Dimension of Thought
The question, sunken through tragedy,
Now echoes through the sea like whale's echolocation...
Who is Sadako?
ACT II.
4.
In order to know if Sadako can have a redemption arc, we must meet Sadako where she really is
We have to ask—who is Sadako, really?
We must seek to understand her. Understand the human under the curse, the soul behind the suffering...
- Bring up the: Who is she? Where is she at? What were/are her values? What does she believe in? What experiences shaped her? What did she look forward to? but in a deeper way that really dives into it and answers these tackles these questions instead of merely raising them.
The Simple Things We Don't Know
What's the supernatural environment?
Why did Sadako transform into this? Why is she like this?
It was because of fear.
But where love is made perfect there is no fear.
What would everyone else have done given Sadako's sudden disappearance? What did they think would have happened? It's not like this was nothing, unless she literally was so hidden, so locked by her father that she literally had no relationships.
- Can we ask what others knew and thought of Sadako?
- But why weren't those relationships lasting?
What might our protagonist discover?
To know, we follow the clues left behind by her... we follow the path already trodden by Reiko, Ryuji, and Mai...
Sadako's curse seems self-reinforcing because it was originally caused by people fearing her, which led to the cursed tape. People fear the cursed tape—which would have reinforced the curse, because we end up where we started, and it becomes a cycle.
Sadako was vulnerable. She, as a child, wouldn't have been privy to those who feared her. It's one thing to read it on a newspaper, or watch it on TV as a movie. But when you're her, when you're on stage, mocked and reviled alongside your own mother. So, this would have been the only thing she knew—that the world feared her, that those she sought were repulsed by her, and that the world seemed pulled away from her by some mysterious force.
She was powerful, yes, but when one . One must be nurtured and master that power.
Sadako couldn't do anything, couldn't talk to anyone, was not understood, maybe didn't even know how to make herself known, perhaps was too vulnerable and.
We have clues, because her
We can imagine it went something like this:
- Psychological projection, venting, desperate for any way to lift the burden, need to be seen, need to process it, need to find meaning for it, need others to share the burden. Her supernatural powers went haywire even when she was alive, so imagine how devastating it would become when in the well. when her cries echoed within it like magma in a well.
- How art and literature convey emotion. Her memory is disjointed, just as unprocessed and unresolved trauma is embodied as disjointed memories and things that don't make sense.
- And so, when it's not processed, it manifests as this unprocessed, raw, disjointed, seemingly nonsensical sequence of memories. People think in symbols. People process in symbols, process in words, and process in experiences.
- But without actually trying to process it, it just remains as raw experience pushed deep into the unconscious.
- Eventually, it was projected because of Sadako's unresolved trauma pushing out and manifesting that way.
Section:
Tell a relatable story
- Enclosed, .
- Person has no way to communicate it.
- Now imagine that but in the well
- What do we see?
- Relate it to what psychologists say and studies. But never use psychology as reference—use human and biblical principled wisdom.
If you're reading this, you might be well invovel din the arts and film and writing. You may even be a talented actor or know one. You might even be a deeply dedicated actor.
- The actress has no way.
What essentially we understand here is this: Sadako has a story that needs to be heard. Not only that. Not only does she have a story, she is a story that needs to be heard. That's why the curse keeps spreading. It needs to be known and truly honored. It is a story that will not stop until it finds resolution—the good ending it deserves. It needs to find redemption. The emotional magma that drives her story . That's what her curse is. A dormant volcano of tragedy, all trapped in a well, full of churning, turning magma of profound human voids, upon voids, upon voids.
Yet Sadako's story through her tape so far has only been receiving fear and confusion in response, which only exacerbates the emotional magma that churns through it in the first place. It increases the intensity of that magma, causing it to bubble and jerk more violently within the well of the volcano it is trapped in.
The sad reality is that few have responded to her curse with genuinely unconditional love and deep recognition. And those who have didn't really reach her. At least not enough to break the curse.
Reiko, who was one of the most compassionate characters in Ringu, didn't show her enough to heal Sadako.
Although Reiko was deeply grieved over Sadako's tragedy, and was empathetic of the wrongs done to Sadako, that doesn't necessarily mean she understood her deeply enough to heal the profound scars that drive the curse in the first place.
The irony is that even we, the viewers, have been afraid of her and saw her as just a harbinger of doom, not a person to be cherished. And we've watched her through the TV and many of us have responded with fear. It's literally framed as a horror movie!
