On my first watch of Ghost World back in 2001 I remember the music and the atmosphere being loud with feeling underneath that humour-filled mystery and awkwardness . It was almost all that mattered, even though the Enid character resonated. When I think back on my early watches though I must have fell a bit too much into relating. This time I am acutely aware of how well Thora Birch carries this role.
For example: Enid is annoying. She’s supposed to be a misanthropic brat, but she’s highly sympathetic, because who does want to fall into the mundane realities of being an adult at seventeen? Birch, in this role, straddles that fine line really well. And as her friend adopts the working world (and consequently moving out) with relative ease Enid really struggles to put herself in spaces that don’t align with her values, even though she might not know what they are, exactly.
Just to reiterate: this was my favourite soundtrack for a long time after Ghost World came out (which I proudly saw in the cinema care-of my date at the time, though I don’t think he was as enthralled as I was). I’m looking forward to revisiting it over and over in the next couple weeks.
There are some dated scenes and approaches to concepts in Ghost World, such as the way they tackle race. Overall, the idea of an imperfect teenager struggling to find herself and what she even wants is something we don’t see enough of anymore. Without bending too much towards horror and seriousness or that Hollywoodized glamour of enlightened teens and growing community, Ghost World embraces the alienation of being caught between what you’re supposed to be doing as a woman growing out of her teens, or what you’re supposed to want, what you think you want, and accepting that really you don’t actually know and you need the chance to find out for yourself. In fact, all that matters is that you take that journey even if it’s completely unexpected and outside the box.
Rating: 4.5/5
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