I enjoyed the attached paper, excellent reading. It also brought up a lot of things I have over the last couple of days, though I couldn't get the image to display of the picture representing the viewpoints, particularly: In The Sixth Sense the unreliable narration leads us to believe we are watching an unfocalised or objective narration, neutrally showing us the action, whereas, in fact, the film has been filtered through Malcolm’s consciousness throughout, internally focalized through him and his misrecognition of his own reality. I also noted a theme of "the repressed". As I noted yesterday, the notion of ghosts, at least literally, doesn't seem to fit in with a child psychologist who's more apt to look for empirical data and scientific evidence to base their assertions on. As such, it's not part of Malcolm's schema and the focus is therefore on Cole, not himself. As a child psychologist by nature, the function of the character itself suggests the problem is elsewhere (Cole). And if the focus is on cole, then that's where we, the audience, are more apt to be looking to or at rather than from, which means we're viewing and comprehending from another viewpoint - one which has its one blind spot. Having a degree in psychology and have written several scripts that focus on repression, I've done my fair share of research on the topic and find it fascinating. In Malcolm's case, he fits perfectly the description Cole suggests as a ghost seeing only what he wants to see/believe. That's what people who've repressed things do: when confronted with some stimuli that has the ability to crack their veneer, they find and latch onto some other pattern or position to project onto, shifting the focus off of themselves because it ultimately conflicts with the (false) schema they've created to protect themselves. Not sure if anyone here has read, or is interested in reading, an article by the late, noted film scholar Robin Hood: An Introduction to the American Horror Film. He discusses some key elements, those being the destruction of the nuclear family, the loss of identity, and the return of the repressed among other things, which is very informative in its academia approach. Anyway, I have a pdf copy to share for those who may be interested.

As I pointed out in one of our earlier discussions, I think a major theme in this film is communication (and lack thereof). Much of the film is spent with characters not being able to hear or see each other. Anna can't see Malcolm. Malcolm can't hear Anna when she's talking in another room. No one can see the ghosts—except Cole, who can can see and hear everything, but can't make himself heard. Another theme, I think, is perspective. The paper Scott linked to does a good job of illustrating all the different perspectives/points of view that are at play in the film. For the majority of the film, we're seeing things through Malcolm's filter wherein he's not a ghost and in fact ghosts aren't real. And we never see Malcolm truly as he has to appear from Cole's POV. From the paper: “If the first narrative is to remain consistent, when Malcolm and Cole are together, we should see Malcolm as Cole surely does, as dead, a victim of physical trauma. Malcolm should expose his wound to Cole, as does the boy with the shotgun wound who turns around and unwitting reveals half his head is missing. We shouldn’t be presented with Cole’s true view of the ghosts whilst Malcolm is not there, only to have that view buried or shown dishonestly in relationship to Malcolm.” I agree with the paper insofar as it points out that the film plays with perspective, POV, and preconceptions. (But when it brings up Oedipus/Freud, well, no thanks.) Whenever I watch a film, supernatural/horror especially, I go into it believing that the supernatural doesn't exist. It's fun for me to watch a movie like Dark Water from the perspective that the scary water isn't actually there, and that the ghost is in the main character's mind (the American remake actually supports that reading more than the Japanese original.) I loved High Tension because SPOILER ALERT the killer isn't real and is in fact a separate personality that is in the main character's mind. I can't remember what I was thinking when I watched The Sixth Sense for the first time, but because the narration is so unreliable, because Malcolm isn't walking around with a hole in his stomach, I probably thought Cole was hallucinating, even after he told his secret, up to the point where Malcolm hears the ghost on the tape. Up to that point, the story challenges us, along with Malcolm, to put aside our perceptions and believe that “some magic is real.” And up to that point, the story assumes our failure to let go of those perceptions. So, I guess I agree that a major theme of the film is the blind spot. What's hiding in the shadows that we can't (or refuse) to see? What aspects of other people are we unable to connect with? But then something interesting happens. Malcolm starts to believe. After the film's twist, Cole's big reveal and Malcolm's realization that Cole is in fact telling the truth, we understand that Malcolm's perception of the world has been flawed. We realize that he's not an all-knowing authority figure. So when he tells Cole that the ghosts don't actually want to hurt him, that they only want help, we don't know if we should believe him. Neither does Cole. Malcolm's not even sure he's right. At this point, the story reveals it's hand—this is a film about the fear of uncertainty. What's going on with Cole? Lynn doesn't know, so she's scared. What do the ghosts want? Cole doesn't know, so he's scared. What happens to ghosts when they go away? Malcolm doesn't know, and he's scared so he just sticks around until he meets a little boy who's musters up the courage to face the unknown. Why do we have such huge blind spots? Because we don't know what's in the shadows and we're scared to find out.