This was the love she never had in her life. This was the understanding she never had in life—or at least, never had enough of (perhaps Toyama is an exception? Even still that wouldn't have been enough to break the curse. Unless I missed something in Ringu 0, I haven't heard or read about Toyama understanding Sadako in the ways she really needs as here. So as far as I know, Toyama hasn't done that in Ringu 0). Love that she desperately needs. Connection that she desperately needs.
So, how can we break the curse? With deep, radical courage rather than fear—with love. With radical, unconditional love. Love casts away all fear. Love casts out fear like light casts out darkness. (1 John 4:18) Turning the other cheek. Love can make the worst people turn away from their ways and live a life aligned with moral principles. (reap burning coals Proverb)
Of course, many know Sadako is more complex than just an antagonist...
But what if I told you that she is actually a protagonist? And more—even a hero?
To understand why, we need to dive into how story works, and how story is structured...
If you watch Ringu, you'll find that you're not actually thinking about Sadako as much as you'd expect, given her reputation as a scary horror movie ghost. The movie unveils her existence very slowly. In the beginning, nobody knows about Sadako. We basically know almost nothing about Sadako, we don't find out until later. In fact, we find out about Sadako's mother before we find out about Sadako. Her uncle even denies that she even ever existed. "There was no daughter," he said. We only get small hints of her existence, such as her split-frame appearance during the cursed tape scene, and her reflection on the TV after the tape finishes. But at this point, we don't even find out her name. In fact, you don't even find out about half of her name, until later when they are breaking down the cursed tape and the blinking eye with the "Sada" symbol.
So if the movie doesn't even introduce Sadako by then, then what drives the fear this whole time? What is threatening the protagonists? It's the curse as a whole—not Sadako herself. We're afraid of the tape. We're afraid of the curse, we're afraid of death, we're afraid of the mysteries.
It's only later that we find out the well was covered. Not only was it covered with a stone, but it was covered with the entire house. People literally built an entire house/estate on top of it. They lived their whole lives with it right under them, forgetting it, denying it ever existed—all while it's right under them. They must have thought it was just a regular stone.
In screenwriting, we use a framework involving the hero-obstacle-goal for understanding story. When you're watching a movie, as soon as you've identified a hero, obstacle, and goal, that's when it hits you—you're witnessing a story unfold before you. In my story paradigm, as you can read about here in the treatise for the holistic narrative continuum who the stakes of the story deal with is essential. We follow along and root for whatever is good, and if the good is someone's well being and joy, then we root for that person as the protagonist. This isn't my complete story paradigm but is a significant core of it. I think I will call my complete paradigm the holiscendent life continuum/evosystem instead.
When the story is framed around a person's evolution of desire and good that's when that person becomes a protagonist in a sense.
What I mean is this.
We have to go watch the part. She . And somehow, she knows just how to touch him—her touch has presence, and power.
If you go out and take a walk in the park, you might see a lonely-looking elderly person looking wistfully at a young couple down the street. That's a story. You're now aware of the elderly person's desires, the good at stake here, which makes the person the protagonist. Here, it makes the person the hero because the desire the person is pursuing is aligned with what's good. And you're rooting for them—that's how you know they're the protagonist. You're aware of the obstacle. You're aware of the goals that have to do with the good things and the overarching arc of good at stake. So, you are now rooting for that elderly person like a protagonist—because the person has actually become a protagonist.
It doesn't require extensive setup. You just need to see at least one hero with a goal, but there's an obstacle to overcome.
Think about it—. When the rest of the desire and good evolution builds upon certain heroes, obstacles, and goals established, then .
Now with this in mind, we can clearly understand how the desire and good framing is on Sadako.
The story frames Sadako as more of an unknown, lurking, curse-controlled passive force than an evil, active, villainous agent. Even if on some level she has bad motivations, that. On the whole there just isn't enough evidence , and . We already concluded earlier that Sadako isn't actually evil—she's just forced into it, and likely isn't even conscious.
When tragedy is explored, it explores the fact that she is good, and the desire-good evolution has one good as her story being known and her being given solace and her body out of the well. Ringu itself shows Sadako in a very sympathetic light. We see Reiko embracing Sadako as she hugs her skeleton at the bottom of the well. It explores her perspective. It dives into the mystery of the curse, not assuming any particular person is an antagonist or has antagonistic or evil motives. Not even Sadako. Instead, Ringu's arc delves into the curse and discovers what happened to the Yamamura family. It starts with Shizuko, then we find more about the family, then we find about Sadako. Then we learn about what happened to her. Then we sympathize with her.
