Why did Samara keep her face hidden behind her hair?

Author	Comment
dhmason6155 shambler (11/21/02 7:37:06 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del All	Why did Samara keep her face hidden behind her hair? Does anyone know anything about this? D.
Felix Underhill citizen of the Loopworld (11/21/02 7:56:08 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Why did Samara keep her face hidden behind her hair? So she could be spooky? Sadako's Apprentice
InfluxDatum manipulator of the Virus (11/21/02 8:00:00 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	spooky certainly although normally hair goes on the back of the head and putting it in front of the face may signify something opposite to normal -- like an inverted cross or something like that if you get me. sadako never showed her face in ringu (haven't watched ring 0 or 2); however, samara did show her face all the time while she was alive. Even on that last scene, she shows her face.
Turtle God Kame moderator (11/21/02 8:46:05 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	yeah... you know that sadako was a standard ghost image right? thus samara would surely be that same image, since they didnt bother translating the ghost into a western image. Go to Kame's House for assorted junk! Last upd8: 10/10/02
Gibal Sandwich the chosen infected (11/21/02 8:49:03 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	alternativley.... ....she could just be really ugly?? Or maybe dont like paying taxes so decides to knwingly and willingly damage her body and make the NHS and tax payers pay for their operations and treatments....or thats how it works here I cant wait to be old enough to go on the dole...sound like a good ol' waste o life to me...
HotShot2387 Sadako slave (11/21/02 10:27:19 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Reply Yeah,well I just saw the the Ring, and when she killed Noah she looked like a man! And why the hell was she so tall anyway?
Felix Underhill citizen of the Loopworld (11/21/02 10:49:03 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: yeah... Turtle God Kame stated: "they didnt bother translating the ghost into a western image" I, for one, am grateful that they didn't. What would they have done? (Horrible Casper-like Samara images popping up). Sadako's Apprentice
miket889 Sadako slave (11/21/02 11:02:39 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Why did Samara keep her face hidden behind her hair? good job OVERANALYZING everything....How about, to make her scary? Sorry, not trying to be a smart ass but how scary would you think she would of looked if her hair wasnt covering her face? still scary but much more the way it was.
dhmason6155 shambler (11/22/02 12:54:58 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Bad Hair Day from Hell... I know she looked scary. My point is, was there a special reason or symbolic meaning to this? Almost everything else in the movie seemed to mean something or be come kind of clue, although apparantly the hair and dress were lifted directly from the original. D.
inteferon everyone will suffer (11/22/02 1:47:15 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Hair Poor girl was simply bashful....
Huw Lines everyone will suffer (11/22/02 9:42:38 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Hair That's the way any self-respecting bashful stereotypical Japanese ghost would look...no symbols I'm afraid!
Ghetto Ring manipulator of the Virus (11/22/02 10:39:26 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Hair If YOU had a face that ugly, wouldn't you cover it up, too? = -One man, one obsession: The Ring!
IComeOutoftheTV Sadako slave (11/22/02 12:21:59 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Hair I personally think that she was so terribly cute when she was still alive with her half-covered face, that it would be quite necessary to cover it up when coming from the realm of the undead. What kind of a ghost would she be if people, instead of screaming when she came out of the TV, went "Awwwwwwww, aren't you just the cutest little thing that ever stepped a foot out of my TV?" lol! That wouldn't work very well. ------------------ Mankind will never truly understand the power of chocolate pudding.
Kitano the chosen infected (11/22/02 12:39:48 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Hair C'mon, she's just shy...
elf flame Sadako slave (11/23/02 8:10:13 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Hair My thoughts....(besides the fact that it's spooky) You know how Rachel is down in the well and in her 'vision' she grabs on the a ton of black hair? Then Samara is face down, right? And when she's sitting in the tape talking to the doctor her hair is all dangly in her face? well, I think Samara just happens to be very scruffy and her head is constantly facing downwards where her hair happens to fall over and she doesn't bother to pucsh it back. Also, it was proabbly like that when she face down in the well and started to climb out.. ...or not. i dunno. overanalization hurts the brain. anyways. if i made sense, good. if i didn't, it's not important. -My two cents- Visit My doll site!</div><!--EZCOD
miharu everyone will suffer (11/23/02 10:30:13 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Hair didn't the doctor's documents on the official sites mention low self-esteem or something? -miharu anta no kimochi no mama de..
