Sixth Sense: The Connection between the Boys (SPOILER)
DOYLE60
Was there a connection between the killer patient (Gray) and the young boy
patient (Sear)? Did the killer patient have the same white thing in his hair?
Doyle
Moe Midget
I think the white streak in their hair was brought upon by stress. I seem to
remember reading this somewhere a long time ago, that people will develop an
unnatural greying of the hair from a sudden stressful event or events. If I
remember correctly, Nancy Thompson's character in "A Nightmare on Elm
Street" also developed a grey streak towards the end of the film. Maybe
someone else on here knows more about this.
mlitt...@my-deja.com
two was never established, though the white streak may have been a
physical characteristic intended to serve as a tangible sign that both
were capable of seeing the dead.
Another interesting (though somewhat far-fetched) prospect is that the
boy did not have a white streak in his hair, but that Crowe "saw" one
(due to a subconscious desire to help his former patient by helping the
new patient), as we are told at one point that, ghosts "see what they
want to see..."
And finally, yes, it is possible to develop white/grey streaks due to
stress & trauma. There have, in fact, been stories about people's hair
going shock white after certain traumatic events.
In article <IZzu3.498$nq6....@news21b.ispnews.com>,
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
XYMOX
>patient (Sear)? Did the killer patient have the same white thing in his
>hair?
They both saw dead people.
mlitt...@my-deja.com
there are spoilers below:
It's also quite possible that the whole thing with the white streak (as
well as some of the other similarities) was nothing more than a simple
plot device designed to avert the viewer's attention from the
possibility that Crowe might be a ghost. Because the film works so
hard to point out the similarities between Gray and Sear, the viewer is
less inclined to think so much about Willis' character, thereby making
the plot twist at the end all that much more effective.
In article <7pena2$5pb$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>,
mlitt...@my-deja.com wrote:
> Yes, both had white streaks in their hair. A concrete link between
the
> two was never established, though the white streak may have been a
> physical characteristic intended to serve as a tangible sign that both
> were capable of seeing the dead.
>
> Another interesting (though somewhat far-fetched) prospect is that the
> boy did not have a white streak in his hair, but that Crowe "saw" one
> (due to a subconscious desire to help his former patient by helping
the
> new patient), as we are told at one point that, ghosts "see what they
> want to see..."
>
> And finally, yes, it is possible to develop white/grey streaks due to
> stress & trauma. There have, in fact, been stories about people's
hair
> going shock white after certain traumatic events.
>
> In article <IZzu3.498$nq6....@news21b.ispnews.com>,
> "Moe Midget" <mid...@pdq.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > Was there a connection between the killer patient (Gray) and the
> young boy
> > > patient (Sear)? Did the killer patient have the same white thing
> in his
> > hair?
> > >
wart...@my-deja.com
xy...@aol.com (XYMOX) wrote:
> >Was there a connection between the killer patient (Gray) and the
young boy
> >patient (Sear)? Did the killer patient have the same white thing in
his
> >hair?
>
>
people see when someone dies ? does the body just evaporate or
something ? Also I suspect i am not the only one who has this gift of
sight of the dead, We have rituals we call funerals and people that can
see the dead usually go to these ancient sacred rituals to bury the
dead people.
Stephen
This is maybe way too obvious, but they were both
referred to as "Freak" in the film. I was thinking
that they were actually the SAME person.
I'll have to go see it again this weekend. Cool flick.
n(m)
fall, if this is a flashback?" "It's not a flashback." "Then why is he a
little boy now?" and so forth, until I hipped her.
--
Noah.
"Republicans understand the importance of bondage
between a mother and child."
-- Dan Quayle
Andre Janssens
person. That he comes back somehow as an adult and confronts the doctor.
Norman Wilner
Nah, they're different kids.
Norm Wilner
Starweek Magazine
mlitt...@my-deja.com
liberties with the laws of time and physics, but to suggest that the
two were the same boy is more than a little bit absurd... The
consequence of this notion is that Crowe started out as a ghost,
treated the boy (unsuccessfully), returned to the living at some point,
only to be revisited by the boy, (now a homicidal maniac) and gets shot
again... It just doesn't work, even under the most liberal time/space
travel theories.
