Ghost World - Definition and Overview

Book cover

Ghost World is a 2001 film by Terry Zwigoff, based on a graphic novel (comic book) of the same name by Daniel Clowes. The film stars Thora Birch, Steve Buscemi and Scarlett Johansson. It is a satire on the vacuousness of pop culture which intentionally takes the ironic format of a teen film.

The story focuses on the relationship of two teenage female friends (Enid and Rebecca) who are somewhat outside of the normal high school social order in suburban Los Angeles. It is also the story of Enid's growing relationship with fellow outsider Seymour, as well as the fact that the world and people around Enid are moving on without her.

The opening sequence of the film includes a clip from the 1966 Bollywood musical Gumnaam, in which the famous singer Mohammed Rafi sings the lively dance tune "Jaan Pehechaan Ho".

Ghost World is a fairly close adaptation of a serial story that appeared in Eightball, but also includes some other material from other Eightball shorts such as "Art School Confidential." In addition, the character played by Steve Buscemi was only a minor part of the comic and was made significant at Zwigoff's suggestion.

Seymour's (Steve Buscemi) room was modeled after director Terry Zwigoff's own - particularly the shelved record collection, pinup art and historical memorabilia.