Perhaps you can even argue that the plot to "break the curse" sets up a story about how Sadako must be saved and honored and broken free.
Sadako's uncle laments over Sadako, and the tragedy that happened.
When you see Reiko hugs Sadako's skeleton, even in spite of the fact that it was the very last minute of her death and she was also trying to save .
Remember, she had seen Sadako's visions. So then this naturally leads you to understand Sadako's desire and good. Just like a prince saves damsel in distress and the damsel thus is also a protagonist, Reiko finally empathizing with Sadako and uncovering her bones would mean Sadako is protagonist.
From there, we have Ringu 2. Ringu 2 goes even deeper into Sadako's story. Thsi is the first point that we actually see what she looks like. Sadako's uncle shows deep remorse over his past wrongs against her, even the part where he says he'd return Sadako to the sea. We get more and more of Sadako's story. Through the eyes of Mai Takano we go see the curse even more deeply. We even go into the well. It supports a broad understanding that the curse is not just about its rigid constraints—although it may appear that way initially, and although it has not broken the initial rules, we're shown the curse is not rule bound and there is a much deeper substratum that must be addressed. It paves the way for the Sadako redemptino arc on what I was talking about the metaphysical encoutners and exploration. It paves the way for the Sadako redemption arc to understand that it's ultimately Sadako's own psyche herself that the curse feeds on like a parasite.
Ringu 0 clearly establishes her as a protagonist. It shows how much she wants. It sets the stage for everything else. You will never see her the same way again.
We know Sadako's desires and we see the good at stake. We know she is a hero in the story, we know the obstacles, and we know the goals that relate to the good at stake.
So Sadako was clearly a protagonist all along. She showed antagonistic behaviors, but she at heart is a protagonist whose journey took a tragic turn. Think of her as a mind-controlled Superman. Superman is a hero, not an antagonist, but under this state, he would show antagonistic behaviors.
hero obstacle goal and my own storytelling paradigms
Obviously in Ringu, at this point, Sadako is one of the protagonists on some level because of her backstory and obviously we can tell the hero obstacle goal here she is one of the heros
Note: with my storytelling paradigm of story is evolution fo desire and good over time we know her desiers and good were huge cetner such taht we know she's hero Ringu 0 because hero is where story evolution centers on and even
This shows that Sadako, by the standards of storytelling frameworks, is actually a protagonist who is forced to show antagonistic behaviors.
If Sadako was always a protagonist all along, then this means a redemption arc wouldn't be forcing something new onto her. It would be the natural progression for her story. Although you'll usually find that .
But would this? After all, Ringu's public perception and narrative is one of horror.
Now some may argue that framing Sadako in this way would undermine the essence of Ringu—what made Ringu so iconic and incredible as a horror film. After all, like I speculated earlier here, if people perceived that were true, maybe that's a reason why few, if anybody, seem to be proposing or working on a redemption arc for her yet. If it's a horror movie, you need something or someone to be scared of. If Sadako was the reason everyone was so scared in the first place, then redeeming her would remove her fear factor. If she is a hero on the path to redemption, the reasoning might go, then we cannot be scared of her anymore. If she's redeemed, revived, and lives the human life she deserves to live, then what's the point of being scared of her? Therefore, one might argue, framing Sadako as a hero and redeeming her would make the Ringu franchise be about something entirely different than it originally was.
Would this mean we only would wnat to have one movie? Or have her be an anti-hero?
However, I argue that we aren't actually scared of Sadako herself—Sadako as a person or in her human identity. It's the curse and her ghost form/behavior, the well, the cursed tape, the signs of the curse like distorted photos, as well as how her tragic story makes it even more horrifying, and where she loses control of herself, that is.
Some might argue, though, "What about the close-up shot of her eye in Ringu? This is arguably the most 'personally horrifying' moment for Sadako. It shows Sadako is an irredeemable and malevolent. If Sadako is redeemed, then there is no more Sadako to stare at anyone that way! Eye is the window of the soul, and it shows how terrifying she is with her hatred!"
Argue why there is fan demand:
Relates to: "There are tons of people on YouTube who are devastated by Sadako's tragedy and may well even be crying out for a redemption arc. Some even imagined better headcanon endings for her like (referencing how Ringu 0 shows Sadako and second Sadako) "Sadako never had both her selves merged—her other self stayed down the well. Toyama never died, and the good Sadako ran off with Toyama, and they went on to live a happy life far away. But it's the other Sadako that became evil and bitter at Sadako for leaving her in the well" (though I'm pretty sure the comment said they were twin sisters, not different manifestations of the same person? Which would be a misunderstanding)" Possibly I can reference this
Can Sadako be redeemed though? Even if there was a hero willing to descend down the well and willing to reach out to her, would she receive that person? Would she listen?
