How does the film Ringu make us think about being human?
The movie ‘Ringu’ is about a cursed video. It commences with two teenagers conversing about the cursed video which is believed to have been recorded in Izu. One of the two teenagers (Tomoko) reveals to her companion that exactly a week before, she and her friends had watched a weird video and received a call after that. The story she shared sounded amazingly similar to the one linked to the cursed video. Masami, Tomoko’s friend, realizes that her friend’s fate was sealed. Subsequently, Tomoko dies in horror while her friend witnesses.
A couple of days later a reporter, Asakwa, launches an investigation with relation to the popularity of the cursed video among the teenagers. On the same day, the journalist realizes that her niece, Tomoko, and three of her friends had died on the same night under similar circumstances like the ones illustrated in the cursed video. Furthermore, it comes to her attention that Masami, Tomoko’s friend had gone mad after witnessing the horrors. While investigating on the matter Asakwa stumbles into distorted photos that Tomoko and her deceased friends had taken in a rental cabin in Izu (Tsai, 13).
The aforementioned events lead Asakwa to Izu where she finds a tape in the reception room where the teenagers resided. She proceeds to watch the tape in the cabin the teenager’s resided in. the tape had disturbing contents. No sooner had she finished watching the tape did the phone ring and this is when it dawned to her that the tale of the cursed video was a reality. It is at this moment that she knew she only had a week to live.
A day into her one-week deadline, she enlists the aid of her ex-husband in the investigation. Mr. Takayama confirms that indeed Asakwa was cursed when he takes a distorted photo of her. Takayama proceeds to watch the tape despite his ex-wife’s protest and request a copy of the tape to enable them to conduct a further study on the impending concern. Deep into their study, the party finds an embedded message in the tape which was coded in a local dialect. It is during this interval that Asakawa’s son Yoichi watches the video. The dialect was linked to Oshima Island in Izu thus the party set on a voyage to the island to unravel the mystery behind psychic Shizuko (the woman in the videotape).
Asakawa had only one day left in her deadline when they grasped that it was Shizuko’s daughter, Sadako, who had actually created the cursed video. The party headed back assuming that it is Sadako’s resentful spirit that was taking innocent lives. The party locates the well under cabin B4 and gets a revelation that Sadako was killed by her own biological father and dumped in the well. The duo in a bid to appease the ghost’s spirit empties the well so as to accord her a decent burial. Asakawa locates the corpse and presumes that the curse has been lifted.
The next day while Takayama is at his place of residence, Sadako’s spirit crawls out of his TV set and kill him. This leaves Asakwa baffled, searching for a remedy the way out in order to save her son. While racking her brain in search of a solution, Asakwa realizes that in order to save her son’s life she has to make a copy of the tape and show it to other people. The cursed video was a never-ending cycle and in order for a viewer’s safety to be guaranteed, one had to share the video to other parties.
Currently, we live in a world that is full of monsters. The monsters as employed in this context assume human form; dwell in one’s belief structure; are cultural idols; may be tainted with the image of being surreal. The contemporary monsters reveal a reflective image of the human as an individual. With regard to the statements mentioned above the notion is not that monsters inhabit the world is further expounded to the conclusion that actual individuals can be monsters (McRoy, 20). The notion of monstrosity as revealed in the film ‘Ringu’ assumes different guises in one’s culture.
In the society, monstrosity is depicted as insolence of conventional attitudes or in other instances as acts beyond the confines of what is ethically decent. Acts of monstrosity in the community are met with eyes of suspicion and cautious questions. With regard to the film ‘Ringu’ Professor Ikuma, Sadako’s biological father, committed an act of monstrosity when he killed his daughter and dumped her in a well. The rationale behind the aforementioned notion is that no one under logical reasoning would commit such an act. The act was confined outside the realm of morally acceptable deeds. Dr. Ikuma was a monster even though he assumed the human form. Through the act of killing his daughter and dumping her body in a well, he had defied all moral principles bestowed upon humankind. The act committed by Dr. Ikuma fluidly adapted the tag ‘monster’ (Martin, 46).
In today’s world, not many people believe in the existence of ghosts and monsters. The only monsters that exist in the present world are humans themselves. When someone hears of a ghost story that might actually be true they tend to get curious and look for it. Mostly because they think that besides human beings and animals ghost cannot be considered part of the human life (Wada-Marciano, 47). When everyone heard of the ghost video that killed anyone that watched it after a week, most people actually went ahead to look for it to see if the myth was actually true.
