Ghost World

Ghost World is the first film that we have watched in the Beyond Hollywood J-term class. It's an independant film made in 2001. It has Scarlett Johansson, Thora Birch, and Steve Buscemi (Thora was in American Beauty and Buscemi in Fargo). They, along with many others, play a set of really original and excellent characters which by themselves really start to pull together a certain theme, of which we discussed after it was over.

The main character is Enid, played by Birch. She and her lifetime friend don't want to act like all the preps, jocks, nerds, suckups, etc. They really put the 'rebel' act on quite potently. And they're up for anything, including looking through classified adds and playing a trick on Buscemi's character, Seymore. When Enid gets to know Seymore, though, she discovers he has an amazing taste in music and a room she calls her "dream room." Seymore is much older than Enid and there's really not much of a romantic interest, but they really become good friends and love listening to real music. And it's Enid's mission to get Seymore a date. She is somebody, but she is extremely unlikeable. Why? She seems really fake. There's nothing really special about her. This becomes a problem to Enid.

The story is really centered around the characters. Some are funny, some contribute more to the theme, some are just kind of there. With Enid's personality and the way she reacts, this is a really refreshing movie trying to search for something true and pure. It's thirsty for authenticity. It's excellent. It's a great movie, and I really recommend checking it out. There were some great moments which really hit home.