Is she too skeptical of the world now?
Has she left? Not a single desire of hers has been there.
When she plunged into the well, she could have been willing to listen. She's not unaffected by everyone's actions—she's affected deeply. So if they speak, she'll listen.
.
Sadako can be redeemed. Because I am Sadako. And I am redeemed.
When I read Sadako's story on her wiki page for Ringu 0, instantly, something hit different. Because that was just like me.
I also had a second side to myself. A side deeply repressed.
For me, so many people in my life have said something like that. Others misunderstood me and thought it was my fault. My problems were, in fact, made me look normal enough unless you truly saw me. Likewise, everyone thought I was normal when in reality, I was had very unusual and troubled in many ways—it was just that which was unusual and unique and troubled within me was suppressed to appear normal to prevent myself from being vulnerable and hurt and overwhelmed, and no one was able to address what was truly going on in me. The cost was that my personal life was suppressed to an extent as well. And I didn’t know it. And nobody else did. So I lived as though I were normal. Just like Sadako. And that caused many problems for Sadako and the people in her life. Just like Sadako.
We both had difficult family turmoil.
I had (and possibly still have it) social communication disorder
- community life
- community integration
- dissipation
- frustration of plans
- failure of those in authority
We both had the profound burden of being "other." Other from backgrounds. Backgrounds of isolation, repeated cycles, and having totally unusual abilities compared to others. (for me not saying I am a psychic obviously here but more like the abilities I used to create this platform are highly unusual).
But back then, my abilities were not cultivated, and no one really understood them. My environment and the people around me, just like hers, could not accommodate me.
I withdrew out of fear for revealing my true self. For if I had revealed it, life would not have been fulfilling. It would have been very painful and dull in ways that I, as a small child, had no way to express or deal with. So we both withdrew and repressed ourselves.
I did not grow up with stable relationships. That was temporary, lasted until I moved to California. I sought, and it wisped away like air.
I had major identity issues.
And so, my understanding of relationships has been largely confined to the realm of ideas. I have not experienced the full life-sharing version. I have mentally reconstructed it.
Society misunderstood her
Just like Sadako, I had "that one person ." She relied on Toyama, while I relied on many people whom I clinged onto as "the one person to fulfill my emotion al needs for love." For me.
When , . Society did everything to separate them.
Society falsely accused me, not understanding me. Thoes who would have supported me.
And would go into realm of fiction. I'd create images with my mind.
She would also cope with fiction. She was an actor, and in Ringu 0, if I recall correctly, Sadako's therapist suggested using theatre as therapy.
We each looked normal and were misunderstood. Our disorders caused problems, but each was not understood and caused problems.
In my life, I was seriously misunderstood. I had a serious mental disorder that made me repress a huge amount of my personality, just like the reason behind Sadako's split. I was stuck between dual modes of my being, just like.
I was very isolated. Growing up I had moved twice and .
I sought. I sought anchors. The idea of this was so shocking to my soul that I desperately held onto it. What would have been just fleeting crushes for others were intense, existential crises for me.
Since Wix gives me a very cool feature where I can make epic shapes to represent stuff, I decided to make it. It's not "untouchable" or anything—but it is there because I wanted to tangibly represent this to you.
But everything changed for me when I found Jesus. I saw how much Jesus loved me. How He died on the cross for me. God was the Father that I was searching for all this time. Since then, I have found meaning and purpose through knowing God and loving others. (must elaborate much and be more specific)
Now, instead of cursing people with tapes and crawling through TVs, I am using my own digital. If you've been on this site, Diemsnion of Thought, you might have read in the home page about how "The purpose is to enrich lives with purpose by tapping into deeper potential with digital power. Rather than taking people away from real life and into the internet, Dimension of Thought is designed to bring the internet closer to real life. This brings people closer to real life." This is my counterpart to the curse. Sadako makes her digital self closer to you, and so do I. I do so in a redeemed way.
Sadako. Did not though. Her life took a tragic turn. She was thrown into the well. She never got to experience the love that I did.
And she did not know God, so all she could do subconsciously was create projected images, and bring them out.
This doesn't mean Sadako's redemption arc must be explicitly Christian. But if Christians primarily are in charge of this, I would strongly encourage them to emphasize biblical imagery and symbolism, unless according to their judgement they decide otherwise is best.