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Sixth Sense, The - Ghosts Cast Shadows?
Throughout the movie Malcolm casts shadows on tables, roads, doors, and other physical objects just like Cole does. It doesn't seem that difficult in today's age of computer-assisted film making for the producers to have digitally removed all shadows from scenes in which Malcolm appears.
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Rated 4.2/10 (144 ratings) Your opinion?
Special Requirements: In theater
Contributed By: Steve on 09-08-1999 and Reviewed By: Webmaster
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Comments:
JustNImg writes:
Actually we're not suppose to know that he's dead until the end and considering that it's in his view, and sees only what he wants to see, he sees himself casting shadows.
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Midnight writes:
Why do ghosts have to cast no shadow?.. Oh silly me... I must have forgotten that in the big book of ghosts it says that all ghosts are shadowless!.. Please!!
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Ratgirl writes:
Errrhrrrm. If the Dr is a dead person, who only Cole can see, then he is invisible to the rest of the world. How would an invisible person cast a shadow? That is logic talking, not the Big Book of Ghosts :P I think the shadow thing is a bit of carelessness on the part of the movie makers - I'm sure they could have shot the scenes in such a way as to avoid shadow casting.
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penzm writes:
Just is correct.. Malcolm is more than likely the only one who could see the shadow... because he wanted to.
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Mc Film Fanatic writes:
I back up penzan with the fact that it clearly states that every ghost only sees and believes what they want to.And Malcom believes he is still is living his life. I have seen this film three times and I think the plot is just as good as the last time I saw it.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
my2cities writes:
Malcolm's shadow is present because until the end you have no idea that he is dead. Heck, even the real "ghosts" had shadows! Mr. Night chose not to use special effects, and if Malcolm had no shadow, that would have been too obvious about the real outcome.
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Dave writes:
Here is an idea for all of you! If he didn't have a shadow, don't you think he would have noticed? And if he didn't have a shadow and he would notice then there would not be a movie would there?
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
daymare of the fallen brood writes:
OH MY GOD!! GHOSTS CAST SHADOWS!! Well in case you all forgot this is a story and all stories share one simple rule: Make your own rules. Who cares whether or not a ghost cast a shadow or not. The whole thing is a story. You can do whatever you want in a story. In this case Malcom not having a shadow would have given the end of the story away making it a rather dumb attempt at surprising the audience.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
DaRkSnIpEr writes:
RATGIRL- I hardly call it carelessness. I would be stupidity to not have shadows. Duh it would give it away. The shadow thing is never explained in the movie thus making it irelevant
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Martin976 writes:
i agree that if it is in his point of view, he has a shadow. Why can there not be a shadow? Are you afraid other people are going to see it? They can't see him, so why would they see his shadow? If he did not have a shadow, he would have noticed it and he would have known he was dead and thus making the movie pointless!
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Jinx McHue writes:
As the ghosts in the movie see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe, maybe their shadows are an extension of their "ghostness." They probably would realize sooner that they were ghosts if they noticed that they didn't have shadows.
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ysic writes:
since only you and cole can see Malcom, it stands to reason that only you and cole can see Malcom's shadow
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Kentron writes:
I think they took this into account, at least to some degree. Check the scene where they are going to the girl's house after funeral. It's a bright, sunny day, yet Malcom casts no shadow. How does he do this without anyone in the audience noticing? Simple... Malcom is always in the shadow of a tree. (I though about the question "do ghosts cast shadows?" and went back to that scene specifically to see how it was handled.)
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Moontear writes:
EEP! Do you know how much it would cost to digitally remove all of those shadows?! This movie would have been the most expensive ever made if they did that!
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Homer writes:
To Kentron; Malcolm DOES cast a shadow when they are walking towards the girl's house, just look for it (i just watched it 5 minutes ago).
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Gypsy writes:
My husband saw a real ghost when he was painting a house and did not know it until later as she was as solid as me and you! So SHE did have a shadow! There are more than one kind of ghost! Hazy ones and solid ones!
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firefly465 writes:
gypsy--maybe he had an acid flashback.lol.
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WildCherryMommy writes:
OK, this is not a slip up. If you know the movie and the rules you know, like everyone else said, that HE SEES WHAT HE WANTS. So, he thinks he is alive, his mind portrays things in a way that it would be seen if he were alive, hence his shadow. I can't remember at the moment if he was ever is in front of a mirror, but the same thing would apply there. He would see himself because he THINKS he should, just like he thinks he should have a shadow there for he does. It is really quite simple and did not need to be on this slip up board. So far I have yet to see a slip up in this movie that would have to deal with the plot or how it was portrayed. There is no way that this is a slip up, COME ON, it goes with the rules of the movie. (PS: Those who believe in and/or have seen ghosts also have reported seeing shadows, and/or their presence in mirrors. So although I think that is not relevant because the movie had set their own rules and guidelines, it does discredit your "slip-up" regarding the shadows that YOU think should not have been there. They should have and they were and it was NOT a mistake.)
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Kurtie writes:
Well wild cherry mommy, I don't really agree with that. I do agree though that it was not a mistake. If you watch the clues and rules at the end of the movie you'll find that Malcolm can affect the physical world. For example when he broke the window at his wife's store. So one might think that if he could break a window that he could at least have a shadow. However, arguing that Malcolm has a shadow because he sees what he wants to see is false. We, as the audience, are not seeing what Malcolm sees.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
markl writes:
When it comes to Malcolm himself, we do see him from his own point of view, and since he sees what he wants to see, we see his shadow. The reasoning for why we see him from his own point-of-view is this: 1. If we saw him from an outside observer's point-of-view, then we wouldn't see him at all. 2. If we saw him from Cole's point-of-view, then we would see the gunshot wound whenever we saw him (as with the other ghosts - there is nothing to suggest that Cole can only see the wounds of angry ghosts), and we don't. It is therefore reasonable to assume, since we see him from his own point-of-view, and since he sees what he wants to see, that he does cast a shadow.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Chris writes:
For the last time, this movie is NOT from Malcolm's point of view!! It is from Cole's! I have seen the movie about 20 times (I'm smitten with Haley Joel Osment, what can I say?) If it was from Dr. Malcolm Crowe's POV, you would not see the other dead people as "They do not see each other." The shadows were, in fact, a blooper. Its too bad too because I think the movie is perfect!! (Ha Ha)
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
Po writes:
I don't think it really matters because in the end this movie is just a really cleaver idea. I think it is silly that stupid mistakes should cloud this genius
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
TomH writes:
Cole says that the ghosts walk about like normal people, normal people have shadows, so so should anything that walks about like a normal person.
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes
LadyHawke writes:
Ok kids, listen up, it's not a mistake, it was intentional on the movie makers part for the shadow to be there, most of you are correct in the reasoning that it would have made it obvious that he was dead. So, consider this... how can ANY of you be so sure that ghosts DON'T cast shadows?
15 of 6576 found this helpful. Did you? Yes

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