MovieChat Forums > The Ring (2002) Discussion > Is Samara really evil?

Is Samara really evil?

posted 9 years ago by edwintrinh09
18 replies | jump to latest

As a kid, I always thought that Samara was an outcast like Carrie, in Moesko Island and even in her own adoptive family as well since she had little/no control over her powers which had the ability to make someone commit suicide and all she wants is a loving and accepting mother. However, she also states that she wants to hurt people ever since she born over and over again. I'm really confused. Is she really a tragic villain or is she using her tragedy of being thrown into the well as an exuse for her murderous actions?

[–] eric_m_bi 9 years ago

I don't know if this helps but in Ringu 0, Sadako...

is a nice person but is often bullied and harassed in the drama theatre where she works, ultimately her co-workers kill her when they find out that she has psychic powers because they perceive her to be a threat. It is then revealed that Sadako has an alter ego, a dark side, that is also active and that she can only be killed if both halves of her are killed. The troupe then go to Sadako's house where her father lives to kill her dark side but end up getting slaughtered instead. Sadako comes back to life but is attacked by her own father and thrown into the well where it takes her seven days to die.

There are many differences between Ringu and The Ring however, in the former Sadako is a grown woman but in The Ring Samara is a young girl. Ringu 2 is also radically different from The Ring 2 whereas the Japanese story focuses on the husband's girlfriend as the main protagonist and The Ring 2 continues the story of the reporter woman from the first film.

[–] fiatlux-1 8 years ago

To the OP:
Yes, Samara is evil. The film shows that she has some kind of demonic origins, whether that she herself is a demon or her parent(s) were.

The original book of the same name indicates this as well.

I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus.
Didn't he discover America?
Penfold, shush.

[–] camerica1978 8 years ago

Nah. Once she was this sweet, little Hawaiian girl. But then her parents died. Her big sister took care of her afterwards, and taught her the concept of "ohana" - family means no one gets left behind. Then she found an intelligent, dog-like creature, and eventually made him part of their family. All was well, for a while. The creature imbued her with telepathic abilities. But then her sister and her pet creature abandoned her, making her feel betrayed, bitter, and hateful. She was adopted, but her adoptive parents tried to kill her. They succeeded, and she became the soul-crushing, malevolent ghost she is today. Sad.

[–] pammigal 8 years ago

Well, as a patient in the psych ward she clearly admits to enjoying hurting people, and makes her intention of continuing to do so.

My opinion is that Samara being "special" is basically saying that she is a hybrid. Part human, part other-worldly entity. Remember, the Morgans were never supposed to conceive. So it seems as if they may have taken a trip to China and had some arcane fertility ritual worked on Anna. She returns home and then....she's got a daughter. We don't even know how long the pregnancy lasted. It was more than likely not a standard 40 week gestation period.

This malevolence of Samara is only magnified to the nth degree once she is betrayed and thrown down the well, only to suffer for 7 days until the only humanity within her died.

Once the mortal part of her died, all that was left to wreak havock was the demon aspect to her.

[–] crissttigaldames 8 years ago

This. She had an evil aspect to her to begin with, but wasn't actually evil imo. The horses killing themselves seemed to be a reaction they had to her independent of her wanting them to, as we can see by the horse's reaction to Rachael, and the horse acting up and hurting the rider when she was only a baby.

She turns completely evil out of rage once her mother kills her.

I don't remember her saying she wants to hurt people in the phychiatric hospital tape though?. I just watched it and I remember her saying how she made the pictures (pictures which have nothing evil about them, they're just memories), saying that she loves her mother and that her father doesn't love her... I think the worse she says is that her hurting people won't stop?.

[–] ira_gaines 8 years ago

(pictures which have nothing evil about them, they're just memories)

Samara's "pictures" aren't memories, they're visions from the future. In the deleted scenes this pretty much indicated explicitly, but you can piece it together from the film itself as well.

[–] jqp5296 8 years ago

I think she's always been evil.

The woman Rachel speaks to on the island mentions how they had tried for years to conceive but couldn't and one day "came back with a daughter". To me, this implies that she was either taken from someone (unclear origins) or conceived in an other worldly way that wasn't mean to be. I just watched the film, and she does say she hurts people in the hospital, however, it has two meanings. The first time you hear it, it sounds innocent, but the saying is replayed later in the film and takes on a new meaning.

The man says she hurts her parents/others, and says "You don't want to hurt anyone do you Samara?" She says "But I do, and I'm sorry. It won't stop."

