MovieChat Forums > The Sixth Sense (1999) Discussion > Did Cole believed that Malcolm wasn't a ...

Did Cole believed that Malcolm wasn't a ghost?


It's pretty clear that Cole was afraid to the ghosts the mayority of the film, but when he was with Malcolm, he was calmed and not scared, so if Cole believed that Malcolm was a live, why Malcolm's ghost was so different from the others, I mean, no scares things came with Malcolm althought he suffered a violent dead. It was so clear for Cole and the audience when a ghost arrived that the Malcolm situation seen a little cheating for make the final twist. Maybe the fact that Malcolm was a calm and lovely dude makes his ghost benign and not scare? I remember that Cole said to his mother that grandma visited him sometimes and she seens like another benign ghost like Malcolm, and the fact that Cole didn't know Malcolm before, plus that he was a benign ghost made him believe that Malcolm was alive? I was thinking on the idea that Cole actually known that Malcolm was a ghost but he decided trusted in him for been a benign ghost like his grandma but it's so clear in a couple scenes that Cole seens to think that he is talking with another alive person when talk with Malcolm, like when he tell him his secret, or when he talk about the feeling of been close to a ghost, or when he tell him to talk with Anna when she's sleeping, or just when he talk with him in general, Cole is so relax and calm with Malcolm that is weird that he seens to be so scare to the other ghosts.

What do you thing?

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I had a feeling he knew because after he told Malcolm how to talk to his wife, he said "So, I guess we are not going to see each other anymore". Cole knew that once he helped the ghosts, they wouldn't visit him anymore...

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People mention him running from Malcolm at the beginning. But if he is aware he is a ghost the whole time, why, after revealing his secret to him, would he ask Malcolm not to tell anyone said secret? If he knows he is a ghost there isn't any point in asking him that.

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Very good point. I saw the movie the day of its release and never was so shocked in my life by any other movie. The Sixth Sense is so brilliant; it requires a lot of thought to appreciate the many ways in which its brilliance shows. Your point is that children are children, with or without a sixth sense. They are reacting to the world, not analyzing it.

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Because he wanted to know he could trust him. It's not only his behavior at the church, Cole also describes the sensation he feels when there's a ghost around (and not just an upset ghost).

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He was afraid of the ghosts for good reason. They usually behaved aggressively towards him, the scratches and bruises tell it all. Malcom acted very ''civil'' towards him and seemed more human than the others which were just like mindless entities.

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Yeah I think he knew the whole time , for starters he would have seen the giant gaping gunshot would in his stomach

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