Ghost World

Released 2001
Stars Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas, Bob Balaban, Stacey Travis
Directed by Terry Zwigoff

If you've ever felt alienated by the world around you, Ghost World will offer laughter, tears, and reassurance that you are definitely not alone. Adapted by Daniel Clowes and Crumb director Terry Zwigoff from Clowes's acclaimed graphic novel, the movie spends summer vacation with high school graduates Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlet Johansson). They inflict little tortures on the denizens of urban sprawl, wielding scathing irony as a defense against a "ghost world" full of pop-cultural lemmings and uncertain futures. But when Enid picks a 40-ish vintage-record collector (Steve Buscemi) as the target of her latest cruel prank, she finds herself unexpectedly attracted to him ("he's the opposite of everything I completely hate") and is forced to confront her own crushing loneliness. This combination of deadpan sarcasm and deeply compassionate humanity makes Ghost World a rare and delicate comedy, with an ambiguous ending that suggests tragedy or hope, depending on your own point of view.

Summary by Jeff Shannon

"Ghost World" is about people on the fringe of society who just can't connect with everyone else. Usually movies like this glorify these people as rebels who have no goals (or a clue). "Ghost World," on the other hand, is too intelligent for that. It understands the characters are lost. It's not they don't want to fit in, it's that they can't. The banality of every day life offends them so much, they have no choice but to stand back from the rest of the world, viewing it with bitter irony. "Ghost World" is smart enough to understand their detached irony isn't cool rebellion but self-defense. These people are lonely and sad, and this movie understands they would be no happier if they did embrace society and tried to fit in. Enid and Seymour are truly stuck in a limbo of loneliness and isolation that doesn't let them go forward or back.

One of the most poignant observations is how Enid recognizes her future in Seymour. She sees what she's going to become, and she sees it at a time when she has the opportunity to change. She cares so much about finding happiness for Seymour, because she's trying to envision a happy ending for herself in twenty years. If Seymour can find love and happiness, so will she. One of the things that makes this film so fresh is the platonic relationship between Enid and Seymour. Enid's budding sexuality and Seymour's sexual frustration are undercurrents that are never mentioned by either character. Any close relationship between two people of these ages is circumspect, but they were kindred spirits. It didn't have to be sexual, which is why I was disappointed at the end...

One of the best aspects of the film is how the two friends, Enid and Rebecca, slowly drift apart. Rebecca is thrilled to pick out plastic cups and to have an ironing board in her apartment, because they represent adulthood. While she doesn't want to become a mindless drone, she does want to grow up. I think most morose teens eventually grow out of it like Rebecca, but that means some get left behind. --Bill Alward, February 17, 2002