Not Daria and Jane, honest.
Ghost World is a 2001 indie film, directed by Terry Zwigoff, adapted from the comic series of the same name by Daniel Clowes. It follows Deadpan Snarkers Enid Coleslaw (Thora Birch) and Rebecca Doppelmeyer (Scarlett Johansson) as they face the summer after high school graduation.
Seymour, a lonely and cynical middle-aged man played by Steve Buscemi, is a central character in the film, yet the characters from the comic of which he is an amalgam are only very fleeting presences.
Enid and Rebecca's conversations would not be out of place in a Daria episode, though they lack the moral core which would make them that kind of Deadpan Snarker.
Not to be confused with the tropes Ghost Planet, Ghost Town or Ghost City.
This film contains examples of:
- Adults Are Useless: Subverted, despite their flaws. Enid's father is well meaning and patient with Enid, Maxine finds a job for her, and Roberta offers her a full scholarship and stands up for her at the art show. Seymour in particular is intelligent and insightful, helping her to move beyond her teenage snark. Enid, however, won't (or maybe simply can't) accept their help or listen to them.
- Ambiguous Ending: At sunset, Enid, looking very somber, boards a bus (on a line that had supposedly been cancelled) and rides off to parts unknown. Some viewers think she is about to start a new life; others that the bus ride is a metaphor for death, seeing as a frail elderly man had boarded this same bus shortly before.
- Ascended Extra: Seymour's character and plotline is greatly expanded from the comic. The character appears only as the victim of the girls' Prank Date in the comic and was made significant at Terry Zwigoff's suggestion.
- Bittersweet Ending: Unlike other coming-of-age films where the guy gets the girl and everyone lives happily ever after, the film ends on a somewhat dour but somewhat positive note for the main protagonists. Enid loses her scholarship and is no closer to finding fulfillment in life; in the final scene she rides out of town on a bus, her fate and future satisfaction unknown as the film draws to a close. She might be starting anew, or she might just be running away from her problems; it's up to the viewer to decide. Seymour patches things up with Enid and is receiving therapy, but states that this is partially because he can't get any lower after the events of the summer, having lost his job and moved back in with his mother. And though Enid and Rebecca make amends with each other before the former leaves town, it's clear that they've both changed enough that their friendship has run its course and they will go their separate ways in life.
- Black Comedy Rape: Enid notices an obnoxious preppy couple at her graduation dinner and wisecracks about the boy getting AIDS after date raping the girl. Rebecca may be having a Dude, Not Funny! moment when she shushes her.
- Blues: Seymour's main interest. Enid's unironic enjoyment of an old blues record he sells her suggests she is growing as a character.
- Bookends: The Bollywood song 'Jaan Pehchan Ho' plays in the opening as well as over the end credits.
- Brick Joke: When the woman Seymour met at the airport actually answers his ad. It's much more plot-relevant than most brick jokes though.
- Butt-Monkey: Josh's every appearance involves him messing up at work, getting yelled at by his boss, or tormented by Enid and Becky.
- Cerebus Syndrome: The film starts out as a lighthearted coming-of-age story for the two outcast protagonists, but gets darker in the second half, eventually ending with Enid and Seymour worse off than they were at the start of the film.
- Composite Character:
- Seymour is based on the bearded windbreaker guy and Bob Skeetes from the comic.
- Johnny "Apeshit" was merged into John Ellis.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Norm, an elderly, slightly shabby gentleman who is perpetually waiting for a bus on a line that was cancelled a long time ago.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right: Norm tells Enid and Becky that they don't know what they're talking about when they say the bus line was cancelled. Towards the end of the film, the bus does in fact arrive and Norm boards it, as does Enid.
- Cultural Posturing: A Greek store owner rants about how his people "invented democracy" to an obnoxious customer.
- Dancing with Myself: The film opens with Enid dancing to a videotape of an Indian musical the night before graduation.
- Deadpan Snarker: Enid, Rebecca, Josh, and Seymour.
