I rented this movie today and I’m still not sure if I liked it or not. I mean, I liked it, but I’m a bit unsure of what to make of it. The ending is pretty ambiguous … did the bus at the end represent death? Who was the lady that went off with Steve Buscemi at the end after his therapy session?
Regardless, why Thora Birch didn’t get best actress for this movie is beyond me.
I’m not sure what the bus represented, but the woman at the end had to be Seymour’s mother. I loved this movie. I saw a lot of myself at that age in Enid, although I’m not entirely sure that’s a good thing.
I think that Enid was just looking for a new beginning, as she felt that she’d buggered up her life there. I also thought that Thora Birch should’ve gotten an award of some kind for her performance.
Steve Buscemi and Thora Birch were both ROBBED. Yes, that old woman was Seymour’s mother. As for what the bus represented, I think it’s pretty much the same as what the title means- that depressing, seemingly endless void between high school and the rest of one’s life. Boy did that hit home for me, especially as I caught the movie at a film fest the night before going away to “find myself” (snort). Anyway, I definitely liked it, it’s about time someone got teenaged girls right, and just bought the DVD.
I saw the bus as representing the end of Enid’s current life and her childhood. Everything around her leads to a dead end, but the bus going over the bridge might lead to a place where she can start anew.
I definitely don’t think the bus represented death.
Ambiguous though it was, I thought the ending was perfect. Somehow it neatly resolved everything, without resolving anything.
Okay, everybody…sing along!
Jaan Pehchan Ho…
Jeena Aasan Ho!
(Insert amazing sax riff and cheesy dance routine here. Replay in head for several hours.)
I loved the movie. I think the bus was at least partially representative of Enid’s acceptance that, as the bus stop guy had said, she didn’t know everything. It was an important step she needed to take towards maturity.
Hmm…My interpretation of the ending was that she was fulfilling her “number one fantasy.” The fantasy being “one day leaving town…no one would see me again…i would just disappear.” I believe that is what Enid said was her number one fantasy. I don’t know. That’s just my take. Anyhow, I loved the movie. It’s one of my favourites. 
I saw this movie over the weekend. I didn’t really understand it, either. One of my friends said that the ending represented Norman’s belief that the bus would come eventually and take him away from there.
Regardless, Thora Birch was amazing.
Call me shallow, but I loved her clothes. Who knew such a surly girl could be so darned adorable? I cracked up when she came out of the porn shop wearing that rubber catwoman mask.
Am I the only one who just was totally attracted to Enid?
God that surly cute girl thing with the funky tshirts was just a turn on.
Oh…Doug forever rules the convenience store.
BLUES HAMMER!!
sorry…
No.
You know, I have the DVD, and one of the special features is the video to that song from the original movie. Whenever my friends and I are down, we watch it. It’s so funny.
Enid and Becky thought that they were better than everyone else and acted elitist and sarcastic. They didn’t realize that they had no friends. Becky finally comes around that she has to talk to other people and get on with her life. Enid would probably be the kind of person she hates, the ones who think that high school was the best time of their lives. I think the turning point in their friendship was when they were at Seymour’s party and Enid got up and left Becky stranded. Becky was moving on. Enid was static. She thought that the world had to revolve around her and bow to her “artistic genius”. Becky realized that putting people down then waiting for them to admit inferiority was never going to work.
What’s sad is that I know a girl like Enid and I have a teacher like the crazy art teacher.
Mirror, father, mirror!
And I think Becky was much much hotter than Enid. I love the actress.
In the comic series, Enid makes snide remarks about some “stupid test” she took, and it turns out she had actually won a scholarship. By this time, she and Becky have had a few arguments, and the two start to live their lives separately. In the end, Enid passes by the 50’s diner and sees Becky with Josh, and remarks “you have become a really beautiful woman.” She then gets on the bus out of town. So, the bus represents her passage of age from sheltered childhood into independent adulthood.
Also, the reason the movie is called Ghost World is IIRC because the two girls saw it spraypainted on somebody’s garage door and eventually found out that it was some tacky tourist trap amusement park that they absolutely had to go to.
Any truth to the rumor that the girl who played Becky was only 15?
Nah, she was 16. Broke my heart to find out she’s not legal…
Too bad for you, ultrafilter. Sixteen is legal here in Georgia.
But I prefer Enid/Thora.