inteferon everyone will suffer (11/23/02 10:52:21 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Hair Her hair, IMO, was her best (physical) asset and she put it to good use. Smart girl.
anouke out from the well (11/24/02 12:11:39 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Hair LoL @ Interfon! Hair does seem to play many parts in this movie, doesn't it? Hair being combed is in the actual video tape...as well as a shot of her mom brishing her own hair. and then, in that clip where it shows what her mom did to her, Samara's hair is dangling in her face again as her Mom is talking to her...and her mom smooths it back while talking to her (this is before she smothers her and pushes her down the well, that is). I think she associates her Mom with her hair being combed; for a kid, getting your hiar groomed can be soothing...especially if you're supposely autistic and can get into the rhythm. It was Mom's job to keep her daughter groomed and now, no one to do it so it just dangles in the face, giving us that scary persona we like so much.
inteferon everyone will suffer (11/24/02 12:30:26 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Hair Hopefully this observation won't turn this into another bible-thumping thread, but you raise a good point: biblical Samson derived his extraordinary powers from his long hair. Which gives me an idea for one of the sequels (listen up Dreamworks). In The Ring XVII, where the whole world has been subjected to generations of Samara-induced suffering and gnashing-of-teeth, our intrepid hero(ine) saves the day and puts an end to her reign of terror by simply pinning her down and giving her a good, old-fashioned cut-and-polish. But then, slowly, her hair begins to grow again, and this sets up perfectly for The Ring XVIII.
dhmason6155 shambler (11/24/02 6:49:07 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Yeah, right. Why don't we just give her a hockey mask while we're at it! Maybe it was to avoid eye contact, because looking into her eyes is what actually kills or curses you. The Docs report said she avoided eye contact. Then she pulls her hair back at the moment of truth. That's why there was a close up of her face at the very end of the last scene. In much of the mythology and literature about the black arts, you frequently read about the "evil eye". This is a recurrent theme throughout history. D.
Rachael citizen of the Loopworld (11/25/02 11:31:53 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Yeah, right. Like Kame said, the avenging female ghost is a stock character in Japanese theatre and mythology and she has a stock look. Kind of like if I described a man wearing spurs, a stetson and a set of Colt .45's you'd say cowboy. Asking why Samara wears her hair in her face is like asking why Wyatt Earp wears a Stetson. some images of Japanese female ghosts... This lady's hair isn't in her face, but is sure is messy compared to how it should look. Oh well-she just climbed out of a WELL!!!! (Her name is Okiku, and she's hung up on the number nine) I think there is a link somewhere on here to more....
rustonmire further down the Spiral (11/25/02 11:42:20 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	I don't think we should totally discount the self esteem theme. I realize that it is an archetypal Japanese vengeful ghost image, but... as in many of the remaining symbols from the original, American sensibilities and themes have been added or transposed onto the story. There is a great deal of emphasis put on the parental "abuse" heaped on Samara. Maybe the hair covering the face is a thematic loss of her "self" her identity. (Hows this for overanylizing) It's an interesting story throughout to consider if Samara was born evil or born mentally powerful and "turned" evil by the way the Morgan's treated her. Maybe, after the dehuminizing day after day after day in a mental institution and barn loft, she eventually lost all sense of what made her human, hiding from all the gazing eyes of doctors, cameras, horses, parents... all unfriendly probing eyes. And eventually she became a blank slate, turning her eye back as a sort of evil, more powerful mirror of all the negative forces aimed at her... thus... the evil eye... thus the curtain of hair to hide behind... hmmmm... overanylized? sweet dreams.
