THE HIDDEN MOVIE 2002 TV
Samara’s hand then grabs Rachel from the trench of the well, transmitting the moment of her death and allowing Rachel to understand Samara’s pain as a living person, experiencing her tragedy first-hand and in her shoes, rather than through images on a TV screen. This visual conveys the remote, desolate mentality technology can lay upon the human spirit, sending users down a hopeless pit. At the climax of the movie, the spirit of Samara manipulates events to make a television set knock Rachel into the deep, dark well at the center of the story. The movie portrays technology, specifically television as a way for people to escape rather than confront their essential human needs. This brief moment is an apt way of showing both the boxed-in segregation as a result of automation, and Rachel’s inner reflection as a single mother. Of course, the one that catches Rachel’s attention most is that of a child watching cartoons as a worn out, miserable looking single mother steps out for a smoke on her balcony. She observes multiple units, each exhibiting a lone individual watching television.
THE HIDDEN MOVIE 2002 WINDOWS
The most striking visual assertions of this theme is when Rachel looks from her balcony to the windows of the apartments just across from hers. Noah is buried in his technology-heavy video journalism job in place of being a reliable father figure in his son’s life. Samara’s father commits suicide by using all the electronics in his household to brutally electrocute himself after realizing there is no end to his daughter’s evil power. The thematic sentiment of detachment by way of technology persists throughout the movie. She extends the lack of affection she received from her father by making others feel the cold emptiness she experienced while sitting in front of her TV, cut off from any real human contact. After her death, Samara’s choice to haunt the world through video is no coincidence. When exiled to a tiny barn loft by her father, Samara had nothing but a small television set to occupy her isolation. In addition to a conversation about paternal neglect, The Ring also features a delectable side of techno-horror. Society expects a parent to love their child unconditionally, but what happens when displeasure or even animosity occurs in its place? With no outlet to express these unacceptable feelings to the world, much like Samara’s mother, madness can take over with disturbing results. Though transmitted through the prism of a ghost story, the true horror here is a parent’s resentment towered the anomalies their child can unexpectedly possess. But when she adopted Samara, she resented the evil thing she got.
Samara’s infertile mother wanted nothing more than to have a child. Unable to control her chaotic mind, Samara drove her parents mad with disturbing imagery until her mother killed her by throwing her down a deep, dark well. It turns out Samara, not unlike Aidan, had dark psychic abilities of her own. This theme is brought to the extreme when it’s revealed that Samara (Daveigh Chase), the vengeful spirit behind the videotape, was murdered by her own mother. It’s here that the metaphor for the horror of a parent’s neglect toward their child takes form.
Living on the outskirt of his child’s life, Noah’s fear of raising Aiden got the better of him. When Rachel’s ex and Aidan’s father, Noah (Martin Henderson), enters the picture, it’s revealed that he abandoned Aidan and the responsibility of fatherhood. His piercing baggy eyes and strangely precise form of speech convey just how left footed in comparison to other children he is. At the heart of this plot lies Rachel’s son, Aidan (David Dorfman), who possess a small degree of mediumship. Once Rachel herself watches the tape, a race to reverse the inevitable ensues. The Ring follows Rachel (Naomi Watts) as she investigates her niece’s death by the cursed videotape. Perhaps, in part because, at its core, The Ring hints at some mortifying personal truths that are even more revolting than the slimy, longhaired phantom that haunts its narrative. Something about this spooky ghost tale hit audiences in all the right ways. This moody, dread-filled story about a videotape that kills its viewer seven days after watching it scared up audiences and immensely influenced the horror genre with its massive popularity.
THE HIDDEN MOVIE 2002 SERIES
Horrific Hidden Meaning is a series that explores how horror movies can provide a platform of discussion for the uncomfortable realities within society and the human psyche.