America 1987

Chapter 27 Viewing Experience

She was somewhat surprised. Ghost-themed films and television dramas were not new; they had appeared before, such as "The Ghost and the Widow" in 1947 and "The Twilight Zone" in the 50s and 60s. However, most ghosts appeared in a semi-transparent form, the kind that viewers could easily identify at a glance.

The ghost that appeared this time looked exactly like a real person. That's interesting. It seems the director put some effort into it, Natasha thought to herself.

The following plot unfolds relatively naturally. The female lead is heartbroken after the male lead's death. The male lead neither goes to heaven nor hell, but can only silently protect her as a ghost.

As expected, the male supporting character came to the male lead's house, taking the opportunity to search for the account password book.

Natasha, upon seeing this, also developed a certain anticipation for what the male protagonist's ghost could do in the human world.

The assassin was indeed in cahoots with the male supporting character. The male supporting character had just lured the female lead away when the assassin used his key to open the door and come in.

To Natasha's surprise, the female lead returned shortly after. This was bad news; the assassin was still searching their house. She and the male lead were filled with worry for the female lead's safety.

Natasha couldn't help but secretly admire the screenwriter's imagination when she saw how the situation was resolved. The idea of ​​scaring the cat so much that it would jump up and scratch the killer's face, thus driving him away, was truly brilliant.

The idea that cats have psychic abilities is a long-standing folk tale, predating the movie. The ancient Egyptian cat goddess Bastet was believed to be able to fight off evil spirits; Buddhism has the concept that the soul temporarily resides in a cat's body after death; and folk tales around the world commonly associate cats with supernatural phenomena.

This wasn't the first time this concept had appeared in a movie, but it was the first time she had seen it used so perfectly and naturally. "The director's storytelling skills are impressive," Natasha couldn't help but admire in her heart once again.

After the assassin fled, the protagonist followed closely behind, and this time he didn't lose him again.

However, he unexpectedly encountered another one of his kind on the subway. Why "again"? Because there was one in the hospital before, who explained to the protagonist the basic premise that ghosts can pass through walls.

I wonder what new information this person will provide to the male lead this time.

To Natasha's surprise, this new ghost was not as friendly as the last one. It immediately attacked the protagonist. However, when she kicked the male protagonist out of the carriage, she also noticed that the ghost had the ability to break the car window.

Is this how new information is conveyed? Natasha silently noted down this foreshadowing; it would likely be useful in the later parts of the movie.

After getting off the subway, the protagonist followed the assassin all the way to his doorstep and even memorized the man's name.

After the assassin returned, he called the male supporting character. This was a very obvious hint, but it seemed like the male lead still didn't understand. He just kept raging incompetently. Natasha frowned slightly.

The scene shifts, and the protagonist, having aimlessly left the assassin's house, discovers a psychic shop nearby.

This must be the turning point of the whole movie, right? A psychic shop—the screenwriter's approach is quite realistic. Natasha pondered to herself.

Commercial activities related to "spiritual communication" have existed in the United States since the mid-19th century.

After the Fox sisters' "spirit medium" caused a sensation in 1848, a large number of mediums claiming to be able to communicate with spirits emerged in the United States, most of whom were women. At that time, a model of touring performances and paid lectures even emerged.

By 1853, the practice of spirit summoning had aroused widespread interest among the British public, and even the scientist Faraday participated in its observation and research.

Therefore, the kind of spiritual medium shops depicted in the movie have a real basis in the United States, which has a commercial tradition of over a hundred years. This is not the same concept as the qigong craze that suddenly emerged in mainland China at the same time.

Natasha, being of Catholic background, naturally did not find the appearance of such things abrupt or unreal.

She was now very curious about what kind of magical chemical reaction would occur between ghosts and mediums who summon spirits. She had never seen these two things put together in previous ghost-themed works.

She had a feeling that if the director could film the interaction between the two characters well, it could become the biggest selling point and innovation of the entire film.

However, when the medium came out of the house, she couldn't help but chuckle. She was dressed in a dark gold cloth dress and had an exaggerated wig, giving off a strong "Gypsy" vibe.

From the moment she appeared, Natasha subconsciously regarded her as a con artist.

This is similar to how poor students often have a lot of stationery. The more fancy and elaborate the stationery is, the more it gives people the feeling of being deliberately mysterious.

In the end, the male protagonist reacted the same way as her, believing that the other party was a liar.