Huw Lines the chosen infected (11/26/02 12:00:42 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Yeah, right. Rachel - thanks for posting those pictures. I have a link to a gallery of illustrations by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, who is the artist of the picture at the bottom of your post: www.nbn.co.jp/ukiyoe/yoshi/horror.html And here's another one with an interesting piece (scroll down to the bottom): fo.partner.de/kunden/schw...shi1e.html I had some more listed somewhere (including a famous old series of illustrations of prototypical Japanese ghosts called 'bakemonojin') but I'll have to search for them. I love the tall scroll painting at the upper half of your message. Who is it by? Thanks again - and try to find more!
inteferon everyone will suffer (11/26/02 12:22:50 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: I don't think we should totally discount the self esteem Not at all over-analyzed. This is the most sensible explanation (in the western remake context) that I have encountered and I agree 100%. Thanks, rustonmire. And btw, welcome back - missed you.
rustonmire further down the Spiral (11/26/02 12:42:24 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	thanks for the encouragement btw... some other thoughts on my second viewing... maybe slightly off topic. I noticed several things allready mentioned... the D from Dreamworks flashing as a Ring. Several "subliminal" rings throughout the film, most notably as a flash-cut right after the horse-death sequence. Once again I was struck by some of the location details. The Morgan ranch is a "morgan horse" ranch (not a coincidence I am sure) near Monroe Washington. The ferry she rides is an actual ferry that runs to Pt. Townsend Washington. The bluff from the cursed video, Anna's jump spot, looks suspiciously like the bluffs near Ft. Warden in Port Townsend. I am absolutely positive that some of the winding road footage on the way to Shelter Mountain is actually Chuckanut Drive near Bellingham Washington. The bridge that appears to be between two islands from an helicopter shot of Rachel and Noah driving to the Ferry... that bridge is a place in Washington called Deception Pass. I hope you all find those tidbits of interest. I too looked for the shadowy figure at the end when they find Aiden asleep on the floor. I saw the figure and doubt it is a mistake. I also find the way Aiden is sleeping to be quite interesting. Several have pointed out a photo from the original Ring being the same as the test strips of photos that Noah is looking at right before his kiss from Samara. I was struck by how the pose seemed quite similar to that of Aiden when he is sleeping on the floor. Ok... enough off topic for now.
Huw Lines the chosen infected (11/26/02 12:42:27 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: I don't think we should totally discount the self esteem Let me try that second one again: info.partner.de/kunden/sc...shi1e.html If that still doesn't work, here's one with some nice prints by Hokusai and others: www.asianart.com/articles/rubin/2.html Hope it works this time.
inteferon everyone will suffer (11/26/02 2:41:25 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Aidan's sleep pose This is a direct lift from Ringu. People have speculated as to its significance but I don't recall reading a satisfying explanation.
Mulberry1 shambler (11/26/02 5:07:47 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Possible Symbolism I think it could represent her need to hide from prying eyes, from people who rejected her and taught her that she was evil. Also shows neglect (no one cared for her, sure isn't caring to push her down a well). The doctor didn't believe or hear her either, notice in the mental hospital her hair was a mess, in her face. Why had no one combed it???? And the distance of the doctor from her, combined with the technology emphasizes her further isolation-her being treated as 'non-human'. Could also represent, socially, the pressure for anger/rage/dissatisfaction that children (or babies) feel to be suppressed, so it remains hidden in the now adult unconscious-split off from both the person's awareness and anyone else's direct view, but showing up in many ways, like addictions, or compulsions, or maybe, on a world scale, some of the wars and horrible things people REALLy DO have their source in that never heard, never understood rage that is 'hiding' behind that hair. It's pretty scary too, to think of a person with no face. And that's how it feels when you don't know who or what you are too, like you have no face. Take it another level, can represent our own fears that if we knew what was back in our OWN unconscious, it would be pretty awful. So the hair is like the boundary between knowing/not knowing-but also shows that the more acceptance we each have had as persons, the more help in learning to accept and process (without hurting anyone) all our feelings/ needs, the less 'hair' we will need between us and ourselves, or us and the world. By the way, I think that the horribly ugly larger Samara that shows up at the end coming out of the TV could represent not the ACTUAL Samara, but the fear that she had that she truly WAS a monster (since her Mother told her so?????) Long buried (symbolically in a deep well) in the unconscious, as an adult (bigger) she could see herself as this monster, but actually, the 'monster face' was only another mask....well, you asked LOL I could go on but people tend to nod off by this point LOL...... From E
inteferon everyone will suffer (11/26/02 5:32:25 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Possible Symbolism Thanks for sharing that. I really liked the part about the well representing deeply repressed thoughts/emotions.