Asakawa launched a crucial investigation on the mysterious cursed video. She made inquiries about it to Tomoko’s friends and other independent sources. She eventually ended up at a cabin in Izu where she got a fraction of the vital information that she needed. She found the mysterious unnamed tape which proved to be the actual cursed tape. Placing aside any kind of rationality she went ahead and watched the tape shortly after which she received the mysterious call notifying her that she will die after a week.
Monsters and monstrosity tend to make human beings think about the value of life. When someone actually gets to see a ghost, it is very traumatizing for them. The experience tends to click something in a human being that makes them view life differently and as precious. In the movie Ringu, when the journalist and her husband they would die after watching the video, they did everything possible to avoid death. Through their assumption, that finding the well where Sadako was it would put an end to the curse and actually save their lives.
They went through a hard time emptying the well thinking that this would end the curse. True emptying the well extended their time as they did not die at the expected time but on getting home, the husband was killed by the ghost of Sadako. When the ghost reappeared to Asakwa, it told her how to counter her death and she made as much effort as she could to ensure the video was watched by many. This shows how monstrosity, makes human beings value life (Fraser et al, 5).
Conclusively, the inspiration behind the spirits’ anger offers costly insights into historical and political imaginings of ‘conventional Japanese’ past. At the same time, it shows the steady surfacing of women as single parents and active members in Japan’s workforce. Japanese horror movies do not view technology as a threat but merely offers a medium for more intimidating forces to be manifested in them. In J-horror, television, video, as well as the internet seem to be stability threats to human subjects’ safety.
It might be the discomforting fact that technology seems to change how society interacts and communicates, which causes the Japanese to view technology as a wicked force. In Ringu, the character Sadako character is more mysterious, as Samara’s background, as well as motives, is scrutinized in detail. In spite of all these changes, the terror themes and technology mystery is not lost.
Works Cited
Takahashi, Hiroshi, Shinya Kawai, Taka Ichise, Takenori Sentō, Hideo Nakata, Nanako Matsushima, Miki Nakatani, Hiroyuki Sanada, Yūko Takeuchi, Hitomi Satō, Yōichi Numata, Hiih, Kenji Kawai, Nobuyuki Takahashi, Jun’ichiro Hayashi, and Kōji Suzuki. Ringu. Universal City, CA: DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 2003.
Martin, Daniel. “Japan’s Blair Witch: Restraint, Maturity, and Generic Canons in the British Critical Reception of Ring.” Cinema Journal 48.3 (2009): 35-51. Project MUSE. 7 Dec. 2010 <http://muse.jhu.edu/>.
McRoy, Jay. Nightmare Japan: contemporary Japanese horror cinema. New York: Rodopi, 2008. Print.
Wada-Marciano, M. (2007). “J-HORROR: New Media’s Impact on Contemporary Japanese Horror Cinema.” Canadian Journal of Film Studies, 16.2, 23-48. Retrieved November 21, 2010, from ProQuest Central. (Document ID: 1403819771)
Fraser, Mariam, and Monica Greco. The Body: A Reader. London: Routledge, 2005. Print.
Tsai, Peijen B. Horror Translation: From Nakata Hideo’s Ringu to Gore Verbinski’s the Ring. , 2008.
Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply
Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?
Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.
Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?
- Plagiarism free papers
- Timely delivery
- Any deadline
- Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
- Subject-relevant academic writer
- Adherence to paper instructions
- Ability to tackle bulk assignments
- Reasonable prices
- 24/7 Customer Support
- Get superb grades consistently
Online Academic Help With Different Subjects
Literature
Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.
Finance
Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.
Computer science
Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!
Psychology
While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.
Engineering
Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.
Nursing
In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.
Sociology
Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.
Business
We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!
Statistics
We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.
Law
Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.
What discipline/subjects do you deal in?
We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.
Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?
Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.
What if I don’t like the paper?
There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.
Reasons being:
- When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
- We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.
In the event that you don’t like your paper:
- The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
- We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
- Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.
Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?
Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.
What if the paper is plagiarized?
We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.
When will I get my paper?
You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.
Will anyone find out that I used your services?
We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.
How our Assignment Help Service Works
1. Place an order
You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.
2. Pay for the order
Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.
3. Track the progress
You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.
4. Download the paper
The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.
PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!
