“Geez, I hope nobody got hurt. You’re very quiet. You’re mad I missed the play aren’t you? I have two jobs baby; you know how important they are for us. I’d give anything to have been there”
*HER The enigma in this scene begins with the start of the flare by a police officer. You begin to wonder what happened, who has gotten hurt and why there is a traffic jam. However, as the scene continues we realize that the focus is not on the accident but rather on Cole and his mother. What is at question in this scene is Cole’s quiet nature. Whether he’s really upset with his mother? And why does he seem so pensive?
“I’m ready to communicate with you now…tell you my secrets.”
The promise of an answer begins to develop when Cole tells his mother that he is ready to communicate with her. He tells her that he is ready to share his secrets which not only captures the attention of the mother but also the attention of the audience. When Cole begins to tell his mother that someone got hurt in the accident the mother begins to question his ability to look past the cars not realizing that this was the first part of his revelation. Cole begins to tell his mother that the woman who got hurt is next to his window. When this is said the camera shows the viewers the dead woman next to Cole’s window however, only Cole and the audience can see this woman not his mother. This is an indication of equivocation in the scene in the sense that what is proven as truth to the viewers still seems false to his mother. However, Cole stating that he can see the woman who died only serves as the partial answer to Cole’s earlier pensive state. When Cole begins to talk about the woman that got hurt he mentions that the woman is standing next to his window, which begins to scare his mother. When his mother states that she is beginning to get scared Cole states “they scare me too sometimes” when his mother asks who they are there is a small suspension of silence with the camera getting close and focusing in more on Cole’s face. Cole then reveals that he can see ghosts; that the ghosts have been the ones that hurt him and ask him to do things for them.
“She said you came to the place where they buried her and asked her a question. She said the answer is every day. What did you ask?”
At first Cole’s mother is hesitant to believe that her son can see and talk to ghosts. Disclosure begins to take place when Cole begins to speak about his grandmother. Lynn asks him to stop but Cole continues with the story about how his grandmother saw his mother dance to prove that he can see ghosts. Cole also mentions to his mother that “everyday” is the answer to the question his mother asked his grandmother at her burial place. Once Lynn realizes that this is not some made up story she reaches out to hug her son. **ACT The lighting of the flare sets up the atmosphere of this scene. The flare serves as an indicator that something bad has happened. The man speaking to the officer stating that he is ok and that he did not know what happened tells the audience that an accident has occurred hence the traffic jam that Lynn and Cole are in. The camera in this scene then begins to walk the audience through the traffic jam. You can see that smoke is coming from the car and that the roads seem to be wet making it possible to believe that it had been raining earlier. From this the audience can derive that it was not a typical bumper to bumper car accident. ***SYM As with any narrative, many times rain, thunder or a storm will be used to indicate that something bad is about to happen. Although there was no rain in this scene, the roads were wet and it was very cloudy. The fact that the roads were wet indicates to me that it had been raining, which is possibly when the accident happened. The wet roads may be used as a confirmation that someone did get hurt. What confirmed this even more are the sirens you hear in the background and the lighting of the flare which typically symbolizes that a death has occurred. The unbelief for the supernatural can serve as cultural symbol. Lynn was a bit hesitant to accept the truth about her son until she was presented with proof. Very much like today many people have the mentality that they will not believe something until you can convince them with proof that what you are saying is the truth. The bumble pendant and the dance recital were symbolic towards revealing the truth. The hug that Lynn and Cole shared at the end symbolizes the need for support from family. A hug tells someone that they are not alone.
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