DaMan791 manipulator of the Virus (11/26/02 6:49:01 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Possible Symbolism I think she hides her face until she gets up near the victim then she scares them to death by showing them her face. ------------------ She never sleeps.. 7 days.. OMG Becca is soooo Hot! \/ My God \/
Tanuki Sadako slave (11/26/02 8:02:57 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Possible Symbolism When I first saw Samara in Rachel's dream sequence, sitting in the chair, hair covering her face, I thought "Why is that person sitting backwards in the chair?" Then I realized she wasn't sitting backwards... it was her face covered by her own hair... and I was creeped. Notice also that although her skin is pale and rotted, Samara's hair is still perfectly black and shiny. So, I think her hair is over her face as a symbol representing "Something isn't right with this one."
Mulberry1 Sadako slave (11/26/02 12:17:29 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Possible Symbolism I'm glad you found my message interesting Interferon Was a bit hesitant to write quite so much as a newcomer, but mention the word 'Symbolic' to me and I'm off and running (grin). Also THE scariest part of the movie trailer to me is showing the child (or is it a child????) 'with no face' (i.e. hair hanging over her face) coming towards us (the well is behind her I think). Terrific imagry in this movie. From E
JPFeral Sadako slave (11/27/02 1:17:10 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Why did Samara keep her face hidden behind her hair? Has anyone else noticed the connection between Samara obscuring her face, the victims scribbling over photograph's faces, and the way faces distort in photographs? How about how Samara's face doesn't show in the mirror in the video? I think Samara hates her face. Maybe in an "I'm ugly, I hate my face!" sort of way, or maybe she's jealous of her mom's apparent beauty, or maybe there's some psychic connection she has with people's faces.
InfluxDatum manipulator of the Virus (11/27/02 10:31:10 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Why did Samara keep her face hidden behind her hair? normal ppl don't cover their faces with their hair like sadako did. NAOMI WATTZ RULEZ.
Emmerdale001 further down the Spiral (11/28/02 6:06:29 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Why did Samara keep her face hidden behind her hair? The only real reason that jives for me is this: She looks that way--her hair, her condition, etc.--because that was the final state she was in before she died. If she was on the verge of death, I don't think her hair covering her face would be among her things to worry about list. They say ghosts and such appear in the form in which they were last alive, especially for those who died in traumatic or tragic circumstances like a murder or a car wreck or something. An example would be something like recurring sightings of dead Civil War soldiers in Gettysburg in full uniform or the dead girl in the lavender dress who never made it to prom many years ago but is still seen trying to get a ride to a prom long past...
inteferon everyone will suffer (11/28/02 11:11:23 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Why did Samara keep her face hidden behind her hair? True for the most part, IMO. The exception being that Samara was already into obscuring her face on SM0015 and Sadako was wearing her hair that way during the reporter's death episode.
miharu the chosen infected (11/28/02 11:36:46 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Why did Samara keep her face hidden behind her hair? in fact, samara's hair was kept in the neatest out-of-her-face style when she was overlooking the well. ^^ i feel her hair was that way for 1) self-esteem issues. it obviously didn't feel too great to be samara, and it shows. 2) it's just plain creepy. appearing to rachel in her vision of sitting on the chair in the puddle was for a purpose, if only to scare her to spur her on her search for 'the cure' (and i don't mean the one with robert smith ;p). and obviously c) samara and sadako go to the same hair stylist. ;p -miharu
Felix Underhill manipulator of the Virus (11/28/02 11:58:08 am) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Why did Samara keep her face hidden behind her hair? So, that's what happens in the South Park version of "The Ring". Robert Smith saves the day (again). Sadako's Apprentice
anouke out from the well (11/28/02 6:17:51 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	Re: Why did Samara keep her face hidden behind her hair? Those are some really, really good points that everyone has made here! Definitely gave me things to think about!
Kunimitsuu Sadako slave (11/28/02 10:08:09 pm) Reply \| Edit \| Del	hair In the original she hid her face because she was freaky looking, as she was oly half human. Her eyes weren't normal, so she always had her hair hanging in front of them. In the remake there was no reason for it other than to match the original movie, cause she looked like a normal girl.