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    <title>Ghost's Recent Activity - Spout</title>
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      <title>Film:Ghost</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/films/Ghost/13246/default.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<table width='100%' style='font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><tr><td><img align='left' src='http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t91593k4kos.jpg' hspace='10' style='height:80px;' /></td>
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<strong>Title:</strong> Ghost<br/>
<strong>Year:</strong> 1990<br/>
<strong>Director:</strong> Jerry Zucker<br/>
<strong>Plot:</strong> An interesting hybrid of popular film genres, Ghost showcases the talents of its entire cast. While out on the town one evening, New York couple Sam (<a href="/players/P___113376/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Patrick Swayze</a>) and Molly (<a href="/players/P___103370/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Demi Moore</a>) are confronted by a mugger. After submitting to his demands, Sam is murdered anyway. He then finds himself a disembodied spirit, invisible to the living world, wandering without hope until he finds a spiteful spirit aboard the subway (<a href="/players/P___110164/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Vincent Schiavelli</a>) who gives him some helpful pointers on how to co-exist. Soon Sam comes back into contact with those he knew in life, and he begins to learn piece-by-piece of his close friend and co-worker Carl's (<a href="/players/P____27518/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Tony Goldwyn</a>) embezzling plot which caused his death; the apparent mugging was, in fact, a premeditated murder. In the meantime, Carl has designs on Molly, and Sam is determined to extract revenge. He contacts a psychic (<a href="/players/P____27431/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'>Whoopi Goldberg</a>), and together, the two set out to serve justice and stop the maniacal Carl from getting to Molly. Blending comedy, romance, action, and horror, Ghost was a box-office smash and managed to garner five Academy Award nominations, including "Best Picture," "Best Supporting Actress" (Goldberg), "Best Original Screenplay," "Best Editing," and "Best Score"; Goldberg won her first Oscar. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide<br/>
<strong>Times Tagged:</strong> 41<br/>
<strong>Number of Lists:</strong> 44<br/>
<strong>Number of blog posts:</strong> 4<br/>
<strong>SpoutRating:</strong> 3<br/>
</td></tr></table>]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 12 May 2009 13:36:11 GMT</pubDate><spout:Title>Ghost</spout:Title><spout:Year>1990</spout:Year><spout:Director>Jerry Zucker</spout:Director><spout:Plot>An interesting hybrid of popular film genres, Ghost showcases the talents of its entire cast. While out on the town one evening, New York couple Sam (&lt;a href="/players/P___113376/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'&gt;Patrick Swayze&lt;/a&gt;) and Molly (&lt;a href="/players/P___103370/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'&gt;Demi Moore&lt;/a&gt;) are confronted by a mugger. After submitting to his demands, Sam is murdered anyway. He then finds himself a disembodied spirit, invisible to the living world, wandering without hope until he finds a spiteful spirit aboard the subway (&lt;a href="/players/P___110164/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'&gt;Vincent Schiavelli&lt;/a&gt;) who gives him some helpful pointers on how to co-exist. Soon Sam comes back into contact with those he knew in life, and he begins to learn piece-by-piece of his close friend and co-worker Carl's (&lt;a href="/players/P____27518/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'&gt;Tony Goldwyn&lt;/a&gt;) embezzling plot which caused his death; the apparent mugging was, in fact, a premeditated murder. In the meantime, Carl has designs on Molly, and Sam is determined to extract revenge. He contacts a psychic (&lt;a href="/players/P____27431/default.aspx" style='text-decoration:underline'&gt;Whoopi Goldberg&lt;/a&gt;), and together, the two set out to serve justice and stop the maniacal Carl from getting to Molly. Blending comedy, romance, action, and horror, Ghost was a box-office smash and managed to garner five Academy Award nominations, including "Best Picture," "Best Supporting Actress" (Goldberg), "Best Original Screenplay," "Best Editing," and "Best Score"; Goldberg won her first Oscar. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide</spout:Plot><spout:TimesTagged>41</spout:TimesTagged><spout:taglevel>Tag Target (&gt;10)</spout:taglevel><spout:Numberoflists>44</spout:Numberoflists><spout:NumberOfBlogPosts>4</spout:NumberOfBlogPosts><spout:SpoutRating>3</spout:SpoutRating><spout:FilmCoverURL>http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t91593k4kos.jpg</spout:FilmCoverURL><spout:SpoutFilmDetailURL>http://www.spout.com/films/Ghost/13246/default.aspx</spout:SpoutFilmDetailURL><spout:type>Film</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Post: I was moved</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/blogs/cincinatti42506/archive/2009/1/24/39860.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div><img align='left' src='http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t91593k4kos.jpg' hspace='10' style='height:80px;' />
