Youth was a beautiful existence in many previous films. People loved and praised youth from the bottom of their hearts. At the same time, some people think that youth is cruel and confusing, and "Ghost World" is such a movie.
The film begins with a high school graduation, where Enid and Rebecca are close friends. They don't have any nostalgia for the upcoming high school life, they only feel that the classmates around are a group of assholes - Enid and Rebecca looked at the classmates who were about to part, and used extremely mean language to sneer at them. After leaving high school, Enid and Rebecca had nothing to do, and occasionally saw some strange passers-by, they would take a good dig at them behind their backs. During the shooting of this part, the film added a lot of humorous sections to create a laid-back, joyful atmosphere. As a contrast to the latter part, this is quite different from the gradually sentimental atmosphere that follows.
There is often a time in adolescence when the world around you feels like shit, and other people feel so vulgar and so boring. Therefore, they will choose to live in a ghost world and regard the people around them as wandering ghosts. In the final analysis, oneself cannot fit into it, and lonely youth will produce a ghost world.
Rebecca used to live in a ghost world like Enid, and both were a little miserable. But in order to face the future life, she chose to accept the world. She found an ordinary job and chose her future residence like any other normal person, Rebecca chose to integrate into life.
And Enid is not the same.
Although Enid hates this world, she has always been ignored by others. When out with Rebecca, everyone obviously prefers Rebecca. In art class, my work was brushed off by the teacher, but I was really appreciated by the teacher when I looked at the stupid work. She was unwilling to integrate into this world from beginning to end, so the distance between her and Rebecca was bound to grow further and further, which also caused Enid to fall into deeper loneliness while hurting others later.
When she sees Seymour who is also alone and ignored by the people around her, Enid will want to approach this person. Seymour's slightly eccentric personality and unusual hobbies also make him alienated in this world. Collecting records and enjoying music seems to be all in his spiritual world. Enid was drawn to this unusual man, thinking he was not as vulgar and boring as the others. She wants to help Seymour find the right person, but falls into grief when Seymour does find it.
Immediately after the movie falls into a situation that seems a little cliché, Enid falls into what is called a low point in his life: Seymour has a girlfriend, Enid and Rebecca have a big fight, and his father says he wants to live with someone he has always hated. In the usual youth films, after falling into the trough of life, there will be a turning point. But "Ghost World" broke this routine: when Seymour broke up with his girlfriend and wanted to live with Enid, Rebecca also forgave Enid and agreed with her to move in together, but Rebecca fell into a deeper low in life. This is the most distinctive part of "Ghost World", which thoroughly writes the cruel story of youth. Enid refuses to accept it after everything gets better. The reason I think it's important is that Enid has always been a person who lives in a ghost world. She rejected the whole world and was afraid to enter the whole world. She was full of unease and confusion about the future. She also wants to change herself, so she will take the initiative to express her feelings to Rebecca and Seymour. But when the other party accepted her heart and wanted to be with her, she would fall into confusion and anxiety again. She keeps hurting the people she cherishes and loves, so she'll finally get on a bus and leave the city. Enid wasn't a person with a clear goal, and she didn't know what she wanted. She was reluctant to change herself to fight against the world, but in the end she hurt others and herself, which also brought a feeling of helplessness, contradiction and sadness.
The movie also features an old man sitting on an abandoned seat, waiting for a bus. When Enid first saw the old man in the movie, he was full of mocking eyes, thinking he was a freak. The old man has lost the desire to communicate with the world, and only looks forward to being able to take the bus at any time - to leave this world. After encountering setbacks and falling into a whirlpool of confusion, Enid gradually began to understand the old man, and finally took the bus to leave. The role of the old man reflects Enid's psychological changes to a certain extent. The old man and Enid are both people who are not understood by ordinary people and are lonely souls, so they both have the same ending in the end.
Another impressive point is that when Enid talked to Seymour, Enid hoped to suddenly disappear from this world, and that people who knew her would never find her again. I think everyone who is disappointed in the world and can't make up his mind to commit suicide hopes that he will suddenly disappear from the world, or not exist in the world at all. Enid's words are simple, but she deeply feels her despair and confusion.
The youth of everyone like Enid is a song about loneliness. Constant growth will only make them drift away from the world, and their rebellion against the world is also a doomed resistance.
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