Movie Review:Ghost

Reviewed by Protopresbyter David Cownie

Directed by Tony Goldwyn. Starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg (1990).

Webmaster Note: Although this film is almost ten years old, Fr. David kindlyagreed to review it for the Orthodox Christian Information Center because it was such a"hit" movie, and entirely about one couple's experience with death and thefuture life. It was a huge box office draw and is still talked about today. His excellentobservations can certainly be applied to many other movies since then... 

"Ghost" is a very engaging film. It presents a view of the after-life whichis a mixture of fact and fancy. When compared to the Orthodox understanding of whathappens to a soul when separated from the body, there are a number of elements in the filmwhich are accurate and a number which are false. These elements in and of themselves poseno great problem for a believer. What is problematic is the overall thrust of the film.

Here we are confronted by a complete absence of the concept of virtue. There are"good" people and "bad" people. When "bad" people die, likemurderers and embezzlers, their souls come out of their bodies and within seconds horribledark shapes ooze up from the ground with growls and snarls and convey the hapless wretchscreaming to the nether regions. This is, in fact, an accurate and wholly Orthodoxapproach. There are dozens of accounts in the stories of the Desert Fathers and variouslives of Saints which support this. So even in the 1990’s, it is possible totruthfully depict the fate of an evil person. The problem lies with how we define a"good" one.

In the film, the hero is murdered in tragic circumstances. After being shot in astruggle with a mugger, he suddenly finds himself outside himself looking at hisgirlfriend holding his bloody and dying body. The shock and disbelief are properlyportrayed as is the fact of him being there watching himself die. This experience ofcoming out of the body has been well documented at all periods of Church history up to thepresent time. We see a beam of light open, and then close for the hero, Sam, leaving himstranded here on earth. He finds other souls in the same circumstance throughout the cityas he moves through the story. What we do not understand is what makes Sam so much betterthan the other unfortunates who were dragged to Hell. After all, he and his girlfriendwere cohabiting. They were both engaged in material pursuits which had no reference toGod. They were quintessential "yuppies" of this generation who sought and wereobtaining material success while completely ignoring their souls. They did not seek toharm anybody, nor did they seek to serve anyone—even one another. They were simply"nice" people. The problem with "nice" is that it is a very long wayfrom "good."

Herein lies the real problem of this film. Niceness is the measure of virtue ratherthan virtue itself. It is my guess that the screenwriter would be hard-pressed to definevirtue. After all, there really was no reason this couple couldn’t have been married.It had nothing to do with the plot, nor would it have in any way weakened the bond betweenthe couple and their pain at separation. In fact, having the couple happily married wouldhave only made those bonds stronger and the emotional power of the film greater. Instead,the writer decided to denigrate marriage by equating the selfish "love" of acohabiting couple with the truly spiritual bond made in deeply committed marriage. Thiswas dishonest and is harmful for teen-age viewers, who are struggling with their passionsand only looking for any excuse to act on them. This film encourages such destructivebehavior by confusing genuine love with the selfish fulfillment of one’s passions.

Another problem with the film is the promotion of spiritism and mediumism. The mediumof the film, played by Whoopi Goldberg, is portrayed honestly enough as a sham and a fake.Most mediums are. She and her sisters call on Jesus as most mediums do. However, sometimesthey are surprised, even as this character is, when "somebody" actually showsup. [For a more complete study of spiritism, I suggest that the reader consultOrthodoxyand the Religion of the Future, by Father Seraphim Rose.] Who that"somebody" is is the real question. According to the Orthodox Church, humansouls are not left to wander aimlessly in this plane. For one thing, it is dangerous,because this realm belongs to the demons. When a person dies who is not completely evil,the soul is escorted by angels during the three days or so that it remains here before thefuneral to protect it from demonic attack. In the film, a light shines down and thenrecedes, leaving Sam to wander haplessly throughout the city. There are no angels orguides to help him, only other stranded souls who have a little more experience. Butdemons never seem to be around at all, except to drag people away. Sam is allowed to speakto the medium and she hears what he says. This is a confirmation of spiritism whichmisleads the audience into believing human souls speak to and through mediums instead ofdemons. But a spiritist’s seance is a place where the demons regularly gather andhave fun with the unfortunates who submit to them. The film even demonstrates spiritpossession of the medium, but again falsely claiming the "spirits" to be humansouls instead of demons. This sort of misinformation can only confuse and delude peopleinto believing the spiritist gospel, especially the young.

But the saddest part of this film lies in the complete ignorance of spiritual lifefound in the bereaved girl. In the film, she actually says, "I don’t believe inan after-life." This is sadly a very realistically drawn character for this age.Because of the failure of all of the mainline American churches in Christianity to presenta coherent and factual construct of what happens after death, many millions of people inthis culture share this poor character’s dilemma. The absence of prayer andconsolation for the bereaved found in this film is all the sadder because of this lack ofinformation. There is absolutely no assurance being given of that Living Hope for whichall believers order their lives in such a way as to prepare their souls for death. Suchpreparation is not even considered in many cases. Funerals are often antiseptic affairswhich deny both the presence of the deceased and the power of prayer. Prayer for the deadhas been so completely extinguished from this society by Protestant influence, that evenbelievers are often left feeling empty and are denied the comfort that prayer for the Deadgives the human soul.

One of the most powerful components of the Orthodox faith is the revelation of thecontinuity of life after departing from the body. All of the various memorials andservices offered up for the deceased give the bereaved a direct connection to the nextworld and serve to remind us all of the interconnectedness of the spirit world with ourown. Two hundred years of rationalism have effectively removed any official acknowledgmentof the spirit world from this society. Spiritism and other so-called "New Age"ideas have moved in to fill the spiritual void which resulted from the suppression of theOrthodox understanding of death and dying. The emptiness of the girl in this film was atragic portrait of the vapid help offered by the Christian churches in these times. Onecan fault Hollywood for distorting such ideas as death and dying and the spirit world. Butthe real fault lies with the modern leaders of Christianity as a whole for leaving thistopic so completely ignored.