I'm sticking to my original notion that while both patients had the
ability to see the dead, it was only Crowe who "saw" the white streak
in Sear's hair - perhaps it was a product of his subconscious desire to
"redeem" his one failure as a psychologist -- that, and the fact that
the whole thing is a plot device designed to distract the viewer from
the fact that Crowe is a ghost.
I'm also entertaining the idea that the patient and the boy are the same
person. That he comes back somehow as an adult and confronts the doctor.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Margaret Phillips
mlitt...@my-deja.com wrote:
>
> I'm also entertaining the idea that the patient and the boy are the same
> person. That he comes back somehow as an adult and confronts the doctor.
I'm not inclined to believe this theory because, I think that once Cole is
finally able to tell his mother about his "situation" the major burden in
his life is lifted. I see Cole as being more at peace with himself and I
think the mother will now be in a position to help and protect him.
I think that staying to help Cole is one of the two reasons that Malcom's
ghost is not at peace. I believe that Cole was going to be a new patient of
Malcolm's, but that his death kept him from beginning his treatment. "I'm
sorry I missed our appointment" line when they first see each other. He
needs to see Cole through his crisis to atone for his failure with Vincent.
That is what makes Cole different from other patients Malcolm may have been
treating at the time of his death. Cole is suffering from the same problem
as Vincent, but they're not the same person. The second reason is obviously
because of his wanting his wife to know that she came before his work.
Brian
psychiatrist in a single city with TWO patients with the Sixth Sense.
Pretty staggering statistics for something that appears to be chance.
Wouldn't this had made it to the AMA journals by then? Statistically, this
must be a Sixth Sense epidemic. How many other sixth sense aware kids are
there?
I agree that the "same person" theory is weak, but I'm equally convinced
that a world full of "6th sensors" is more bizarre. Strange movie. It
would have been a better movie, and less confusing, if Malcolm had died in
some more mundane manner. Turn crazy naked guy into a boring petty thief
and suddenly everything makes a lot more sense. Reworking the plot wouldn't
have cost any "spook" points and would have led more believability.
MHO.
Margaret Phillips <magg...@flash.net> wrote in message
news:37BC3FBB...@flash.net...
gjw
> This just brings up another flakey aspect of the movie. A single
> psychiatrist in a single city with TWO patients with the Sixth Sense.
> Pretty staggering statistics for something that appears to be chance.
It is by accident that he encounters the first patient who murders him.
But he is obviously drawn to the child because of his special ability,
and because of his similarity to his previous patient.
> It would have been a better movie, and less confusing, if Malcolm had died in
> some more mundane manner. Turn crazy naked guy into a boring petty thief
> and suddenly everything makes a lot more sense.
Quite the opposite. The whole point of the movie is that Willis sees in
the child a chance to redeem himself for failing the patient who killed
him - BECAUSE the child and his patient share a similar afflication. If
you lose that connection, you lose the core of the movie.
Gary
*** go to my website at http://www.seeing-stars.com ***
Brian
Falcon <falc...@market71.com> wrote in message
news:37bcb407....@news.market1.com...
> It's a movie, with a script, a fantasy tale not a documentary. Good
> grief, you can ask a hundred more such questions and the simple and
> straight forward answer is that it is in the script and is a made up
> story by the author. If you like to nit pick details you will never
> enjoy any movie. Enjoy the movie for what it is, if you can do better
> then write your own PERFECT screenplay with NO plot holes.
No, that's a generalization. I just didn't enjoy *THIS* movie.
Norman Wilner
>
>This just brings up another flakey aspect of the movie.
>A single psychiatrist in a single city with TWO patients
>with the Sixth Sense. Pretty staggering statistics for
>made it to the AMA journals by then? Statistically, this
>must be a Sixth Sense epidemic. How many other sixth
>sense aware kids are there?
Who knows? Maybe there are hundreds or thousands of people born with some
level of sensitivity to the dead, but only Vincent and Cole were _that_
sensitive. If Crowe was a specialist in this sort of disorder, it would
make perfect sense for him to be the only person in the city to deal with
these kids. The talent is supernatural in nature, and supernatural stuff
tends to bend the rules a little. This wasn't a problem for me.
>I agree that the "same person" theory is weak, but I'm equally
>convinced that a world full of "6th sensors" is more bizarre.
