Ring of Curse (2011)

A Wonderful Character study of a Broken Teen

Students and teens having mental breakdowns have been the source of conversation for a while now. Bullying has also been around forever and persists to this very day. Bullying can be found online and in real life. The effects of bullying are extremely negative and especially for a long period of time, often leads the person being bullied to be in a bad mental state. Sometimes their life at home also does not help matters either. As such, this topic has been covered numerous times in movies, shows, fiction and public service announcements (PSAs). Some of the representations are good, some of them are bad, and some of them are in between.

In 2011, A Japanese horror movie called Gommenasai was realeased. This title translates to I am Sorry and was re-titled in the United States as Ring of Curse. It was based on a popular cell phone novel by the same name which was written by Yuka Hidaka. The movie has received little attention, which is a shame. It is a disgrace because it is a brilliant movie about how bullying, bad parenting, and the negative influence of online sites not only affected one of the main characters, Kurohane, but affects others in real life as well, and does so through the lens of Asian Horror.

The story of Ring of Curse is about Yuka Hidaka (played by Airi Suzuki), a member of her high school’s writing club who attends school with a gifted and smart misfit named Hinoko Kurohane (played by Miyabi Natsuyaki). Kurohane is constantly bullied for her strange and odd appearance and mainly so by Shiori Sonoda (played by Momoko Tsugunaga) and her friends. One day, Sonoda tells Kurohane that she has been chosen to write the script for the school play and Kurohane accepts the offer. However, Sonoda’s friends and teachers from the school are dying by suffocation after they read the many drafts that Kurohane creates. Yuka tries to figure out what is going on with Kurohane. We then learn about the poor life Kurohane has lived through, and how that, along with the bullying she has received everywhere, results in her wanting to spread a curse that uses a combination of evil words that kills those who read it.

Ring of Curse contains a lot of the themes in common with other Asian horror movies. The main theme of Asian horror is feminism, which leads into the subjects of bullying, bad parenting, and negative effects of online sites. Most of the villains, ghosts, and even protagonists in these movies are women who have been oppressed in some way. This was well explained in the book, Faces of Horror, Dances of Death when actor and political lecturer named Ritu Vij is quoted as saying that, “in the domains of horror and science fiction, female monsters are routinely (and, I would argue, overwhelmingly) deployed to elaborate the myriad insecurities that have marked contemporary Japanese life” (Dumas 91). If you examine movies in this genre such as Ringu, Ju-On, Shutter, Dead Friend, Death Blog, Audition, Phone, One Missed Call, The Eye, Carved, Coming Soon, and all 9 Tomie movies, you will see a pattern of the main villain, ghost, or even the protagonist being mistreated by either men or women, or society as a whole judging them for whatever reason.

These characters’ suffering from the outside world can include, but not be limited to the following reasons. They could have supernatural powers like with Sadako in Ringu (1998) who was persecuted for her telepathic powers. They can be socially awkward like Hitomi in Death Blog (2014) who was addicted to the internet and is more attracted to cartoons than real people as the result of being socially awkward. They may not fit within beauty standards like Su-In in The Ghost (2004) who was bullied for her weird appearance. Some have weird and unusual hobbies like Jiney in Ab-Normal Beauty (2004) who was obsessed with the macabre. Many have been victims of crimes committed by toxic men and women, like with Ingchan in Coming Soon (2008). In the movie, the director made rude and overly harsh demands for a more convincing performance from her. Even when she had a fatal accident and died on set, the director failed to notice, and did not care, until it was too late. One final reason for the characters’ suffering is being treated poorly by a society enforcing toxic masculinity like with Asami in Audition (1999) who was mistreated by men who viewed her as nothing more than an object or trophy. There are some exceptions to this rule. The Tomie movies focus on an evil girl who manipulates any man around her to worship and do her bidding. However, that still fits because it highlights the damaging effects of the male gaze and how it affects other women. Otherwise, villains and even protagonists tend to follow this trend in Asian Horror.

In Ring of Curse, Kurahane is ostracized because of her weird powers, being socially awkward, and not fitting within society's beauty standards. In the movie, society is shown to judge Kurohane for not looking like a normal person and putting her down at every turn possible. This includes students mocking her appearance due to her looking rather ghostly, having long hair which is not in regulation, and acting rather unusually silent and distant. They also put her in embarrassing situations to her family treating her very poorly. In retaliation, Kurohane creates a curse that she intends to spread in as many ways as possible such as writing on paper and text. The use of themes about feminism from other Asian Horror all ties into the bullying, bad parenting, and negative online influence that turns Kurohane into who she becomes.

The first theme that is covered in Ring of Curse is bullying. In the movie, Kurohane is constantly bullied by Sonoda and her clique. It is made clear throughout the movie that Sonoda is targeting Kurohane not just because she looks different. The movie shows visually that Sonoda is also targeting Kurohane because of jealousy. You see this when Sonoda is angry that Kurohane got a higher test score than her. Kurohane is also bullied by her sister constantly, which is one of the reasons she goes over the edge and tries to curse people.

In the article, “Comparing Face-to-Face Bullying and Cyberbullying,” Dirk Baier states that, “A substantial body of research supports that victims of bullies suffer from internalizing problems, including depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem” (Baier 1). This is very much the case with Kurohane as all this harassment and bullying has helped build her depression and extreme low self-esteem. As such, she is seen alone, sitting at her desk as she either continues to write, study, or just sits there staring off into space. The only time people bother to go up to her are mostly to bully her. The only exception is Yuka, who is the only one to treat her with any amount of actual respect and kindness. She asks if Kurohane will join the writing club. However, due to Kurohane’s nilishism, and built-up hatred towards everyone, she rejects the offer because she thinks Yuka is only asking her for selfish purposes.

