MovieChat Forums > Ghost World (2001) Discussion > ...What the hell kind of an ending was t...

...What the hell kind of an ending was that?

posted 10 years ago by nivrehs
46 replies | jump to latest

Don't worry, I'm not about to rain on your parade with, "I didn't like this movie" or "it was so boring and pointless." I laughed at a lot of the awkward and quirky humor throughout. But right around the point when Seymour and Enid slept together, it just all went downhill. Not in a crazy *beep* type of way, but just sort of in a dragging, over-sulking, stalemate, dare I say boring way. I mean, what the hell happened?

Yeah, of course Rebecca wouldn't take her back because of her unreliable behavior, absence, and all-talk nature ("I'll get a job [and keep it]"). Who would want to remain friends with someone so negative and cynical who spends all their free time with their "other" friend anyway?

But how does that ending even count as an ending? A bus that hasn't come over the span of the entire film (which to my understanding was several weeks) just suddenly shows up? What? And then Enid just sits there and it shows up immediately afterwards? That was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. A really cheap way to end an otherwise really original film. It's as if the screenwriters (or the original author in this case) just decided that they were bored with this script and gave it a quick ending.

I know, I know. You're gonna tell me I "don't get it." Right?

[–] Naughty-God 8 years ago

I think the point of the bus arriving and picking up the old man and ultimately Enid is that it always picked people up. Enid's narrow vision of reality prevented her from noticing that other people live to the beat of their own drum. She assumed that the bus never came and that the old man was just a weird loner living in the past, when in fact he boarded the bus every day as part of his schedule.

[–] bsharporflat 8 years ago

I think the point of the bus arriving and picking up the old man and ultimately Enid is that it always picked people up. Enid's narrow vision of reality prevented her from noticing that other people live to the beat of their own drum. She assumed that the bus never came and that the old man was just a weird loner living in the past, when in fact he boarded the bus every day as part of his schedule.

That is a nice interpretation. And I won't say it is wrong.

It just doesn't work for me. The old guy wasn't depicted as "following the beat of his own drum". We don't know much about him at all, except that he is very old.

Now Seymour was a character who marched (or tried to march) to his own drumbeat. If we'd seen Seymour get on that bus first, that would have added an entirely new flavor to the ending.

But we don't see that. As the movie ends we see Seymour seeing a therapist who is helping him to cope with life and to be more normal. Accompanied by his mother who wants to know what he would like for dinner.

That is the path in life Enid does NOT want to walk. She'd rather go where the old guy is going. And, as I see it, there is only one place a guy that old has left to go.

[–] PenTheater 8 years ago

That is the path in life Enid does NOT want to walk. She'd rather go where the old guy is going. And, as I see it, there is only one place a guy that old has left to go.

Well done.
In the old mans case, he has lived his life and he knows he is done.
So he checks out. He does not have a problem with that.
Enid makes this decision too. Right or wrong for the audience.

This is an existential movie, people need to realize that. Existentialists sometimes do NOT have a problem with death.
Ephemeron.

[–] surfacetension (6) 4 years ago

"NOT IN SERVICE" is literally stenciled on the bench.

[–] davodikum (6007) 3 years ago

plus the old man said he was leaving town.

[–] fede_4488 8 years ago

But how does that ending even count as an ending? A bus that hasn't come over the span of the entire film (which to my understanding was several weeks) just suddenly shows up?

So you're one of those idiots that needs everything spelt out for you?

If I don't reply, you're most likely on my ignore list

[–] TeenGangDeb 8 years ago

Don't worry, I'm not about to rain on your parade

Oh thank god. I was really worried that some internet rando was going to not like the movie.

++++++
Love means never having to say you're ugly. - The Abominable Dr. Phibes

[–] snepts (11123) 6 years ago

I'm surprised how often people completely reject anything existential. I like the movie, and when I get to the end, and there's a bus on a defunct bus line, I just take it for what it is. It's a figment, it's something to ponder. Is it a metaphor or a symbol? I don't know, but I liked the movie, and the mystery of the bus at the end doesn't ruin anything for me.
Everything needen't be spelled out for easy consumption.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I liked it. I thought it was pretty accurate as far as human nature goes. Sometimes you don't get big drama and a definitive conclusion in the real world. Things just sort of drag on.

[–] modica (4169) 4 years ago

I found a lot of the movie kind of depressing and cringe worthy. Not sure where all the comedy was. Enid was a very screwed up young woman and the fact that everything goes south in the end makes me think that the ending can go either way. She either killed herself or decided to leave town and start a new life for herself. Maybe Enid decided to shed her cynicism and develop warmer feelings toward others is a possibility. It is also possible that the world was just too much for her and that the bus was a metaphor for ending it all. I think how we grew up during our teen years and how we dealt with it would determine how we view the movie and the ambiguous ending. I know when I first saw the movie, seeing that bus drive over the bridge gave me a chill up my spine. So even though I'd like to think that the movie ended on a happier note, my first impression wasn't very positive on what was going to happen next. The movie reminded me a lot of The Catcher In The Rye. It even leaves us wondering what happened to both Enid and Holden at the end.

[–] slimone (7996) 4 years ago

Enid gets on a bus and rides away.

[–] cbsteven (214) 3 years ago

I think people are getting carried away with the suicide idea. The bus restarting gives Enid the inspiration to leave town. But if she'll be any happier, who knows?