However, the fact that the medium could hear the protagonist's ghost speaking was somewhat unexpected. But after thinking about it carefully, she understood. How could they interact and communicate if they couldn't hear the other person speaking? Besides, the contrast between the fake medium's "real spiritual communication" and the other medium's actions was quite striking.

To her surprise, the Black actress playing the medium acted so naturally and smoothly, perfectly capturing the essence of this comedic role.

Natasha is white, so naturally she wouldn't watch Black talk shows. And although the film "The Color Purple," which was released two years ago, was directed by the famous director Steven Spielberg, she has never been a fan of art films with such heavy themes.

Therefore, she didn't recognize the medium in the movie, but most of the Black audience members who came to see the movie recognized the medium as Celie from "The Color Purple." After all, she had just been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress last year, which was a great encouragement to the Black community, who are always sensitive to self-esteem and yearn for racial equality.

It's worth noting that the first Black woman to win the Best Actress award at the Oscars was Halle Berry, and that was in 2002. That was a political move by the Academy judges to maintain unity after 9/11.

Therefore, a Black woman nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in this era is, to some extent, a symbol and a flag of her race.

Whether it's the original director or David Ovitz now, inviting her to play this role is most likely to be about tapping into the Black market.

As for the results, judging from the final box office performance, they were naturally excellent.

At least, Natasha, the white girl, felt very familiar with the character within just a few minutes of her appearance.

Especially the expression on her face when the medium confidently said that he would never personally warn the female lead about the danger, and then she was so disturbed by the male lead's singing that she covered her ears with two pillows and tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

The song the main character sings is called "I Am Henry VIII".

This song was written in 1910 by British musicians Fred Murray and R.P. Weston, and was originally sung by British singer Harry Champion. In 1965, the British rock band Herman's Hermits covered it, and it topped the Billboard charts in the United States, becoming the version familiar to the American public.

Natasha heard her parents play this song when she was little, so she is still very familiar with the lyrics and melody.

The lyrics are absurd: a widowed neighbor married seven men, all named Henry, and "I" am her eighth husband.

The chorus repeatedly sings "I am Henry VIII, I am, I am," and the second verse repeats it at an accelerated pace, creating a deliberately noisy comedic effect.

The final result was indeed quite comical; the medium was so disturbed that he had to surrender and agree to go to the male lead's house with him to warn the female lead.

If it weren't for the earlier scene of murder for money, Natasha would have almost thought it was a dark comedy.

However, having such a character to provide humor did greatly ease the film's narrative pace and her viewing experience.

The medium then used his knowledge of some of the male and female protagonists' private matters to temporarily gain the female protagonist's trust and open the door to her home.

Then, the medium relayed to the other party the fact that the assassin had returned to the place to look for something and that the female protagonist was still in danger.

After the medium left, the female lead was still somewhat skeptical, so she asked the male supporting character for his opinion on the matter.

The mastermind behind the scenes naturally tried their best to persuade the other party not to believe it.

Even at this point, the male protagonist still hadn't realized the suspicion surrounding his friend, which was rather oblivious. Natasha couldn't help but complain to herself.

Finally, after following the other party all the way to the assassin's house and witnessing their conversation, the protagonist realized the truth in disbelief.

The female protagonist also went to the police station early the next morning to report the case, telling a male police officer and a female police officer the whole story.

After listening to each other's statements, both of them looked like they didn't know what to say.

The policewoman quickly lost interest and returned to her work; the male officer had no choice but to check whether the killer had a criminal record, as requested by the other party.

Meanwhile, the male supporting character finally found the codebook in the closet of the male and female leads' home.

The biggest question now is whether the killer has a criminal record.

As expected, no, Natasha guessed no too. There was no other reason; this was clearly a standard Hollywood commercial film, and in Hollywood commercial films, there has never been a plot where the villain is dealt with by the police.

This kind of plot won't appear at least in the middle of the story, otherwise it would be too boring.

However, to her surprise, the killer had no prior record, but the medium did! Natasha immediately perked up; this movie was full of twists and turns, full of surprises and contrasts.

In fact, considering the previous scenes where the medium acted like a ghost, it can be inferred that she is indeed a fraud.

Looking at the thick stack of files, the female protagonist had no choice but to believe that the man was indeed a fraud. At this point in the film, the story had reached a dead end, and the righteous side seemed to have virtually no way to break the deadlock.

Then, the audience was presented with a scene that almost turned into NTR, and Natasha's emotions were naturally suppressed to the extreme, just like the male lead's.