<strong>Post By:</strong> <a href='http://www.spout.com/members/145117/default.aspx'>Cincinatti42506</a><br/>
<strong>Post To:</strong> <a href='http://www.spout.com/blogs/cincinatti42506/default.aspx'>Cincinatti42506 Blog</a><br/>
<strong>Post Date:</strong> 1/24/2009 4:16:38 AM<br/>
<strong>Body:</strong> Director Jerry Zucker touches our heart with Bruce Joel Rubin's wonderful screenplay in this romantic and very sweet movie about two people very much in love.  He gets murdered and tries to connect with her after he's dead.  It's about love and also about finally letting go.  
Patrick Swayzee and Demi Moore click together perfectly and we are rooting for them all the way.  Whoopi Goldberg is funny as a fortune teller.
And the song - I think it is called Unchained Melody - works great.<br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 24 Jan 2009 09:16:38 GMT</pubDate><spout:postby>Cincinatti42506</spout:postby><spout:postto>Cincinatti42506 Blog</spout:postto><spout:postdate>1/24/2009 4:16:38 AM</spout:postdate><spout:body>Director Jerry Zucker touches our heart with Bruce Joel Rubin's wonderful screenplay in this romantic and very sweet movie about two people very much in love.  He gets murdered and tries to connect with her after he's dead.  It's about love and also about finally letting go.  
Patrick Swayzee and Demi Moore click together perfectly and we are rooting for them all the way.  Whoopi Goldberg is funny as a fortune teller.
And the song - I think it is called Unchained Melody - works great.</spout:body></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Post: 10 Movies Featuring Allegorical Ghosts</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/9/17/35256.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div><img align='left' src='http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t91593k4kos.jpg' hspace='10' style='height:80px;' />
<strong>Post By:</strong> <a href='http://www.spout.com/members/9325/default.aspx'>SpoutBlog</a><br/>
<strong>Post To:</strong> <a href='http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/default.aspx'>SpoutBlog on spout.com</a><br/>
<strong>Post Date:</strong> 9/17/2008 4:01:25 PM<br/>
<strong>Body:</strong> If you took one look at the existence of the new movie Ghost Town and dismissed it on account of its familiarity, you’re ignoring the potential of one of the most valuable plot devices available to fiction. Sure, the employment of ghosts in a narrative may also be evidence of laziness, as the device is just as much a convenience as it is a useful tool for storytellers. Not everyone can be Shakespeare, and of course there is a lot of redundancy and (excuse the pun) lifelessness in the majority of movies involving ghosts.
However, ghosts can also be highly representative and/or serve a film on a deeper level than the surface story. To use another pun, ghost movies are not always so transparent. Like zombies, their plot-device sibling, ghosts have a way of signifying greater ideas, subjects and themes, and aren’t always merely about scares and talking-to-thin-air gags. In a conversation with Cinematical’s Erik Davis, Ghost Town director/co-writer David Koepp had this to say about the significance of ghost stories:
Part of the reason they’re so enduring is because, well, first off all they give hope — because if they are ghosts, then it means we don’t die when we die. But also because they work really well in a number of genres. Ya know, in a drama like Ghost, or a horror movie, suspense or comedy in our case — I just think they offer so many dramatic possibilities; to have someone that’s dead, but still around to talk about it really suggests a lot of great situations.
Okay, so that bit of promotional fluff is actually more about the literal dramatic qualities of the ghost device than the figurative and subtextual, but the quote at least jumpstarted my thinking. Initially I had thought about simply outlining how ghosts have been applied to different film genres, but then I fortunately switched my goal to seek out ten specific ghost films (from the seemingly thousands out there) that utilize the device for more meaningful purpose.