Initially, you take this as she's sorry she hurts them, she doesn't mean to, and she wants it to be over, as in "But I do hurt them, and I'm sorry. It won't stop." But the second time, it's played back near the end and she's looking at the camera with a sinister look that you didn't see before. This time, the meaning changes. She is essentially saying "But I do want to hurt them. I'm sorry, but it won't stop."

[–] ira_gaines 8 years ago

But the second time, it's played back near the end and she's looking at the camera with a sinister look that you didn't see before. This time, the meaning changes. She is essentially saying "But I do want to hurt them. I'm sorry, but it won't stop."

That's in Rachel's head though, in the actual video Samara wasn't looking at the camera. This is just symbolic story telling for the audience's benefit. This clip repeated in a more sinister way is meant to represent the curse.

[–] loverboylove 8 years ago

Why did Anna kill Samara?

[–] hannahrose313 8 years ago

How do you know that? When Anna originally watched the tape, she was sympathetic towards Samara and believed her to be an innocent, abused child. When she copied the tape, she knew that this most likely wasn't the case. I think what Anna saw reflected her opinion of Samara at the time.
OR
Samara controls how one sees the tape. She knew Anna was sympathetic, and manipulated the tape to make her look innocent so Anna would eventually free her. At the end, she revealed her "true" self because at this point she was free and it didn't matter.

[–] soulsk8ter225 8 years ago

Anna? Do you mean Rachel?

** Rest in peace, Timothy Volkert (1988 - 2003) **

[–] Stonaraptor 8 years ago

anna? anna was samaras mother. You mean rachel (naomi watts)

[–] termigreen 8 years ago

Samara never admitted to enjoying hurting people. When she says "But I do, and I'm sorry..." (in response to "You don't want to hurt anyone"), she's saying that she still ends up hurting people even though she doesn't want to; it's like it's out of her control. Another way of wording it is "I don't want to hurt anybody, but I somehow do hurt them."

As far as her origin, I'm pretty sure it's mentioned even if briefly, that Samara was adopted; this is later confirmed in the sequel Ring 2. It is known by the first film that she wasn't conceived by Anna. Concerning whether Samara has always been evil and whether it's the individual that's evil, I think it goes more like the human girl Samara is not evil. However, when she was born, somehow an evil spirit entered her body and used it as a vessel. When Anna killed Samara, the only bit of good (ie, the girl, who doesn't want to hurt anybody) was lost, unleashing the evil side that is not bound by a human host, but by projecting through media. It still takes the form of the girl (Samara), albeit heavily decayed to accelerate the fear in the victims.

[–] FirstBlood1982 7 years ago

"As far as her origin, I'm pretty sure it's mentioned even if briefly, that Samara was adopted; this is later confirmed in the sequel Ring 2."

The Ring Two offered a pretty poor backstory that conflicts with the unnatural conception that was addressed in the extended footage on The Ring DVD/Blu-ray.

That awful backstory was a big part of why The Ring Two was such a dud of a film.

The implied backstory in the first film was much more effective.

Many sequels change the story of their predecessors, often for the worst...The Ring Two is a prime example. It took nearly a decade and a half for Samara to get another film because of how badly that movie screwed up her story.

+++by His wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53:5+++

[–] CB101 8 years ago

To me she has evil powers that she can't control but isn't intending to hurt anyone when she was alive. In the psych ward, when the doctor says "You don't want to hurt anyone. She says "But I do and I'm sorry but it won't stop. Anna throwing her down the well then made it worse.

[–] liquoricelakrits 8 years ago

Got this from another source:

Samaras birth mother tried to drown her when she was a baby, because the baby told her to do so. This was so she could save Samara from the evil sprit that was possessing her. Later she was adopted by the Morgans and Samara had the power of projected thermography (she can burn images into other peoples minds and ofc - video tapes). The horses and her mother went crazy because of Samaras powers and the projecting, so her mother tried to kill her. And that I guess was the staring point of Samaras spirit creating a cursed video tape as revenge.

Samara is evil, but it seems like it's not the real person Samaras fault. It's more like she has "powers" that keeps on hurting other people.

[–] fiatlux-1 8 years ago

The film's ending makes it clear that Samara IS evil.
Deliberately so.

The scene alone where Rachael finally gets to see the scene from the video without Samara's trickery says volumes:
Doctor: You don't want to hurt anyone.
Samara: But I do. *smirks & speaks mockingly now* And I'm sorry. It won't stop.

She manipulated the image & the intonations of the words, in Rachael's mind, to make her think she herself was a victim.....when she was the villain.

I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus.
Didn't he discover America?
Penfold, shush.

[–] yusef-ghanima 7 years ago

based on the original story (the american story of the changeling) she or he want justice.