Fortunately, it was only a close call; the picture frame that was knocked over gave the protagonist a new idea.

This also echoed the earlier scene where the ghostly old man in the subway broke the glass. Natasha immediately understood the key point.

Seeing the protagonist searching for something on the subway, she knew she had guessed correctly.

After a less-than-friendly exchange, the subway ghost tells the protagonist about his ability to touch physical objects.

It's nothing special; it's just about influencing the physical world by concentrating "willpower" or "intention."

This setting is a common trope in fantasy and horror genres, and it is also a standard rule in the medium genre.

Prior to this, from "Poltergeist" to various supernatural stories, "telekinesis" and "teleportation" were the basic premises.

However, the director skillfully integrated the setting into the story, making it feel natural and smooth, giving people a sense of naturalness and logicalness.

Having seen this, Natasha can basically conclude that this is definitely an excellent commercial film. It is truly remarkable that a story can be told in such a dramatic and engaging way, even when "old wine in new bottles".

After mastering this skill, what follows is a thoroughly enjoyable revenge, with the addition of the common "possession" trope.

After taking the medium to the bank and withdrawing the funds from the account ahead of schedule, the black actor's performance in the scene where he reluctantly hands the check to the nun on the street almost made Natasha burst out laughing.

In fact, there were slight laughs in the theater when the movie reached this point. If there were a Best Comedy Actress award this year, she would definitely vote for this medium; this scene alone is enough.

Watching the male supporting character break out in a cold sweat after discovering his account balance was zero, constantly refreshing the page on different computers, Natasha felt incredibly relieved. All the frustration she had accumulated during the first half of the movie was finally released in a very satisfying way.

In the final showdown, the assassin was driven to the brink of mental collapse by an unseen attack and ran into the middle of the road where he was hit and killed by a truck.

To Natasha's surprise, the villains' ghosts appeared after they died. She thought it would be another evenly matched ghost fight, but the director dragged her into hell by a ghost that emerged from the ground.

Yes, hell. Natasha was absolutely certain, because there were scenes earlier of people dying in the operating room after failed resuscitation attempts, and here, both the eerie laughter and the dark atmosphere suggested that the assassin had been dragged into hell.

It has a strong sense of cause and effect, and a very standard worldview setting of good deeds being rewarded and evil deeds being punished, which perfectly matches the psychological expectations of most ordinary people.

Although Natasha is Catholic, her university education had almost detached her from religious beliefs. However, she was moved by this passage and sincerely hoped that the Church's theory that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell after death was true.

As the movie continues, the male protagonist and the medium arrive at the female protagonist's house. Due to what she saw and heard at the police station last time, the female protagonist initially refuses to open the door.

This time, the medium brought up the private matters between the female and male leads again, just like last time, but it didn't work as well as before.

until……

Natasha was somewhat amazed by the screenwriter's ingenious idea, which was to prove the existence of the male lead's ghost by having him hold up the ancient coin that appeared at the beginning of the movie and was regarded by the male lead as his lucky symbol.

The familiar background music played again, and the movie briefly entered a heartwarming moment of romance. Knowing that it was short-lived, this love story was all the more touching for the audience.

Especially Natasha, after all, her boyfriend had only been dead for less than a year. Although he wasn't murdered like in the movie, this one similarity was enough for her to empathize with him and feel the deep love in the story.

As she predicted, the male supporting character was killed by a falling windowpane, and his ghost was taken away by a spirit.

However, Natasha really didn't expect that the male lead would be able to meet the female lead one last time in a way that could be seen before he left. Although it's a little illogical, the emotions have already been built up to this point, so filming it this way doesn't seem to have any problems.

The protagonist's eventual departure from the human world and journey to heaven was not beyond her expectations.

The United States is a typical Christian country, with nearly 70% of its population adhering to various denominations of Christianity.

From a Christian perspective, a ghost lingering in the mortal realm is not an ideal state, but rather a symbol of unfinished business. The male protagonist's lingering in the mortal realm due to his sudden and violent death and his worry for the female protagonist is itself a form of "disorder."

If one has not left the human world for heaven after punishing the real culprit and fulfilling one's wish, it is undoubtedly contrary to the doctrine.

This is definitely detrimental to a commercial film aimed at box office success. So even if the director is out of his mind and insists on keeping the protagonist alive, the production company will ultimately intervene in the final cut for the sake of box office revenue.