As with many cases of bullying, it has a clear effect on Kurohane not only socially but mentally. Going back to the article, “Comparing Face-to-Face Bullying and Cyberbullying,” the author mentions how “ Hase et al. (2015) cross-sectional study, which consisted of 1225 adolescents, found that both face-to-face bullying and cyberbullying were associated with poorer mental health” (Baier 2). As stated in the article, bullying, whether it is online or in real life, can wear a person down and the effects of it are severe. It can result in the person being more of an outcast, developing many anti-social skills, and not being able to talk to others. It also results in the person developing a rather negative view of people. This is shown in Kurohane who has been bullied so much throughout her, that she views people as worthless creatures that all need to suffer. Even when people want to genuinely help her, she turns them down since she has been scorned, mistreated, and made fun of by everyone in her life.The one that seems to do the most bullying to Kurohane is her sister, Kana. Her bullying towards Kurohane is extremely excessive and non-stop. This bullying combined with the bullying she receives at school from Sonoda’s clique, helps you realize that Kurohane is in constant agony. She is bullied wherever she is and does not have the willpower to stand up for herself. In her mind, the only power she has is by killing those who read the curse ridden texts she writes. This is an all-too-common trait in bullying victims. The ability to stand up for themselves has been stripped away from them by their peers and even those close to them. It is a horrifying outcome for sure and is why those who are bullied need help.

The second theme covered in Ring of Curse is bad parenting. Often in movies, bad parenting is shown to be more violent in nature. The issue is touched upon in a more real-world context in Lead Bromfield’s article titled “Violence, Abuse and Neglect.” In this article, Bromfield states that “violence, abuse and neglect are prevalent within our community, and families with multiple and complex problems'' (Bromfield 5). However, in this movie, the bad parenting displayed here does not fit that type at all. Instead of abuse and violence being the bad parenting style that is shown in this movie, the bad parenting is straight up abandonment.

The bad parenting starts after Kurohane is being bullied when she was a young child. She writes up a threatening message to the bully and the bully freaks out and chokes. Kurohane’s mother is told about this and completely abandons her. She rarely talks to her or even interacts with her throughout her entire life. Kurohane does try to win her mother’s love back but she just ignores it. She and her husband instead give all the attention, love, and care to her sister. They also let Kana continuously harass Kurohane without ever interfering once. This makes Kurohane even more spiteful and broken as a result. Even when Kurohane is revealed to have cancer, her mother shows no real signs of sympathy or care.
In her eyes, Kurohane is an immoral monster who can never be redeemed. The biggest sign that both her mother and father have no love for Kurohane is shown when they both go to attend her funeral. We are told by Yuka, via narration, that Kurohane’s parents shared the same sentiment that the students have. They seemed to be relieved by her death and do not really even care.

The worst part is that the solution to all this could be so easy. Instead of completely abandoning Kurohane and cutting any attachment with her, Kurohane’s mother should have tried to help her. She should have had her go to therapy, try to be more caring, and give her the support she very much needs. Instead, her mother loses hope the instant she messes up one time, which leaves Kurohane with no one but herself to deal with the real world around her. They also focus all of their time on her sister, Kana and give her all the love and support instead of being equal and help both of their children out. This also leads to Kana bullying Kurohane constantly whenever the two interact or are near each other.

The bad parenting style presented in this movie is a rather unique take and look at the subject. While the more violent and up-front abusive parenting is a problem, being ignorant of your child, and leaving them to their own devices is no better. This is seen in real life when parents leave their child to endlessly play on their iPad or do not bother raising them. Parenting is one of the most important things for a child when they grow up and without it, they will be afflicted with stunted growth. Ring of Curse provides a good example of this kind of parenting.

The third theme that is covered in Ring of Curse is the effects of unsupervised access to the internet can have on a person. This one does not have as much depth to it as the other two, but it is still an important subject to bring up. In the movie, Kurohane is shown to be able to create curses by writing words or at least in certain combinations of cursed words. In order to find out how to create stronger curses, she goes to many occult sites that give her ideas for her curses. While the internet itself is not inherently bad, it can be used for evil purposes. If her parents were more caring and active in her life, she probably would not have been on the sites and the curses would not have been as powerful. However, it has been established that Kurohane’s parents do not care for her at all which leads to Kurohane having unlimited access to resources that end up strengthening her curses.

One thing must be addressed though. This review, as well as the movie, is not trying to excuse or condone Kurohane’s behavior. At the end of the day, it was still morally wrong for her to create a curse that kills people and spreads it to millions of people who had nothing to do with her bullying nor would have. It was not right to kill those who bullied her as two wrongs do not make a right. That being said, there is a rather strong argument to be made here that she ended up this way because of the bad upbringing she dealt with. There was almost no one in her life to help her when she needed it and that might have helped her immensely.

In conclusion, Ring of Curse is a brilliant movie about how bullying, bad parenting and the negative influence of sites online not only affected one of the main characters, Kurohane, but can affect others in real life as well. Ring of Curse shows this through the lens of Asian Horror. There are several things to do when it comes to fixing all three problems. When it comes to bullying, that is the hardest one of all. It may never truly be stopped in any real way, but we can still try to work on it not being as prevalent and give those being bullied a trustworthy friend group to help them out. When it comes to parenting, parents should make sure to be an active part of their child’s future without being a helicopter parent. When it comes to access to online content, parents should make sure it does not consume their child or that they get into the wrong places online. As for the movie, Ring of Curse, I highly recommend it. The ideas of bullying, bad parenting, and the dangers of the internet have been covered before, but this movie handles those themes in a unique and interesting way. This movie is not to be skipped out on and should be viewed.

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