- Deconstruction: Of the Deadpan Snarker character type and to large extent also of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
- Demoted to Extra: Josh is a more prominent character in the graphic novel, whom Rebecca eventually ends up in a relationship with.
- Dramatic Drop: Josh drops the ice cream cone he is about to serve to a little girl when Enid shows up with Seymour at the Sidewinder Mini Mart.
- Eagleland: Type 2. Enid's nameless town is a wasteland of strip malls populated by the lonely and troubled.
- Eccentric Townsfolk: Most of the strangers Enid and Becky encounter as they wander around their neighborhood, also the listless tenants shown in their tacky apartments at the start of the film.
- Everyone Loves Blondes: Nearly every guy they come across zeros in on Becky and ignores Enid.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Subverted or deconstructed. Enid dyes her hair green, aiming for an authentic '70s punk rock look, but the other characters, including Becky, don't get it. (A guy in the 'zine store asks if she's supposed to be Cyndi Lauper). Irritated, Enid washes the dye out of her hair as soon as she gets home.
- Le Film Artistique: The hilariously incomprehensible short film "Mirror, Father, Mirror" made by Enid's clueless art teacher, Roberta Allsworth.
- Foreshadowing: Enid tells Seymour that her dream is to just get up, drive off to somewhere without telling anyone, and never come back. That's exactly what she's doing when she gets on the bus in the end.
- "Friends" Rent Control: Rebecca on her coffee server's salary can afford the entire rent on an attractive townhouse apartment. (Enid calls it a "shithole" but all it needs is a change of curtains.)
- Garage Sale:
- Seymour meets Enid during his garage sale.
- Enid has one, but ends up pissing off all her customers.
- Genki Girl: Melora.
- Gilligan Cut: When Enid and Rebecca want Josh to follow Seymour with his car, he refuses. Cut to the next scene where the three pull over behind Seymour at his place.
- Greasy Spoon:
- The "Quality Cafe" where Enid and Rebecca use to hang out.
- The authentic fifties diner "Wowsville".
- Growing Up Sucks: One reason why Enid keeps stalling about giving up her childhood possessions and moving on with her life after high school. She is afraid that nothing better lies ahead than a service job at Computer Station.
- Guess Who I'm Marrying?: Enid's father remarries the worst possible (in Enid's opinion) of his previous romantic interests.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Subverted, as Enid and Rebecca are clearly drifting apart throughout the film.
- Hidden Depths: One major theme of the film is that no one is as shallow as Becky or Enid thinks they are. Seymour, their target for a cruel prank, knows he's a loser, but has great taste in music, which Enid bonds with him over. Enid eventually ends up falling for him, and it's revealed that he's not a loser virgin - he's had multiple relationships before, and even actively cuts off the one with Dana. Dana herself isn't a stuck-up Alpha Bitch like Enid and Becky think, but she's not an angel either, and Seymour breaks off their relationship when it's clear they're not compatible, despite initially striking it off - among other things, she disdains his collection, and is far more outgoing than he is. The weird guy who blasts music and annoys Josh's boss comes to his aid when Seymour attacks him, mistaking him to be behind the prank that got Enid in touch with him. The pretentious art teacher is an elitist clown, but she genuinely wants Enid to succeed, even getting her a scholarship that Enid initially blows off, only to want to take back when she needs to move out. In the end, Enid follows Norman - someone she dismissed as a loser for waiting for a bus that was apparently out of service - out of town.
- Hippie Teacher: Enid's summer school art teacher.
- Hypocritical Humor: While engaged in a stalking expedition, Becky and Enid continually disparage the man they're stalking as "creepy".
- I Have Just One Thing to Say: The art class teacher pulls this on Enid after the latter presents the racist drawing in class.Teacher: I don't really know what to say, Enid... [looking concerned] ... I think it's a remarkable achievement.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Enid thinks of herself as deeper, more intelligent, and more individual than other kids her age in the small town in which she lives, but the story suggests that she hasn't spent much time outside of this small town. So she may be well aware of the possibility that she'd be nobody special in a more cosmopolitan setting.