Poltergeist (1982) and Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)
Ghosts = Threat to Middle-Class
In his book Media Culture: Cutural Studies, Identity and Politics Between the Modern and the Postmodern, critical theorist Douglas Kellner points to a multitude of ideas represented by the ghosts haunting the Freeling family in Poltergeist. In fact, these ideas are discussed over 11 pages (viewable on Google Book Search), also concern the first sequel, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, and include everything from threats of TV’s hold on children to the disintegration of the 1960s counterculture. Generally, though, Kellner sees the first two Poltergeist movies as being about threats to the middle-class and nuclear family in an era of economic insecurity. The ghosts in Poltergeist, Kellner argues, stand in for working-class and racial “others,” and they signify in their actions the break-up of the family unit and fears of losing one’s home and job. With these representations in mind, it’s not so unnecessary, perhaps, that a remake of Poltergeist is currently in the works.

The Amityville Horror (1979)  
Ghosts = Financial Insecurity
This is merely a companion to the Poltergeist films in terms of its ghosts’ representation, but seeing as it was released prior to the first Poltergeist film and it received its allegorical reading from none other than Stephen King (in an article titled “Why We Crave Horror Movies” published in Playboy, quoted in Kellner’s book), I had to include it. Here is what King had to say about the film: “The movie might as well have been subtitled ‘The Horror of the Shrinking Bank Account’…. The Amityville Horror, beneath its ghost-story exterior, is really a financial demolition derby.”

Ghostbusters (1984)  
Ghosts = Obesity or Scum of Old New York
Although it was meant as a joke, the Volkswagon ad in which a projectionist argues his idea that Ghostbusters is a serious warning about the obesity epidemic facing America isn’t completely ridiculous. The points about blobby figures, Dana’s fridge and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man are fair evidence for such an argument. But I’m slightly more interested in the “libertarian” reading of the ghosts as representations of old New York, particularly the filthy, near-bankrupt old New York of the decade preceding the film’s release, which was recently proposed by Karina on this very blog. The Ghostbusters as gentrifying force and pre-Giuliani city-sweepers is interesting, though it might have been more clearly conveyed if some ghosts were in Warriors-like gangs and/or peddling porn in Times Square and/or getting kids hooked on “slime” that can be smoked through a pipe. But I do love the idea that the ghosts are a threat to primarily wealthy New Yorkers just as in real-life it was the homeless and other scum clashing with the new money Manhattanites. Karina also sees the ghosts in the film as a sort of reminder of the New York history that goes back further than the financial and criminal problems of the ‘60s and ‘70s: “Ghostbusters plays on an entire city’s anxieties that, as renters, our spaces don’t belong to us, that there’s a history to our homes that we’ll never know, and probably shouldn’t know.”

The Sixth Sense (1999)  
Ghosts = Insignificance
I love facetious readings of movies, both because I think film scholarship is sometimes too serious and because I think such readings can often be taken more seriously than intended. I’ve already pointed to one example with the VW Ghostbusters ad (there’s a whole series of these ads, of which I find the Toy Story one to be the most hilarious and cogent). Now, I present a humorous address of the major plot hole in The Sixth Sense, part of a Cracked.com list, which asks, regarding the unlikelihood of Bruce Willis’ complete obliviousness to his ghostly existence, “What kind of lifestyle was he living before his death that would make him fail to notice that no one could see or hear him?” Implausible, sure, but it’s also representative of insecurities many of us have about our significance in the world. The Sixth Sense is therefore kind of like the antithesis to It’s a Wonderful Life by showcasing the possibility that your life is so meaningless that were you invisible or dead you would experience no difference.

Ghost (1990)  
Ghosts = Love’s Bond
The fact that, in The Sixth Sense, Bruce Willis doesn’t notice his nonexistence even when in the presence of his wife says something about his character’s perception of and role in that marriage. On the other side of the coin, perhaps, is Demi Moore’s character in Ghost. A precursor and inferior film to Jonathan Glazer’s Birth, it deals more slightly with the same themes of faith and knowability as they pertain to love. This earlier film is far less cynical, though, evident in the employment of a literal ghost rather than simply an outlet for the dead (Ghost would be more similar to Birth if we, like Demi Moore’s character, only saw, heard and had to trust Whoopi Goldberg’s psychic character). There’s still a bit of initial skepticism that love’s bond is nothing more than shared secrets and memories (as if the first convincing evidence that Sam is there, the response “ditto,” couldn’t have been overheard by someone outside the relationship), but continued proof of the ghost’s existence turns the device into an allegory for the spiritual bond between lovers. And it’s apparently a strong enough bond to give Molly (Moore) the faith that she’s kissing her dead husband, even if it may look like she’s kissing a con woman (Goldberg).