I suppose I see the theme (as befits a ghost story) as being learning to move on. The ghosts can't move on because they have no one to share their unresolved problems with. Malcolm also has unresolved problems - atoning for failing Vincent by 'saving' Cole, and resolving his relationship with his wife. Only then can he even realise what he is and that he *needs* to move on. But Cole has unresolved issues too - he has to accept his gift and his responsibility, and share it with his mother. Only then he can move on into a confident, meaningful life.

Hi Everyone, Sorry I missed the theme discussion. Scott asked me to post a beat sheet I made for the trailer to The Sixth Sense. I used the version of YouTube below. As you can see Cole's story is the central focus. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Lnvz_GiTJo Apologies in advance for any inaccuracies. It is interesting that some scenes in the trailer didn't make the final cut of the film. ***** The Sixth Sense Trailer 2:06 Total Time 00--Red flare, red taillights at traffic accident--Cole tells his mother that a lady was hurt in the accident and that he sees her standing next to his window. Mother reacts. 23--Studio Info 27--Red balloon rises in the staircase—Cole in red sweater climbs stairs—door of cubbyhole shut 33--Mother hugs Cole-“Cole what’s wrong?” 39—Malcolm and Cole walk down the street-“Do you ever talk your mother about how things are?” 40--Mother pushes Cole in shopping cart with pumpkin-“I don’t tell her things.” 42—Kids look at Cole in classroom-“Why not?” 43--Kid at board looks at Cole-“Cause she doesn’t look at me like everybody else …” 44—Cole covers eyes as Stanley looks at him-“ ...and I don’t want her to know.” 45—Malcolm and Cole on street—“Know what?” 46—Cole running down hall 47—Cole in tent with flashlight 49—Cole in hospital bed—“I see dead people..." 51—Church door—“walking around… 52—Cole’s shadow on staircase—“like regular…” 53—Cole looks out car? window—“people” 54—Cemetery—“I don’t see anything” ???—Takes jacket off rack??? 56—Anna and employee hug—window shatters-“Are you sure…” 56—Dead kid goes into Cole’s room 57—Malcolm and Cole in school—“they’re there?” 58—Door knob 58—Dead girl’s dolls 1:00—Malcolm dying on bed—“Like you’re feeling down real fast.” 1:01—Malcolm-Cole sleeps-Malcolm-empty kitchen--Cole by tent—“Do you ever feel the prickly things on the back of your neck?” “Yes” “That’s them.” 1:06—Anna ‘s legs descend stairs—Malcolm looks—teacher pounds desk—Cole’s breath—Anna’s breath—“How often do you see them?”—Church statues of Jesus—Cole in bed—“All the time.” 1:14—Cole in dead girl’s room—Cole scared—“They’re everywhere.”—Ghost of dead girl under bed pushes box. 1:23—Cole—“They want me to do things for them.” Cole carries box to father of dead girl. 1:28—Malcolm and Cole in church—“I think that they know that you are one of those very rare people that can see them.”—cereal bowl—Cole comforts Mr. Marschal-“So you need to help them.” 1:37—Door opens-Malcolm and Cole—“What if they don’t want help?”—“I don’t think that’s the way it works.”—“How do you know for sure?” 1:43—Malcolm—someone almost gets hit by a car—door rattling from Cole banging on the other side—Malcolm and Anna in bedroom—Vincent fires 1:47—Woman drops paper-car accident—“Look out.”-Malcolm 1:52—Malcolm and Cole by staircase in school-“Please make them leave.” “I’m working on it.” 1:56—Title and credits

Thanks, Mike. Part of this is to get into the mindset of the marketing department of the studio, how they perceived the best way to sell the film. But also for us to extrapolate and ask, "What would the trailer of the script I'm writing look like if it became a movie?" Because believe me, the buyers think like that: What are the trailer moments?