- Insane Troll Logic: Invoked and played for laughs. The duo's note to Josh: "Dear Josh, we came by to fuck you... but you were not home. Therefore, you are gay."
- Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Subverted. The paralyzed valedictorian at Enid and Becky's graduation tells the rapt audience that her car accident taught her she doesn't need alcohol to have a good time. (One graduate gulps even before she starts speaking.) Afterward, Enid says she preferred her when she was an "alcoholic crack addict" and that getting into a car wreck turned her into "Little Miss Perfect" overnight. Later, the valedictorian's date is shown pouring alcohol down her throat.
- Intelligence Equals Isolation: Enid and Seymour. Enid thinks only stupid people have relationships and Seymour says he can't relate to most of humanity (and his actions do not contradict this).
- Intergenerational Friendship: Enid and Seymour, and eventually, more than that, with Enid only realizing - or admitting - toward the end that she really loves Seymour.
- Invisible Parents: Becky's. A passage from the script that never made it into the film suggests that Becky lives with her grandmother, as she does in the comic.
- Jerkass: Becky and Enid are introduced sneering at everyone in high school graduation, and casually calling everyone else retarded or blowing off their attempts at being nice with barely-restrained contempt. The inciting incident of the film is them deciding to prank call who they believe to be a weird loser, solely for the crime of putting out an 'missed connection' ad and sounding kinda dorky.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite their moments of jerkass-ness and immaturity, Becky and Enid do genuinely care about each other. Likewise, Enid does care about Seymour and want the best for him (even though her attempts at propping him up backfire horribly in the end).
- Jewish American Princess: Enid and Becky's annoying, stuck-up classmates Melorra and Naomi are disparagingly referred to by Enid as "the junior JAPs of America."
- Kissing Under the Influence: Enid and Seymour. Enid regrets it as soon as she sobers up, but afterward, Seymour wants to have a romantic relationship with her.
- Lonely Piano Piece:
- A dynamic piano piece turns into a sad version the first time the two girls meet the old man waiting for his bus.
- The lonely piano theme is heard again when Enid lies on her bed after Rebecca refused to go out with her for the night.
- Male Gaze: A male bar patron blatantly stares at a female server's ass right before the Blueshammer show.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Deconstructed. Enid is a quirky outsider who actively tries to liven up the life of dour, sad Seymour, but their romance doesn't work out and she ends up ruining his life and her own in the process.
- Masturbation Means Sexual Frustration:Enid: I think I'm going crazy from sexual frustration.
Rebecca: And you haven't heard of the miracle of masturbation? - Moving-Away Ending: The film ends with Enid boarding a bus to an uncertain destination, having no reason to remain in town.
- My Beloved Smother: Seymour's mother.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Both Enid and Seymour regret their drunken one-night stand.
- Never Trust a Title: Needless to say, no ghosts actually appear in this film.
- No Antagonist: While there are people the duo butt heads with, there really isn't a villain who's trying to undermine them (or anyone else). The drama of the story is mostly from Enid's increasing alienation and failure to find a place in her world.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: The male "Satanist" is a virtual dead-ringer for the late founder of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey.
- Non-Indicative Name: The protagonists certainly don't explore a ghost world, let alone encounter any actual ghosts.
- Not Staying for Breakfast: Seymour wakes up alone after his one-night stand with Enid.
- Odd Friendship: Seymour and Enid, especially to Dana.
- Prank Date: Enid and Seymour first meet after Enid pretends to be the object of his "missed connection" personal ad. She sets up a date with him but then never shows up, instead watching and laughing while he waits alone.
- Purple Prose: During the paralyzed girl's graduation speech: "High school is like the training wheels for the bicycle of real life."
- Real Trailer, Fake Movie: The trailer for a pretentious art film called "The Flower That Drank The Moon" plays at the video store Enid and Becky visit.