Over Her Dead Body (2008)
Ghosts = Memories of Ex-Lovers
Now, imagine if in Ghost, Goldberg’s character actually wanted to pursue a relationship with Molly and was unfortunately haunted by Molly’s previous lover. That’s kind of the premise behind this movie, which proves that even lame ghost movies can at least be allegorical. Here, a psychic character (Lake Bell) falls for a veterinarian (Paul Rudd) and must win his love while being literally haunted by his jealous former fiancée (Eva Longoria). Here the ghost represents that memory of an ex-lover (whether a dumper, dumped or deceased) that can torment the mind of either party in a new relationship, making it difficult to move on to or trust a new lover. Of course, Over Her Dead Body wasn’t the first movie to deal with such a theme, and you’d be better off watching something older and better, like Blithe Spirit, but I wanted to reference some bad films on this list, too. Just be glad I didn’t go ahead and include Ghost Dad as an allegory about inheritance.

visit videodetective.com for more info

The Univited (1944)
Ghosts = Lesbians
Continuing a link to the Demi Moore-Whoopi Goldberg kiss (in which Patrick Swazye’s ghost is superimposed over Goldberg to play it safe for the audience), here is a film in which a ghost actually allegorically represents the “spectral presence of lesbianism,” to borrow a phrase from film scholar Patricia White, who writes of this film and others in her look at the correlation between Hollywood ghost movies and lesbian movies in the book Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability. In addition to implying an actual lesbian relationship, which ended with the death of one of the women, the film’s ghost also seems to represent threats of maternal identification and the female Oedipus complex.

Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)
Ghosts = Cross-Gendered Spectatorship
The ghostly theater audience members in this Tsai Ming-liang film may represent the death of the moviegoer or of cinema itself, but I also see the transvestite ghost as being representative of cross-gendered identification experienced through film spectatorship.

13 Ghosts (1960)
Ghosts = Communists
Okay, this one is a total stretch, but it works for me because (1) thanks to Joe Dante’s Matinee, I’ve always looked at William Castle films as having a Cold War context and (2) I’m shocked that there aren’t actually any Cold War-era films that more clearly employ ghosts as representatives of a Communist threat. I guess monsters, pod people, witches and aliens were sufficient allegories, but I also think it a missed opportunity to relate ghosts to Karl Marx’s phrase “spectre of Communism.” Anyway, in forcing this film into my wanting of such a Communist allegory, I have only this argument: the goggles used both in the film and (as one of Castle’s many gimmicks) outside the film to detect ghosts could be taken as a sort of fantasy for Americans wishing they had special goggles that could detect any Reds living among them. It’s almost like a counterpart to the goggles that detect capitalistic aliens in They Live, right? No? Well, I tried, and hopefully someone can make a modern ghost story that at least employs ghosts as terrorist allegory. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog<br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:01:25 GMT</pubDate><spout:postby>SpoutBlog</spout:postby><spout:postto>SpoutBlog on spout.com</spout:postto><spout:postdate>9/17/2008 4:01:25 PM</spout:postdate><spout:body>If you took one look at the existence of the new movie Ghost Town and dismissed it on account of its familiarity, you’re ignoring the potential of one of the most valuable plot devices available to fiction. Sure, the employment of ghosts in a narrative may also be evidence of laziness, as the device is just as much a convenience as it is a useful tool for storytellers. Not everyone can be Shakespeare, and of course there is a lot of redundancy and (excuse the pun) lifelessness in the majority of movies involving ghosts.
However, ghosts can also be highly representative and/or serve a film on a deeper level than the surface story. To use another pun, ghost movies are not always so transparent. Like zombies, their plot-device sibling, ghosts have a way of signifying greater ideas, subjects and themes, and aren’t always merely about scares and talking-to-thin-air gags. In a conversation with Cinematical’s Erik Davis, Ghost Town director/co-writer David Koepp had this to say about the significance of ghost stories:
Part of the reason they’re so enduring is because, well, first off all they give hope — because if they are ghosts, then it means we don’t die when we die. But also because they work really well in a number of genres. Ya know, in a drama like Ghost, or a horror movie, suspense or comedy in our case — I just think they offer so many dramatic possibilities; to have someone that’s dead, but still around to talk about it really suggests a lot of great situations.
Okay, so that bit of promotional fluff is actually more about the literal dramatic qualities of the ghost device than the figurative and subtextual, but the quote at least jumpstarted my thinking. Initially I had thought about simply outlining how ghosts have been applied to different film genres, but then I fortunately switched my goal to seek out ten specific ghost films (from the seemingly thousands out there) that utilize the device for more meaningful purpose.


Poltergeist (1982) and Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986)
Ghosts = Threat to Middle-Class
In his book Media Culture: Cutural Studies, Identity and Politics Between the Modern and the Postmodern, critical theorist Douglas Kellner points to a multitude of ideas represented by the ghosts haunting the Freeling family in Poltergeist. In fact, these ideas are discussed over 11 pages (viewable on Google Book Search), also concern the first sequel, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, and include everything from threats of TV’s hold on children to the disintegration of the 1960s counterculture. Generally, though, Kellner sees the first two Poltergeist movies as being about threats to the middle-class and nuclear family in an era of economic insecurity. The ghosts in Poltergeist, Kellner argues, stand in for working-class and racial “others,” and they signify in their actions the break-up of the family unit and fears of losing one’s home and job. With these representations in mind, it’s not so unnecessary, perhaps, that a remake of Poltergeist is currently in the works.

