Ghost World is the anti John Hughes teen movies of the 1980s. The type of movies Hughes made such as The Breakfast Club, Some KInd of Wonderful, Pretty in Pink which were not quite as alternative or radical as many initially thought.
Ghost World sets out its stall in the opening credits with a groovy dance scene from a 1960s Bollywood film. Enid (Thora Birch) is mimicking those moves.
At the graduation ceremony at High School. Enid and best friend Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) make fun of a student who was disabled in a car crash. Enid liked her more when she was an alcoholic and a drug addict. Now she is little Miss Perfect in a wheelchair.
Enid and Rebecca think they are too smart and choose to be outsiders with their piercing barbs at everyone they meet. After high school they have no plans for college or a career.
It is Enid who really is a misfit. Rebecca isn more conventionally pretty, gets a job in a coffee shop and plans to move into an apartment.
Enid does not realise that the best friends are drifting apart. Enid cannot hold down a job in a popcorn stand in a cinema.
When Enid and Rebecca decide to play a trick on a dorky loner loser Seymour (Steve Buscemi.) Enid discovers that he really is a kind of kindred spirit.
Seymour likes old records, vintage art posters and he works as an executive in some fried chicken outfit. His passion for art gives Enid an idea about her art class that she needs to do at summer school.
Enid also tries to hook up Seymour with a girlfriend when she originally set him up with a fake date for a laugh.
Directed by documentary maker Terry Zwigoff. Ghost World takes a layered look at the life of teenagers. It has a cult reputation simply because it knows that there are no easy answers to growing up.
However I did regard both Enid and Rebecca as self absorbed narcissists. They were too consumed in their own smart ass view of the world. They had no empathy for anyone else. At least Enid shifted a little with Seymour but then became jealous when he did find someone.
The best performance was from Buscemi who is the one character who has a heart tom give but no takers.
Ghost World sets out its stall in the opening credits with a groovy dance scene from a 1960s Bollywood film. Enid (Thora Birch) is mimicking those moves.
At the graduation ceremony at High School. Enid and best friend Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) make fun of a student who was disabled in a car crash. Enid liked her more when she was an alcoholic and a drug addict. Now she is little Miss Perfect in a wheelchair.
Enid and Rebecca think they are too smart and choose to be outsiders with their piercing barbs at everyone they meet. After high school they have no plans for college or a career.
It is Enid who really is a misfit. Rebecca isn more conventionally pretty, gets a job in a coffee shop and plans to move into an apartment.
Enid does not realise that the best friends are drifting apart. Enid cannot hold down a job in a popcorn stand in a cinema.
When Enid and Rebecca decide to play a trick on a dorky loner loser Seymour (Steve Buscemi.) Enid discovers that he really is a kind of kindred spirit.
Seymour likes old records, vintage art posters and he works as an executive in some fried chicken outfit. His passion for art gives Enid an idea about her art class that she needs to do at summer school.
Enid also tries to hook up Seymour with a girlfriend when she originally set him up with a fake date for a laugh.
Directed by documentary maker Terry Zwigoff. Ghost World takes a layered look at the life of teenagers. It has a cult reputation simply because it knows that there are no easy answers to growing up.
However I did regard both Enid and Rebecca as self absorbed narcissists. They were too consumed in their own smart ass view of the world. They had no empathy for anyone else. At least Enid shifted a little with Seymour but then became jealous when he did find someone.
The best performance was from Buscemi who is the one character who has a heart tom give but no takers.