- Self-Insert Fic: The character of Seymour is based in part on director Terry Zwigoff. Like Seymour, Zwigoff is an avid collector of 1920s jazz and blues records. Seymour's room was modeled after director Terry Zwigoff's own — particularly the shelved record collection, pinup art and historical memorabilia.
- Slice of Life: The film follows around a graduating teenage girl in the summer as she tries to decide what she's going to do with her life. The subplot about her trying to act as a Manic Pixie Dream Girl for a 40-something man is only one of the many things she tries.
- The Snark Knight: Enid and Becky have sarcastic rejoinders for everything.
- So Bad, It's Good: Discussed in-universe between Enid and Rebecca at their prom night.Rebecca: This is so bad, it's almost good.
Enid: This is so bad, it's gone past good and back to bad again. - The Stinger: After all the credits roll, there's another take of the scene where Seymour (Steve Buscemi) gets attacked by Doug in the minimart. Only this time, Buscemi's character easily wins the fight, choking Doug with his own weapon, and stomps out triumphantly. He finishes with a little Mr. Pink type dialogue.
- Stopped Reading Too Soon: Seymour discovers Enid's sketchbook at one point and feels crushed when he sees a portrait of himself showing him as depressing and alone. When confronting Enid, she points him to the later pages in her sketchbook which has many more portraits of Seymour in a completely different light, which he didn't see when initially skimming the pages. Seymour is visibly touched by this discovery.
- Stylistic Suck:
- Roberta Allsworth's incomprehensible art film, "Mirror Father Mirror".
- The abysmal blues-rock band Blueshammer.
- Surrounded by Idiots: Most of Enid's classmates.
- Teacher's Pet: Margaret from art class, who gets constantly praised by her teacher for her comments and incomprehensible art works.
- Techno Babble: We are treated to some serious geek talk at Seymour's record collector party that Enid and Rebecca attend.
- Tempting Fate: Seymour is devastated when Enid won't return his calls; his roommate Joe tries to comfort him by saying that at least things can't get any worse. In the next scene, Seymour is fired from Cook's Chicken.
- Third-Act Misunderstanding: Towards the end, Rebecca tells Seymour about their Prank Date upon which he gets furious and ends up in hospital. Enid then shows him her sketchbook and points to the later pages that show how differently she actually felt about him. Seymour is visibly touched by this.
- This Is a Work of Fiction: Disclaimer after the end credits, stating that characters and events depicted are fictitious.
- This Loser Is You: Seymour is a schlubby
- Took a Level in Badass: Seymour in The Stinger.
- Trash the Set: Hilariously subverted when Seymour tries to knock a shelf over at Josh's shop but fails miserably because it's tightly fixed at the back.
- True Art Is Incomprehensible:
- The art film "Mirror. Father. Mirror." that Enid's teacher shows to the class as an example of her work is hilariously awful, whilst the actual, looks-like-a-person drawings Enid creates are lumped in with the boy who traces his favorite video game characters in felt-tip pen. Then they're passed over for another girl's wire coathanger sculpture.note
- The tampon-in-a-teacup "found art" that is lauded as being genius.
- Uptight Loves Wild: Deconstructed with Enid and Seymour: while Enid does get Seymour to break out of his shell, and does get him an actual date, Seymour is uncomfortable with this, partially due to the age gap, and partially because he isn't as much of a loser as Enid thinks - it's revealed he's had actual relationships before, unlike Enid. In the end, the age gap is too much for the both of them, and Enid leaves town - and Seymour - behind.
- We Used to Be Friends: Enid and Becky's friendship is highly implied to have ended, despite reconciling and helping each other out for one last time, and Enid leaving town definitely puts the nail in this. A bit of an unusual example in that there's no single deed, word or event one can point their finger at as a reason, nor is either of them really to blame; they're just slowly drifting apart as it's becoming more and more obvious they never had much in common to begin with, besides both being Deadpan Snarker outsiders.