The Changeling is a classic
haunting story of the 1980s. This is a narrative of two individuals: John and
the host of Joseph. John’s family is killed in a car accident. Following this
traumatic event, John moved from New York to Washington to teach music at the
university level. John rents a home owned by The Historical Society previously
empty for twelve years. After several unexplained phenomenons occur, John
concludes that a ghost is communicating with him through the house. We soon
find out that the ghost of Joseph still dwells in the house after many years of
death. John’s narrative is then dedicated to finding out what really happened
to Joseph and more importantly, why?
My studies of Gothic Literature
have shown that the generative qualities of females make them subject to
hauntings. One might wonder the validity of this statement as this narrative is
of two male figures. However, because John is stripped of his masculine role
and the ghost of Joseph is subjected to the purification of enclosed spaces
these characters take on maternal characteristics. This is exemplified through
John’s involuntary transition from masculinity to maternal femininity.
Beginning the narrative, John is stripped of his masculine heroic role as he is
forced to watch his family die while in a phone booth. John then is forced to
run the domestic sphere as his wife was killed. Lastly, he encompasses the
maternal role through this career choice as a professor of music. The ghost of
Joseph is had a continuing theme of enclosed spaces, resembling that of a
mother’s womb, which add to the maternal nature in a haunting.
John’s narrative begins with him being stripped of his masculine, heroic role. John enters a small, glass phone booth right
before his family dies. This phone booth resembles the story of Superman as
Clark Kent transforms into Superman in a phone booth. Superman is the ideal
image of masculinity. He puts on a cape and saves the world from danger. Much
like superman, John enters the phone booth to call for help and to save his
family. However, instead of being transformed into a hero it renders him
helpless. Thus, the Superman narrative is inverted. John is stripped of his masculine, heroic role
as he is forced to watch the death of his family from the protective enclosure
of the phone booth.
In many gothic texts, the women
are often writers or musicians; they are presented as someone who is involved with
generative arts. In this movie, the male character is the creative musician. As a
professor at a university, he is imparting artistic knowledge on youth; this is
a job typically thought to be in the women’s sphere. Additionally, he is the
sole provider for his recently shrunken family, a traditional masculine role.
His function in this film is taking over both the masculine and feminine
identities. Because of his feminine qualities, the ghost of Joseph feels he is able to call upon him
to bring the story of his death, to life.
Joseph's story constantly revisits the idea enclosed space, a maternal quality. We see this idea of an enclosed space in the
bathtub where Joseph is killed and the well where Joseph is buried. Although
these enclosed spaces resemble that of a tomb or casket they also bear
resemblance to a mother’s womb. The womb is a protective space
that is necessary to produce the most pure form of life, a child. Similarly,
the tub and well are made to contain purified water and clean the body.
Joseph’s death occurred so the family line could be “purified” or cleaned of
his diseased body. Joseph’s death resulted in a substitute, orphaned child
taking over the role of Joseph. The new Joseph was able to make something of himself and
carry on the respected Carmichael name as a Senator. This makes the tub, although a site of
death, a generative, purifying way of giving life.
The well also fits into this category as it is made to
hold purified water and serves a similar purpose as the tub. The well holds the
evidence to the Carmichael purification as it contains the only remains left of
this dark secret. Much like a womb delivering a child, the well held Joseph's remains. Joseph's body was stored in a maternal, enclosed space; thus, all he needed was a person with a feminine quality to birth his story.
2 comments:
I think this might be something important to think about but can having a female role or resemble femininity make you susceptible to the supernatural. If so, why? This suspeceptability to hauntings seen in What Lies Beneath and Mary Wilkins Freeman’s “The Giant Wistaria” both seem to suggest the intimate nature of women and ghosts but I can’t seem to put my finger on it.
Also another interesting things is that Joseph calls out to his father which seems to indicate that he’s reaching out to a male figure versus a female (motherly) one as you were alluding to. The idea of maternal womb-like spaces draws attention to the idea of rebirth of another boy in place of the original Joseph Carmichael and what would be interesting to know is why Joseph’s ghost was calling out to his father.
I think the idea that females are more susceptible to the supernatural stems from the fact that they are, by nature, the people who give life. In that sense, they are closely tied to the spiritual aspect of things, as it is within them that children grow and eventually enter the world. It is certainly a connection men do not have.
As for Joseph calling out for his father-- that may just be gender based. Girls can relate more closely to their mothers and boys with their fathers. Additionally, it was his father that killed him. He may be calling out just because he wants his father NOT to murder him. It's also possible that he resents his mother because she brought him into the world sickly and crippled, and if she hadn't done so he wouldn't have been murdered. Overall, the father plays a much more significant role in what happened to Joseph leading to his death than his mother does, so I think it's likely he's calling out for his father because it was his father who killed him.
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