The Amityville Horror (1979)  
Ghosts = Financial Insecurity
This is merely a companion to the Poltergeist films in terms of its ghosts’ representation, but seeing as it was released prior to the first Poltergeist film and it received its allegorical reading from none other than Stephen King (in an article titled “Why We Crave Horror Movies” published in Playboy, quoted in Kellner’s book), I had to include it. Here is what King had to say about the film: “The movie might as well have been subtitled ‘The Horror of the Shrinking Bank Account’…. The Amityville Horror, beneath its ghost-story exterior, is really a financial demolition derby.”

Ghostbusters (1984)  
Ghosts = Obesity or Scum of Old New York
Although it was meant as a joke, the Volkswagon ad in which a projectionist argues his idea that Ghostbusters is a serious warning about the obesity epidemic facing America isn’t completely ridiculous. The points about blobby figures, Dana’s fridge and the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man are fair evidence for such an argument. But I’m slightly more interested in the “libertarian” reading of the ghosts as representations of old New York, particularly the filthy, near-bankrupt old New York of the decade preceding the film’s release, which was recently proposed by Karina on this very blog. The Ghostbusters as gentrifying force and pre-Giuliani city-sweepers is interesting, though it might have been more clearly conveyed if some ghosts were in Warriors-like gangs and/or peddling porn in Times Square and/or getting kids hooked on “slime” that can be smoked through a pipe. But I do love the idea that the ghosts are a threat to primarily wealthy New Yorkers just as in real-life it was the homeless and other scum clashing with the new money Manhattanites. Karina also sees the ghosts in the film as a sort of reminder of the New York history that goes back further than the financial and criminal problems of the ‘60s and ‘70s: “Ghostbusters plays on an entire city’s anxieties that, as renters, our spaces don’t belong to us, that there’s a history to our homes that we’ll never know, and probably shouldn’t know.”

The Sixth Sense (1999)  
Ghosts = Insignificance
I love facetious readings of movies, both because I think film scholarship is sometimes too serious and because I think such readings can often be taken more seriously than intended. I’ve already pointed to one example with the VW Ghostbusters ad (there’s a whole series of these ads, of which I find the Toy Story one to be the most hilarious and cogent). Now, I present a humorous address of the major plot hole in The Sixth Sense, part of a Cracked.com list, which asks, regarding the unlikelihood of Bruce Willis’ complete obliviousness to his ghostly existence, “What kind of lifestyle was he living before his death that would make him fail to notice that no one could see or hear him?” Implausible, sure, but it’s also representative of insecurities many of us have about our significance in the world. The Sixth Sense is therefore kind of like the antithesis to It’s a Wonderful Life by showcasing the possibility that your life is so meaningless that were you invisible or dead you would experience no difference.

Ghost (1990)  
Ghosts = Love’s Bond
The fact that, in The Sixth Sense, Bruce Willis doesn’t notice his nonexistence even when in the presence of his wife says something about his character’s perception of and role in that marriage. On the other side of the coin, perhaps, is Demi Moore’s character in Ghost. A precursor and inferior film to Jonathan Glazer’s Birth, it deals more slightly with the same themes of faith and knowability as they pertain to love. This earlier film is far less cynical, though, evident in the employment of a literal ghost rather than simply an outlet for the dead (Ghost would be more similar to Birth if we, like Demi Moore’s character, only saw, heard and had to trust Whoopi Goldberg’s psychic character). There’s still a bit of initial skepticism that love’s bond is nothing more than shared secrets and memories (as if the first convincing evidence that Sam is there, the response “ditto,” couldn’t have been overheard by someone outside the relationship), but continued proof of the ghost’s existence turns the device into an allegory for the spiritual bond between lovers. And it’s apparently a strong enough bond to give Molly (Moore) the faith that she’s kissing her dead husband, even if it may look like she’s kissing a con woman (Goldberg).