>Strange movie. It would have been a better movie, and less
>confusing, if Malcolm had died in some more mundane manner.
>Turn crazy naked guy into a boring petty thief and suddenly
>everything makes a lot more sense. Reworking the plot wouldn't
>have cost any "spook" points and would have led more believability.
Of course, it's Crowe's death at the hands of crazy naked guy that keeps
him from moving along into the next level of existence, whatever that is.
_If_ he knew about Cole before he died, which the film suggests somewhat
elliptically (his case file on the boy, and the "I'm sorry I missed our
appointment" introduction), then the thought of not being able to save Cole
from the same downward spiral as Vincent might have been enough to keep him
around.
He does tell his wife, at the end of the film, that helping Cole was one of
the things he had left unfinished.
Norm Wilner
Starweek Magazine
Falcon
> On Thu, 19 Aug 1999 16:50:35 -0700, "Brian" <nos...@san.rr.com>
> had this to say:
>This just brings up another flakey aspect of the movie. A single
>psychiatrist in a single city with TWO patients with the Sixth Sense.
>Pretty staggering statistics for something that appears to be chance.
>Wouldn't this had made it to the AMA journals by then? Statistically, this
>must be a Sixth Sense epidemic. How many other sixth sense aware kids are
>there?
It's a movie, with a script, a fantasy tale not a documentary. Good
grief, you can ask a hundred more such questions and the simple and
straight forward answer is that it is in the script and is a made up
story by the author. If you like to nit pick details you will never
enjoy any movie. Enjoy the movie for what it is, if you can do better
then write your own PERFECT screenplay with NO plot holes.
>It would have been a better movie, and less confusing, if Malcolm had died in
>some more mundane manner. Turn crazy naked guy into a boring petty thief
>and suddenly everything makes a lot more sense.
That would make less sense. The original naked guy was there to explain
the concept of the "Sixth Sense." and the full mental aspect of the
torment it causes.
>MHO.
MHO also.....
Falcon
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da...@cybercorpse.com
against it, but that doesn't make it impossible. Epidemic or not, it
would never make the AMA journals because the establishment will never
recognize necro-voyance (I thihnk I just coined that word) as a
legitimate phenomenon. Cole only finally recognized it because he was,
indeed, a ghost himself.
I disagree that a random killing would have been as powerful an event.
Dying the night you are publicly recognized as a hero in your field, by
being murdered by a failure of yours would surely leave your spirit in
a turmoiled state that requires resolution before the spirit moves on.
In article <ZJ0v3.6956$K8.1...@newsr1.san.rr.com>,
"Brian" <nos...@san.rr.com> wrote:
> This just brings up another flakey aspect of the movie. A single
> psychiatrist in a single city with TWO patients with the Sixth Sense.
> Pretty staggering statistics for something that appears to be chance.
> Wouldn't this had made it to the AMA journals by then?
Statistically, this
> must be a Sixth Sense epidemic. How many other sixth sense aware
kids are
> there?
>
> I agree that the "same person" theory is weak, but I'm equally
convinced
> that a world full of "6th sensors" is more bizarre. Strange movie.
It
> would have been a better movie, and less confusing, if Malcolm had
died in
> some more mundane manner. Turn crazy naked guy into a boring petty
thief
> and suddenly everything makes a lot more sense. Reworking the plot
wouldn't
> have cost any "spook" points and would have led more believability.
>
Shawn Hill
: Let's allow the screenwriter a little dramatic license. The odds are
: against it, but that doesn't make it impossible. Epidemic or not, it
: would never make the AMA journals because the establishment will never
: recognize necro-voyance (I thihnk I just coined that word) as a
: legitimate phenomenon. Cole only finally recognized it because he was,
: indeed, a ghost himself.
Think about how many dead people there are. then think about how many people
claim to be psychics or have had psychic experiences or have seen a departed
relative, etc. It's no stretch that Crowe should treat two boys who believe
they can see the dead.
And we don't even know clearly if that is the murderous patient's problem, he
may have just been schizophrenic.
Shawn
MasonBarge
>may have just been schizophrenic.
>
>Shawn
>
I think it's fair to say that the director intended us to think that the boy's
problem was identical to the first boy's problem, and that Crowe couldn't
understand it until he died. Shyamalan would not have given both people white
streaks unless he intended us to identify them with each other. You have to
trust the filmaker in this regard.