I've heard it said that a character, usually not the protagonist, states the theme. But for me the theme is illustrated most clearly in the first scene where we meet Cole He is wearing giant glasses. Malcolm sees him, looks down and then back up--and Cole has disappeared. In the script you read the line "Cole is gone." But in the movie, it is much more jarring, especially if you know the end. From Malcolm's POV, Cole is not there. But from all the other characters except Cole, Malcolm is not there. And we later find out that the glasses Cole has put on, ostensibly to see with, are without lenses. Yet we will learn that Cole is able to see what no one else can. The rest of the world needs glasses, not Cole. We can't see what is right in front of us. We are seeing mere shadows on the cave wall not the true reality as Plato puts it. So I agree with Nadria and others that the film is about seeing and blind spots. I just don't think the blind spots have to be for things that exist in the shadows.

Your post also reminded me of another element: Cole's last name is "Sear"...

Nice, TBBB!!! Hard to believe it's accidental. And it points out that first you have to see, before you can communicate.

Good catch! The name is definitely on the nose.

TBBB: That repression aspect is really interesting as then the Big Twist is not just some sleight of hand pulled off by MNS on the audience, but also a reflection of Malcolm's character, obsessing on Cole to avoid [repress] the truth of his own life [actually death] circumstance. Does that jive with your thinking?

Wow, that is such an awesome analysis, I don't even know where to begin. Perhaps I can only add this: Consider the names of the characters: * Malcolm Crowe: In Western literature, one of the symbolic meanings of "crow" is death. I suppose when you have these big black winged creatures flying around overhead, or posed on a tree staring down cawing at you, it's easy to see how we might come to think of them as 'angels of death.' So here is a character who is dead, whose last name is eerily similar to a bird who is thought to be symbolic of death. * Cole Sear: Cole is a homophone for "coal," which is black [like a crow]. Sear is a homophone for "seer," like someone who knows the truth which Cole does at least in terms of Malcolm being dead. * But re uncertainty, what about Vincent Grey? Grey as a 'gray area'? Vincent is the instigator of the story's central plot circumstance, ushering everyone into uncertainty. Gray blind spots, gray shadows... Could be a stretch, right? But not your assessment which I think is spot on!

Debbie, that is clearly one of the themes in play and working off something associated with ghosts. It's interesting, I did a bunch of research for a script I wrote. As I recall, there actually is a university that studies paranormal activities and one area in particular is poltergeists. And what they deduce might be an explanation is this: When a person has a traumatic event, they disassociate from the experience in such a radical way that this energy cleaves out of their own consciousness and is externalized in the physical world. So it's not so much a case of a haunted house, but rather the affected person who brings the haunting to the house. Rattles, knocks, groans and all the rest 'created' by the victim's disassociation. Whether we can believe that as scientifically true or not, from a writing standpoint it's pure gold. Specifically to your point, both Malcolm and Cole move from their respective states of Disunity to Unity: Malcolm / Disunity: [1] He is part of a trouble marriage relationship [this is more evident in the movie than the script]. [2] He is haunted by his failure as a shrink with Vincent Grey. [3] He is dead. Malcolm / Unity: [1] He comes to some sense of closure with Anna. [2] By helping Cole, he 'redeems' himself in terms of Vincent. [3] He realizes he is dead and can now move on. Cole / Disunity: [1] A child of divorced parents. [2] He feels abnormal, longs to be normal. [3] He is haunted by ghosts, setting himself off from the rest of the world. [4] He can't even allow himself to tell his mother the truth. Cole / Unity: [1] Nothing he can do about his father, but [4] he does finally confess his situation to his mother. [2] He is accepted by his peers, symbolized by his lead role in the Arthurian play. [3] He comes to understand his role in relation to the ghosts, thereby moving into a symbiotic relationship with them. So a few more thoughts to amplify on your point.

Ah, TBBB, you beat me to the punch [see my point about character names above]. File that under "Great Minds Think Alike"!