Over Her Dead Body (2008)
Ghosts = Memories of Ex-Lovers
Now, imagine if in Ghost, Goldberg’s character actually wanted to pursue a relationship with Molly and was unfortunately haunted by Molly’s previous lover. That’s kind of the premise behind this movie, which proves that even lame ghost movies can at least be allegorical. Here, a psychic character (Lake Bell) falls for a veterinarian (Paul Rudd) and must win his love while being literally haunted by his jealous former fiancée (Eva Longoria). Here the ghost represents that memory of an ex-lover (whether a dumper, dumped or deceased) that can torment the mind of either party in a new relationship, making it difficult to move on to or trust a new lover. Of course, Over Her Dead Body wasn’t the first movie to deal with such a theme, and you’d be better off watching something older and better, like Blithe Spirit, but I wanted to reference some bad films on this list, too. Just be glad I didn’t go ahead and include Ghost Dad as an allegory about inheritance.

visit videodetective.com for more info

The Univited (1944)
Ghosts = Lesbians
Continuing a link to the Demi Moore-Whoopi Goldberg kiss (in which Patrick Swazye’s ghost is superimposed over Goldberg to play it safe for the audience), here is a film in which a ghost actually allegorically represents the “spectral presence of lesbianism,” to borrow a phrase from film scholar Patricia White, who writes of this film and others in her look at the correlation between Hollywood ghost movies and lesbian movies in the book Uninvited: Classical Hollywood Cinema and Lesbian Representability. In addition to implying an actual lesbian relationship, which ended with the death of one of the women, the film’s ghost also seems to represent threats of maternal identification and the female Oedipus complex.

Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)
Ghosts = Cross-Gendered Spectatorship
The ghostly theater audience members in this Tsai Ming-liang film may represent the death of the moviegoer or of cinema itself, but I also see the transvestite ghost as being representative of cross-gendered identification experienced through film spectatorship.

13 Ghosts (1960)
Ghosts = Communists
Okay, this one is a total stretch, but it works for me because (1) thanks to Joe Dante’s Matinee, I’ve always looked at William Castle films as having a Cold War context and (2) I’m shocked that there aren’t actually any Cold War-era films that more clearly employ ghosts as representatives of a Communist threat. I guess monsters, pod people, witches and aliens were sufficient allegories, but I also think it a missed opportunity to relate ghosts to Karl Marx’s phrase “spectre of Communism.” Anyway, in forcing this film into my wanting of such a Communist allegory, I have only this argument: the goggles used both in the film and (as one of Castle’s many gimmicks) outside the film to detect ghosts could be taken as a sort of fantasy for Americans wishing they had special goggles that could detect any Reds living among them. It’s almost like a counterpart to the goggles that detect capitalistic aliens in They Live, right? No? Well, I tried, and hopefully someone can make a modern ghost story that at least employs ghosts as terrorist allegory. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog</spout:body></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Post: Whoopi: Swayze Is the Reason I Won Oscar</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/blogs/lopezdash/archive/2008/3/6/25928.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div><img align='left' src='http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t91593k4kos.jpg' hspace='10' style='height:80px;' />
<strong>Post By:</strong> <a href='http://www.spout.com/members/89318/default.aspx'>lopezdash</a><br/>
<strong>Post To:</strong> <a href='http://www.spout.com/blogs/lopezdash/default.aspx'>The Movie Blog</a><br/>
<strong>Post Date:</strong> 3/6/2008 2:18:13 PM<br/>
<strong>Body:</strong> NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Whoopi Goldberg says her friend Patrick Swayze &mdash; who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer &mdash; is the reason why she won an Oscar for &quot;Ghost.&quot;&quot;When I won my Academy Award, the only person I really thanked was Patrick,&quot; Goldberg recalled Thursday on ABC daytime talk show &quot;The View.&quot;Goldberg, who starred alongside Swayze in the 1990 film, earned a best supporting actress trophy for her portrayal of psychic Oda Mae Brown, who helps slain businessman Sam Wheat (Swayze) communicate with his grieving fiancee and solve the mystery of his murder.The 52-year-old actress-comedian said Swayze persuaded director Jerry Zucker to cast her in the film amid &quot;some resistance.&quot; According to Goldberg, Swayze said, &quot;I&#39;m not making this movie unless you put Whoopi Goldberg in there.&quot;Swayze, 55, has been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, his representative Annett Wolf said Wednesday.In a statement released by Wolf, Swayze&#39;s physician Dr. George Fisher said he was &quot;optimistic&quot; about the &quot;Dirty Dancing&quot; actor&#39;s prognosis for battling the disease: &quot;Patrick has a very limited amount of disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far.&quot;Goldberg said she hadn&#39;t spoken to Swayze about his health.&quot;We want you to feel better &mdash; we&#39;ll talk soon, I hope,&quot; she said.(Source: The Associated Press) <br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:18:13 GMT</pubDate><spout:postby>lopezdash</spout:postby><spout:postto>The Movie Blog</spout:postto><spout:postdate>3/6/2008 2:18:13 PM</spout:postdate><spout:body>NEW YORK (AP) &amp;mdash; Whoopi Goldberg says her friend Patrick Swayze &amp;mdash; who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer &amp;mdash; is the reason why she won an Oscar for &amp;quot;Ghost.&amp;quot;&amp;quot;When I won my Academy Award, the only person I really thanked was Patrick,&amp;quot; Goldberg recalled Thursday on ABC daytime talk show &amp;quot;The View.&amp;quot;Goldberg, who starred alongside Swayze in the 1990 film, earned a best supporting actress trophy for her portrayal of psychic Oda Mae Brown, who helps slain businessman Sam Wheat (Swayze) communicate with his grieving fiancee and solve the mystery of his murder.The 52-year-old actress-comedian said Swayze persuaded director Jerry Zucker to cast her in the film amid &amp;quot;some resistance.&amp;quot; According to Goldberg, Swayze said, &amp;quot;I&amp;#39;m not making this movie unless you put Whoopi Goldberg in there.&amp;quot;Swayze, 55, has been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer, his representative Annett Wolf said Wednesday.In a statement released by Wolf, Swayze&amp;#39;s physician Dr. George Fisher said he was &amp;quot;optimistic&amp;quot; about the &amp;quot;Dirty Dancing&amp;quot; actor&amp;#39;s prognosis for battling the disease: &amp;quot;Patrick has a very limited amount of disease and he appears to be responding well to treatment thus far.&amp;quot;Goldberg said she hadn&amp;#39;t spoken to Swayze about his health.&amp;quot;We want you to feel better &amp;mdash; we&amp;#39;ll talk soon, I hope,&amp;quot; she said.(Source: The Associated Press) </spout:body></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Post: Paul Rudd Stars in A Parody of Itself — ‘Over Her Dead Body’ Trailer</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/archive/2008/1/11/23783.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div><img align='left' src='http://www.spout.com/ProductImages/t91593k4kos.jpg' hspace='10' style='height:80px;' />
<strong>Post By:</strong> <a href='http://www.spout.com/members/9325/default.aspx'>SpoutBlog</a><br/>
<strong>Post To:</strong> <a href='http://www.spout.com/blogs/spoutblog/default.aspx'>SpoutBlog on spout.com</a><br/>
<strong>Post Date:</strong> 1/11/2008 2:01:17 PM<br/>
<strong>Body:</strong> 


