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I apologize if this topic has been approached before on this forum. I have been reading through them and haven't found what I'm looking for yet. I have recently seen the movie The Ring... and I am wondering if someone can enlighten me on a few things...

What exactly is this movie about? I mean, is the girl really putting those pictures in people's minds....and WHY? I mean, is it because the family was mean to her...or were they mean to her because of the pictures she put in their minds? And what is the deal with her birth...the woman couldn't have kids, and shows up with this Somara girl....did they do something "bad" to create her and THAT'S where she gets her powers from?

Can anybody help me please??? I love the movie, but can't quite put my finger on the answers to my questions...hope I don't sound too stupid!

Hey, don't feel bad. The first time I saw it I thought it was called The Ring because of the telephone "ring" they got after they watched the videotape.

Thanks Botankus..but that doesn't answer my question...what is the DEAL with this darn movie! And I thought it had a tie in with the ring ofthe telephone also, which it prolly was intended as a play on words!

Samara is a demon child. The horses on their ranch sensed this, hence the reason they went crazy and ended up drowning themselves. It wasn't as much that the parents were mean to Samara as much as they were just afraid of her. It was pretty much that fear that drove the mother to killing herself as well.

As for what the rest of the movie means, the videotape is the channel by which Samara can "escape" from the well where she originally died. As long as no one watches the tape, she is more or less trapped in the well.

At least that's my interpretation. Does that help?

Now thats ****ed up

heres my question, couldn't they just destroy the copys they made and the origional, they've seen it, they've beaten her, shes lost, that way no one else will get hurt

Characters aren't smart enough to do that when they know a sequel's on the horizon.

I think the logic here was that in order to avert the "curse" of the tape, someone actually has to view the copy that is made. The whole cycle could have ended had Rachel decided not to make the copy, but obviously Aidan would not have survived.

i thought this movie was creepy!

Evidence that blood and gore aren't always needed to make an effective horror flick.

Course, it never hurts.

Well why doesn't anyone ever try running from the girl or shooting her?(sort of dumb question I know).

lol

in the movie when the guy ( if forget his name) tries to run she just blips up closer to him. and the movie needed something i didn't get into it really

I wisht that kid wouldnt have survied he was so annoying to me. Now if they got the kid from scary movie 3 now that would have been great

This film is based on a Japanese film based on a Japanese novel that is at least 15 years old. I think the Japanese version of the film was released about 10 years ago, if memory serves.
Naturally, because of the adaptation for the American market, some of the key images and references that are definately symbolic in asian and especially Japanese culture are "lost in translation"--the ring, which represents continuity or eternity, and the red maple tree--these seemingly random or "artsy" images flashed mean a lot more to some people than to others.
The story is good, and as original an idea for a horror film as any I've seen. It's the imagery that stays with you--the fingernails being stripped from the finger against the wall of the well, the faces of those who have died that is unsettling. I love horror movies. Always have, and I love to watch them alone and in the dark. I did the same with this movie, and after any other scary movie I can go to bed immediately afterwards, but after this one, I took a bubblebath and even worked a bit of a crossword puzzle before I went to sleep. I didn't have nightmares, but I did find some of those images popping into my head as I started to drift off. I found it much more resonant than my husband. I attribute my reaction to my respect for and awareness of Asian culture, even though it was set in Seattle--where I was born--and featured American actors.
I thought about this movie after watching it, and again after reading all these posts. I think the thing that makes Samara's character so scary is the fact that she's not human, and she's also not bound to an earthly plain, and that even when she claimed to love her mother, she still was compelled to do what was in her nature--to scare the living hell out of people, including the one person on Earth who loved her unconditionally.
You can't kill someone who doesn't need to eat or drink or sleep. She is evil incarnate. All you can do is hope to contain her.

clap

Well stated.

i've watched the ring heaps of times and i still DON'T get it!!!!!!!!!!!

then stop watching it

Badsymbiote....I agree with you, the imagery is compelling and I couldn't take my eyes off it.The movie stayed with me for a long time after I watched it. But I didn't udnerstand exactly WHAT that girl was supposed to be, but you folks have all helped me understand better. I thought alongthese same lines, but wanted some clarification as to the content of the film.

But where exactly did the girl come from? how did they find her? There is a line in the movie where the father says, "she was never meant to have children". Now what did this mean exactly? Did this mean that they did something wierd to get her pregnant, and THAT'S why the child has mysterious powers, or did they kill someone to get her? or did someone else KNOW about the baby and put her up for adoption? What exactly is up with that?

I have the novelization (translated from Japanese), and the story is markedly different from the movie, although both are good. But it shed no light into the movie version, since the demon character was a woman in her 20's. Or should I say "woman"?

who can tell. between the crazy japanese and the crazy americans, who can tell what you'll end up with

The Ring totally scared me out of my wits...

I loved the symbolism in the story - I mean all the signs that are seen in the video are like signs of good but they're turned into bad signs...

That was creepy.
Everytime I think of The Ring now I get paranoid and creep out...just like now...

They are already making Ring 2, and I'm sure they will make Ring 0. (Ringu, Ringu 2, and Ringu 0 were already released a while ago in Japan.) Hopefully Ring 0 will answer these questions.. the subtitled version didn't make too much sense. Anybody else get it?

man im ringed out

What im wondering, is when the girl is being interogated in the hospital she says " thats a secret, but daddy doesn't know" and then the video tape ends. What did she mean by that? What was it that her father didn't know?

i have a question: can animals get scared by this movie? cause i was watching this movie today and my dog was there too...then i took her for a walk afterwards and she was all paranoid...

she prob got a phone call

she only answers the phone to my dads boss

I say enjoy the movie and don't overanalyze. This movie leaves to many questions unawnsered most likely for the sequels. So you can make up your own reasons and anwsers or wait for the sequel I perfer to wait. I just hate when people dismiss a movie because it doesn't spell everthing out. I am glad people still like this movie though. It bugged me with darkness though I saw it in the theater and after the end which doesn't tell you what happens but gives you a idea. People in the theater are like what happened I want my money back and stuff I mean use your mind you can figure it out or just enjoy the movie. But anyway I am not critisizing people I just am annoyed at dumb people in my town. Ok I am done.

do not worry grasshopper...i under stand most of the movie.
samara was just misunderstood and she felt that she needed revenge for what her mom did to her and so she went out as a spirit and made the tape but when she found that her mom was already dead she got madder and decided to kill any one who saw the tape the tape was ment for her mom but it was released when rachels cousin or nease(whatever) taped it by accident so in the sequal,they have to find samaras real origin and seal her back up
sensai has spoken NOW LEAVE!!!! smartass

Does anyone have the original cursed video tape from the Ring one? I want to see it.

I guess I'm too grizzled. The only scare I got from it was a cheap one, the tv turning on quick. But I did find one part extremely hilarious though. It's a pretty straight forward scene, you know it's coming, so I can't really ruin it. All I can say is that guy wanted to kill himself right.

Originally posted by Loving_Daniel11
Does anyone have the original cursed video tape from the Ring one? I want to see it.

Anyone?....Anyone?