Much of the film relies on trust that Shyamalan was skillful enough to intend
the consequences of his action. In this day of horrendously sloppy
film-making, this is difficult to do. One of the reasons I liked 6th Sense so
much is that he refuses to hit you over the head with things, and requires
that the viewer understand things without being told.
So given enough trust to assume that the filmaker wouldn't mislead you
unintentionally, I think we must say that the murderer/patient was seeing
ghosts.
- Mason Barge
"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please bring me
some coffee." -- Abraham Lincoln
shar...@see.my.sig.org
>>And we don't even know clearly if that is the murderous patient's problem, he
>>may have just been schizophrenic.
>>
>>Shawn
>>
>
>I think it's fair to say that the director intended us to think that the boy's
>problem was identical to the first boy's problem, and that Crowe couldn't
>understand it until he died. Shyamalan would not have given both people white
>streaks unless he intended us to identify them with each other. You have to
>trust the filmaker in this regard.
>
>Much of the film relies on trust that Shyamalan was skillful enough to intend
>the consequences of his action. In this day of horrendously sloppy
>film-making, this is difficult to do. One of the reasons I liked 6th Sense so
>much is that he refuses to hit you over the head with things, and requires
>that the viewer understand things without being told.
>
>So given enough trust to assume that the filmaker wouldn't mislead you
>unintentionally, I think we must say that the murderer/patient was seeing
>ghosts.
>
Don't forget the tape from a session with Vincent. I think the
audience was intended to assume that the ghost recorded on the tape
was there because Vincent attracted ghosts. So yes, it's fair to
assume Vincent had the same problem.
Steve
sharknas(at)umcc(dot)ais(dot)org
Correct address above
Mr. Baby Man
after their ghost ordeal.
mlitt...@my-deja.com wrote:
> Yes, both had white streaks in their hair. A concrete link between the
> two was never established, though the white streak may have been a
> physical characteristic intended to serve as a tangible sign that both
> were capable of seeing the dead.
>
> Another interesting (though somewhat far-fetched) prospect is that the
> boy did not have a white streak in his hair, but that Crowe "saw" one
> (due to a subconscious desire to help his former patient by helping the
> new patient), as we are told at one point that, ghosts "see what they
> want to see..."
>
> And finally, yes, it is possible to develop white/grey streaks due to
> stress & trauma. There have, in fact, been stories about people's hair
> going shock white after certain traumatic events.
>
> In article <IZzu3.498$nq6....@news21b.ispnews.com>,
> "Moe Midget" <mid...@pdq.net> wrote:
> > >
> > > Was there a connection between the killer patient (Gray) and the
> young boy
> > > patient (Sear)? Did the killer patient have the same white thing
> in his
> > hair?
> > >
> > > Doyle
> > >
> >
> > I think the white streak in their hair was brought upon by stress. I
> seem to
> > remember reading this somewhere a long time ago, that people will
> develop an
> > unnatural greying of the hair from a sudden stressful event or
> events. If I
> > remember correctly, Nancy Thompson's character in "A Nightmare on Elm
> > Street" also developed a grey streak towards the end of the film.
> Maybe
> > someone else on here knows more about this.
> >
> >
>
Shawn Hill
: mason...@aol.com (MasonBarge) wrote:
: Don't forget the tape from a session with Vincent. I think the
: audience was intended to assume that the ghost recorded on the tape
: was there because Vincent attracted ghosts. So yes, it's fair to
: assume Vincent had the same problem.
I guess I found that a little too thuddingly obvious, and so didn't really
take it in. Sure, Bruce finally figures out there are really ghosts, and he is
on the way to discovering his own nature, but I don't think he really needed
to go through all that to help the kid. He could have, just like the mother,
made a leap of faith based solely on what the boy is telling her. But, you're
right, the film underlines this by having the ghost speak latin (or was it
spanish at that point?) and be recorded on the tape and having Bruce do
research and figure it out rationally. I guess it provided some good spooky
scenes, and didn't break radically with the consistent tone of the film, so I
just absorbed it without analyzing it.
Actually, this movie had some things in common with that Denzel Washingtion
possession film, Fallen, but was a little less showy I think, in a good way.
Shawn
