When The Ring came out in 2002, most people watched it once, then allowed it to fade from mind so their heart rates could return to normal. Not so Dal professor Anthony Enns.
His fascination with The Ring not only lasted, but recently culminated in his article 鈥淭he Horror of Media: Technology and Spirituality in the Ringu films,鈥� published in collection The Scary Screen (ed. Kristen Lacefield, London: Ashgate Publishing, 2010).
鈥淢y essay is on the Japanese films鈥� and the history of Japanese parapsychology,鈥� explains Dr. Enns, assistant professor of English. 鈥滿y dissertation was on spiritualism and psychical research鈥� I actually knew about the history before I saw the films.鈥�
Scary sources
When he first viewed the Japanese film The Ring is based upon, Ringu (Hideo Nakata, 1998) Dr. Enns was struck by its similarities to the story of historical Japanese parapsychological researcher Tomokichi Fukurai. 鈥淎s soon as I saw the Japanese films, I knew that they were borrowing from this book,鈥� says Dr. Enns. 鈥淭his (the film) is based loosely on an actual press conference that Fukurai held in 1910.鈥�
Many North American viewers missed the homage by watching only director Gore Verbinski鈥檚 take: 鈥淎ll of this history is omitted from the American remake鈥� I think that鈥檚 simply because international viewers would not recognize the references to Fukurai.鈥�
Not only does Dr. Enns view Ringu as being quietly inspired by Fukurai鈥檚 work, he sees Fukurai himself as subtly resisting the 20th century domination of Western modernization over local Japanese traditions.
鈥淧sychology, as a discipline, was imported from the West鈥� Fukurai was trying to counteract this tendency. He wasn鈥檛 embracing the Western version of psychology that he was 鈥榮upposed to,鈥欌�� but instead, 鈥渁n older tradition that didn鈥檛 fit into Western notions of rationality.鈥� Fukarai鈥檚 work in the occult brought him into association with Japanese mediums such as Chizuko Mifune and Sadako Takahashi, women who claimed talents of clairvoyance and nengraphy (the ability to influence photographs). Fukurai鈥檚 publication of his theories met with widespread ridicule. 鈥淚n the film,鈥� says Dr. Enns, 鈥淭hey incorporate the psychic鈥檚 suicide, nengraphy鈥� although the shift is from photography onto videotapes.鈥�
While he enjoyed Ringu, Enns doesn鈥檛 think it helped Fukurai鈥檚 image. 鈥淚 do think there鈥檚 something very conservative, ultimately, about the narrative. They鈥檙e betraying what Fukurai was trying to do鈥� suddenly psychical research is something to be afraid of, it鈥檚 something to be feared,鈥� he explains, though he takes care to add 鈥渂ut I think they鈥檙e great as films.鈥� The Japanese film was based on Koji Suzuki鈥檚 novel Ringu, and according to Dr. Enns, print narratives tend to take a hard tack on the occult possibilities inherent in new technologies. 鈥淣ew technologies always have urban legends: ghost photographs, phonograph recordings of voices of the dead鈥� the history is fascinating鈥� these narratives are incorporated into print narratives through the mode of the gothic. Print narratives are always trying to remind us that other media are dangerous.鈥�
Fascinating reading
It鈥檚 also no coincidence that the terrifying evil at the heart of the different versions of Ringu is always female: early spiritualism had feminist undertones. 鈥淔or a lot of women in the mid-19th century, being a medium was the only way to get work.鈥� Women, after all, were the telephone operators, and a 鈥渟piritual medium was a switchboard for the dead.鈥�
Given Dr. Enns鈥� intense and sustained research on otherworldly interactions, does he care to weigh in? Do ghosts, mediums, clairvoyants exist? Were Fukurai and his mediums spurned visionaries, or mere tricksters?
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know, and I don鈥檛 think it matters,鈥� says Dr. Enns. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very possible that the mediums were conning him鈥� I don鈥檛 think that he himself had a motive for trying to trick people.鈥� And why society鈥檚 eternal fascination with the supernatural and horrific, from Fukurai鈥檚 era to our own? Are we just a morbid bunch? Dr. Enns gives us a little more credit. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe in spirits, but with these new technologies鈥� we are surrounded by the dead all the time in a way that people from the 18th century wouldn鈥檛 have experienced.鈥�
If you鈥檝e seen Ringu, then, Dr. Enns鈥� article will prove fascinating reading material, and, if you haven鈥檛, it comes recommended by a reliable source. Throw some popcorn in the microwave, and don鈥檛 forget to leave the lights on.