I can just imagine how the pitch went for this one. Writer Jeff Lowell (John Tucker Must Die) says, “I’ve got this idea for a movie that’s like Ghost except that in the end Demi Moore falls in love with Whoopi Goldberg. Nah, just kidding, I’ve got this really serious project in mind, very artsy, something that will lift me out of my sitcom-based pattern.” And then the New Line execs say, “Umm. Yeah, so we want to do your Ghost movie, but it has to be more heterosexual.” And Lowell says, “Oh, that was just a fake idea that I was going to propose as a parody to be used on Family Guy or The Simpsons.” Then New Line flashes a suitcase full of money at Lowell, says they’ll even let him direct the movie, and the deal is done. The result: Over Her Dead Body, a movie that seems so ridiculous that it just might work as a parody of itself.
And I hope that Paul Rudd sees how silly the movie is and decided to star in it ironically (just as he appreciates the irony of how his bride died). Because, really, the guy is better than this Ghost meets The Heartbreak Kid kind of paranormal situation comedy. Aren’t there about a hundred Judd Apatow movies in the works that he can at least do a supporting role in rather than play the lead in a movie that features the old chestnut of a scenario in which somebody walks in on another character who seems to be talking to themselves but who is actually conversing with a ghost/angel/etc.? OK, I’ll admit that the “here, catch” scene is pretty funny, despite also being an old joke, and I always enjoy a good mustard and ketchup on the nice dress gag, and I’m glad to see nobody fell in a ditch or walked into a pole in this trailer. But despite the continued appeal of slapstick and discomfort humor, will the public really be interested in yet another ghostly romantic comedy — they didn’t seem too interested in Just Like Heaven, and that starred American sweetheart Reese Witherspoon — especially one that treats the recently deceased so disrespectfully?
 Originally posted on:SpoutBlog<br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:01:17 GMT</pubDate><spout:postby>SpoutBlog</spout:postby><spout:postto>SpoutBlog on spout.com</spout:postto><spout:postdate>1/11/2008 2:01:17 PM</spout:postdate><spout:body>


