who are both faced with high school graduation, leading them to take a hard look at the world and their own lives. When Enid takes on an obsessive interest in the unconventional and unusual Seymour (the fantastic Steve Buscemi), Rebecca focuses on getting a job, leaving home and living her life whilst they both entertain a mutual romantic fixation with 'average' Josh (the marvellous Brad Renfro). The girl's friendships and lives will change forever. But is it for the best or the worst? Are these characters really what they seem?
I guess I had high hopes for this film, not only because I've seen it plastered all over my social media feed since I can remember (Tumblr loved this movie with a burning passion) but because it is now garnered as a cult classic. For me, I believed Ghost World would be another Empire Records or Reality Bites-style coming-of-age film, but it instead fell completely flat on its face and disappointed me a fuck ton. Ghost World tries its hardest to come across as 'different' and 'too cool for the mainstream audience', but in the end, the final product feels awkward, forced, rigid and condescending. The characters, especially Enid, get to a point of extreme insufferably because they feel they are superior to the rest of the teen population in their town because they're 'different' when in fact, they're just stuck up their own arses, annoying and pretentious. These teens remind me of 2012 Hipsters, and not the good kind. Tumblr 2012 owes me an explanation as to why you were so obsessed with this film. Ghost World really infuriates me because it's so blatant that Terry Zwigoff was trying his hardest to reach a targeted niche audience when in fact, there is no audience for this film because no one is like this. Unlike its predecessors Empire Records and Reality Bites, who follow similar premises, the directors knew the films and the characters were different and odd yet decided not to shove that fact down your throat every five seconds. There was some sort of relatability to those characters, but both Enid and Rebecca are emotionless robots with not one ounce of humanity left in them, only constant over-sexualised and horny dialogue (which is really the only thing as a teenager I can relate to). I know school sucks, but I didn't know it sucked the souls right out of you. If these are teenagers, what the hell am I? Many say this film is a sex-obsessed, corporate-friendly, self-aware Hollywood teen 'comedy' (yet I didn't laugh once). You can tell this film was written and made about teenagers, but it doesn't seem to know a single thing about them. It's so blatant that an adult wrote this, and it makes me want to throw up. Yes, I guess we all sometimes hate our parents or school, and we argue with friends and we have little infatuations but this just threw everything way out of proportion. As a teenager myself I felt completely detached from the reality this film was trying so hard to paint. Maybe Zwigoff was trying to show all the horrible, bad and mundane parts of being a teenager through not only the run-down empty town but also through the characters, but that doesn't excuse him from the fact that this film is utter shite. I really did waste 1hr and 52 minutes of my life that I'm never going to get back. I'm going to grow up to be Seymour, but instead of obsessing over music, I'll be obsessing over movies (just not this one).
I grew to hate the character Enid very quickly. Enid is extremely selfish and self-destructive, with a major superiority complex. In the process of looking hard at the world, she doesn't only destroy her own life, but she also destroys the lives of those around her. Enid becomes a parasite causing a very large shift in Seymour's pretty monotonous and simple life, and constantly belittles her 'friend' Rebecca to the point where both have to give each other some space. Enid begins to stalk Seymour (and not in a little innocent high school crush kind of way, I mean, this girl is a little bit of a psycho). And once she builds a connection with him, she becomes even more fixated on his failed love life to the point of finally offering herself up, just a reminder that she's 18 and he's way into his late 30s, but you do you, girl #DaddyIssues. Once she realises just how much she really has messed up, she skips town, leaving destruction behind her. I don't know. Maybe I hate her because I see similar self-destructive tendencies in myself, and I resent those parts of me so, in turn, I resent her. Maybe, after all, Enid is just meant to represent all the worst qualities of teenage girls. Enid isn't cool; she's a bitch who thinks she's cool. Those are two very different things.
There's not much I can praise about this film; I'm not even sure if I would really recommend it. All I have to say is that it was a massive disappointment; the only good part of this film is Doug, the shirtless nunchuck guy who is really out of place in this film but seems to be the best part of it. I can't deny that the acting isn't good, I mean, Steve Buscemi and Scarlett Johansson are iconic, but I think this really good cast of actors was let down by a really bad script. The writing is boring and flat and mostly pretentious, and that was the reason I found it so hard to pay attention and like any of the unbearable characters. I like my movies strange, weird, and a little out there, but I just can't get behind this film. It baffles me that it even has a following. Maybe my expectations were too high, but if something is considered a cult classic, you at least expect it to be somewhat good.
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