Lessons from Japanese horror movies
23 October 2004 10:21 pm
Family ties are important. Your family members are the most important people in the world. They should be. Love them, treasure them, treat them well. Or God help you.
Perhaps this is the underlying message of the Japanese horror movies I've seen: Ringu (American version The Ring), Dark Water and Ju-On (American version: The Grudge). Each movie consists of a deeply troubled family. In Ringu, you have a woman with ESP and her ill-begotten evil vengeful daughter, Sadako ("frolic in brine, goblins be thine", goes the grim nursery rhyme of the Izu fisherfolk, warning of the evil influence of the sea, by which Sadako's mother is said to have spent most of her time while she was alive). There is also a divorced mother and her strange son, who is accustomed to his own company from being left at home by himself while she works. In Dark Water you have another divorced mother, this time with a daughter, living in an old run-down dingy apartment haunted by the ghost of a girl much like the neglected daughter. Finally, in Ju-On there's a family torn apart and destroyed by betrayal, returning from the dead to unleash their rage on any living person unfortunate enough to inhabit their cursed house.
In all the movies, the characters' lives are characterised by solitude, alienation and loneliness. Perhaps this is supposed to mirror the state of the family unit in today's society, one in which husband and wife have to work to make ends meet; in which having an only child, a financially-prudent choice, creates lonely, vulnerable children; in which married couples divorce after less than ten years; in which single parents struggle to support themselves and the child under their custody (suggested by the choice of the dingy apartment in Dark Water). Ju-On does not fit into this pattern as neatly as the other two movies, but it does feature an old woman suffering from senile dementia, left in the hands of professional caregivers by her adult, working children. Locked in her own world, she is unable to convey to the unsuspecting would-be victims (the social worker who comes to visit, her children) of the horror waiting in the house, the horror only she can see and feel.
Once you get over the shock effects and the chilling soundtrack of the movies, what makes the movies indelibly frightening to me is the portrayal of a solitary or isolated existence destroyed by evil forces beyond the characters' control. Even if you don't believe in ghosts, you recognise the dangers of living alone. You could be attacked on your way home, if home is in a shady part of town, because it's cheap and all you can afford. Or there could be an accident at home; you could be severely injured and incapacitated for days without anyone noticing until you die and the stench of your rotting corpse finally gets your neighbour's attention. Then there's the malevolent ghost of your past; a crazed ex-boyfriend or husband stalking you before finally exacting his rage in your home. These are real dangers that have happened to real people. It's easy to see the supernatural beings in those three movies as metaphors for real-life murderers, rapists and attackers.
So, it doesn't pay to be a recluse. Surround yourself with people you love and who care about you. Spend quality time with your family, especially your children. Work on your marriage. If you live and work in another country, separated from family and friends, take the trouble to keep in touch and to make new friends, form meaningful connections with people. No amount of ambition, financial independence nor old family feuds should diminish the importance of family or of love.
Sometimes we need to be scared out of our wits by a horror movie to be reminded of what's really important in life.
Older entries
Ramadan - 08 October 2006
Where I Have Been - 03 October 2006
Baby Talk - 10 August 2006
6 Weeks of Separation - 16 July 2006
Unacceptable Rudeness - 21 June 2006