I can just imagine how the pitch went for this one. Writer Jeff Lowell (John Tucker Must Die) says, “I’ve got this idea for a movie that’s like Ghost except that in the end Demi Moore falls in love with Whoopi Goldberg. Nah, just kidding, I’ve got this really serious project in mind, very artsy, something that will lift me out of my sitcom-based pattern.” And then the New Line execs say, “Umm. Yeah, so we want to do your Ghost movie, but it has to be more heterosexual.” And Lowell says, “Oh, that was just a fake idea that I was going to propose as a parody to be used on Family Guy or The Simpsons.” Then New Line flashes a suitcase full of money at Lowell, says they’ll even let him direct the movie, and the deal is done. The result: Over Her Dead Body, a movie that seems so ridiculous that it just might work as a parody of itself.
And I hope that Paul Rudd sees how silly the movie is and decided to star in it ironically (just as he appreciates the irony of how his bride died). Because, really, the guy is better than this Ghost meets The Heartbreak Kid kind of paranormal situation comedy. Aren’t there about a hundred Judd Apatow movies in the works that he can at least do a supporting role in rather than play the lead in a movie that features the old chestnut of a scenario in which somebody walks in on another character who seems to be talking to themselves but who is actually conversing with a ghost/angel/etc.? OK, I’ll admit that the “here, catch” scene is pretty funny, despite also being an old joke, and I always enjoy a good mustard and ketchup on the nice dress gag, and I’m glad to see nobody fell in a ditch or walked into a pole in this trailer. But despite the continued appeal of slapstick and discomfort humor, will the public really be interested in yet another ghostly romantic comedy — they didn’t seem too interested in Just Like Heaven, and that starred American sweetheart Reese Witherspoon — especially one that treats the recently deceased so disrespectfully?
 Originally posted on:SpoutBlog</spout:body></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:love</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/love/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/love/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>love</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 12477</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 336</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 1475</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:13:41 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>12477</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>336</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>1475</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:romance</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/romance/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/romance/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>romance</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 7160</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 169</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 1002</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:50:40 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>7160</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>169</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>1002</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:murder</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/murder/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/murder/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>murder</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 8748</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 157</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 830</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:57:25 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>8748</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>157</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>830</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:death</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/death/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/death/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>death</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 4306</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 140</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 526</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:27:13 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>4306</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>140</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>526</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:overrated</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/overrated/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/overrated/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>overrated</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 152</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 106</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 240</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:37:37 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>152</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>106</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>240</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:lame</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/lame/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/lame/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>lame</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 140</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 65</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 162</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:10:30 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>140</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>65</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>162</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:ghost</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/ghost/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/ghost/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>ghost</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 1219</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 58</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 137</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:30:06 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>1219</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>58</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>137</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:deception</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/deception/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/deception/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>deception</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 1090</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 55</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 123</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:18:11 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>1090</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>55</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>123</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:depressing</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/depressing/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/depressing/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>depressing</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 55</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 45</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 74</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:23:43 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>55</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>45</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>74</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:supernatural</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/supernatural/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/supernatural/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>supernatural</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 515</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 35</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 55</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2009 22:07:53 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>515</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>35</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>55</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:cheesy</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/cheesy/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/cheesy/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>cheesy</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 31</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 33</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 38</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:17:06 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>31</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>33</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>38</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:chick-flick</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/chick-flick/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/chick-flick/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>chick-flick</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 32</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 30</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 72</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:24:10 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>32</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>30</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>72</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:investigation</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/investigation/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/investigation/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>investigation</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 5883</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 29</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 124</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:27:28 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>5883</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>29</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>124</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:afterlife</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/afterlife/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/afterlife/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>afterlife</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 319</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 19</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 28</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:13:22 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>319</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>19</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>28</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
    <item>
      <title>Spout Tag:communication</title>
      <link>http://www.spout.com/members/0/tags/communication/MemberTagFilms.aspx</link><description><![CDATA[<div style='display:block;height:120px;width:400px;font:10px/10px Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;'><a href='/members/0/tags/communication/MemberTagFilms.aspx'>communication</a>
<strong><br/> Number of films tagged:</strong> 227</br><br/>
<strong>Number of people who tagged:</strong> 15</br><br/>
<strong>Number of times used:</strong> 17</br><br/>
</div>]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:07:45 GMT</pubDate><spout:numFilms>227</spout:numFilms><spout:numPeople>15</spout:numPeople><spout:timesUsed>17</spout:timesUsed><spout:type>Tag</spout:type></item>
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