2B - Thursday, October 25, 2007
REDUCTIVE REASONING
Putting one and one together,

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom 4

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'CASPER' (1995)

CALEENDA R
The Daily Arts guide to the
best upcoming events

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A ghost for the whole family


7ruv')aty, Nar~dr iG-y1, 8 1pt,

By SARAH SCHWARTZ
Daily Arts Writer
The mentality behind scary
movie for kids is somewhat
daunting. As "Sarah Landon and
the Paranormal Hour" proved
this weekend, it's not an easy gig.
There's that line - when scary
becomes frightening and night-
mares become too close to reality
- that a children's "scary" movie
cannot cross.
These movies therefore must
accommodate their younger audi-
ences by being funny enough to
entertain while having moments
that might inspire fleeting shrieks
and hands over the eyes. Not to
mention the fact that they must
be enjoyable for all-ages. Not just
for the children, these films must
entertain the people with the
money: the parents who will have
to sit through them for two hours,
holding hands when needed or
laughing along.
In this sense, the film adapta-
tion of "Casper" knows what it's
doing. The movie is a precursor
to today's kids movies, crammed
with enough crude humor to
entertain the younger audience
as much as it is with pop-cul-
ture allusions to satisfy those
who don't think getting slimed
is laugh-out-loud hilarious. We
get cameos from Clint Eastwood,
Rodney Dangerfield and Mel Gib-
son; even Dan Aykroyd shows up
in full-on Ghost Busters apparel,
telling them to call someone else.

Then there are literary refer-
ences, most notably the Lazarus
machine, which has the ability to
bring back ghosts to human form,
whose button is hidden in a copy
of "Frankenstein."
Most know the general story:
one friendly ghost, three trou-
ble-making poltergeists, a father
searchingforhis deadwife's spirit
and Kat (Christina Ricci, "Sleepy
Hollow"). The filmis remembered
for its surprisingly plentiful gim-
micks and the lack of continuity
- how can Casper's hand go right
through Kat's but then pick her
up? - but that doesn't take away
from the narrative.
Kat and her father, Dr. Harvey
(Bill Pullman, "Independence
Day"), have come to Whipstaff
Manor on the request of Carri-
gan Crittenden (Cathy Moriarty,
"Raging Bull"), an heiress inter-
ested in getting the ghosts out
of the house so she can find the
treasure supposedly buried there.
Dr. Harvey is the leading ghost
therapist who seems to have
never actually seen a ghost, as he
screams pretty loudly at the first
sight of Casper. In the process of
finding the treasure and getting
Kat ready for the school dance,
people die and come back to life,
contact is made with heaven and
Kat gets her first kiss floating
above the ground.
But "Casper" is really a story of
mortality and how we deal with it
in our lives. Dr. Harvey explains
ghosts are people with unfin-

ished business, who haven't been
able to take that final step to cross
over. And the humans they leave
behind? They get caught up in the
Come on,
you know you
loved this.
hope of contact from beyond and
the sad truth of loss, so much as
to build a machine to bring back
a lost child from the dead and
neglect a living teenage girl still
needing a father's guiding hand.
It's also a story of friendship,
even-the most unlikely, of accept-
ing people's differences, on the
basic level of "fleshies" versus
ghosts. There are no real fright-
ening moments - the worst is a
glimpse of "The Crypt Keeper" in
the mirror - but for akid's movie,
it skims across the darker truths
of life. Death becomes a transient
state, something you can reverse
with some red-glowingliquid and
a chamber of metal. Even Casper
gets his moment in the flesh.
Real loss can be mitigated,
death can be cheated, but since
it ends with a father-daughter
scene rocking out to "Casper the
Friendly Ghost," the kid viewers
don't need to contemplate that
reality too much. That's up to the
ones with the money to explain.

Today 10.25.07
Charles McGee: "A Journey
and Still Searching"
5 p.m.
Free
At the Michigan Theater
Zell Visiting Writer Series:
Aliki Barnstone
5 p.m.
Free
At te MichiganLeague's Vandenburg
loom,
Rani Arbo and
Daisy Mayhem
8 p.m.
$15/$20
At The Ark
Tomorrow 10.26.07
Dinner and Broadway
Musical Hits: Parents
Weekend Dinner Theater
6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
$25
At the Michigan League Ballroom
"Suicide Club" screening
7 p.m.
Free
At the Lorch Hall Askwith Auditorium
Chavasse Dance
Performance
8 p.m.
Free
At the Ouderstadt Video Studio
Saturday 10.27.07
Lou and Peter Berryman
8 p.m.
$15/$20
At The Ark
Please send all press releases
and event information to
artspage@michigandaily.com.

meliCssa lerrick
wV/special guest mary gauthier
mlolidav.I lovellber s t ni Vm)

Call for tickets (734) 763-TKTS.
Tickets at all TicketMaster'outlets and Herb David Guitar Studio
Doors open 1/2 hour before showtime.
STUDENg=T DISCON IT WmTID!


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every undergraduate, graduate and
professional academic unit, and
a social identities are invited
to participate.
To register, log on:
I tltp:/ww.cOnfereces.housrng,
umich.edu/cilmate/

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