I can't figure out Rachel in the segment The Raft. Initially, she is portrayed as a shy, quiet girl with a love for tranquility. Then she becomes all confrontational and bitchy towards Randy as soon as he discovers the giant tarp on the water. Then she gets calm again, before her demise that is. Talk about disorganized behavior. Could it be she's schizophrenic?
shareMy careful internet diagnosis is that she suffers from "Cheap Horror Movie Syndrome" - or CHMS. Among the lesser effects of CHMS are inconsistent and even contradictory manifestations of personality. The major effect, however, is very consistent - the ability to discern and then do the dumbest thing possible at any given moment.
When you get sued for sounding like yourself, you get a little paranoid. - John Fogerty
Not to mention how she starts off as the good girl and then ends up smoking pot with the other two on the raft...what a flip-flop!
People who don't close their mouths when they chew make me FURIOUS!
-Mr. Furious, MYSTERY MEN
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Yeah, she's just bothered by Randy's crush on Laverne. She jumps in the water before Lavergne to impress him, reveals her bathing suit to him for the same reason, and then finally I think she just decides 'F@#k it', and takes a hit off the joint and starts talking, especially after Deke brings up the subject of oil slicks, which she obviously knows more about than Deke or Laverne. Randy seemed to enjoy Laverne's "girliness", like being scared of the cold water, over Rachel's intelligence. I think she began to realize that.
"His shadow is cast wherever he stands, STACKS OF GREEN PAPER IN HIS RED RIGHT HAND!"
Her character can be read the way you described, given that all we have to go on is the finished film. I think it's more likely, though, that they filmed the sequences with Rachel acting at first like the "good girl" who doesn't want any pot, and then as a rival "bad girl" of Laverne's. When they edited the film they probably just used a couple of different takes that didn't match up.
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Actually you are right. In the original short story by Stephen King, Rachel leans down and touches the blob because it has swirling colors that have a hypnotic effect on its victims. The blob doesn't look quite like it does in the film. In the short story, it's slick, round, and black, like a floating manhole. The shiny black surface had swirling colors that lured the victims into touching it.
The movie doesn't mention this at all, and that's another thing that looks like it was edited out. In the movie it really does look like Rachel is hypnotized, she's smiling when she leans down to touch the blob. It looks like they might have wanted to have the characters talk about the colors, but re-edited Rachel's role in post production to remove all references to the swirling colors so they didn't have to add them as special effects. Just my hunch.
Who said Rachel was the good girl? She was hanging out with those jerk was she not? She was just on the quiet side. She was obviously a follower who smoked the same *beep* like the others. Randy came off as decent at first, but proved to be a jerk to, right? And a sexually preying one at that. Dont be fooled on the first impression. Theres always more beneath the surface.
shareI haven't seen this movie in ages, but I thought I remembered her saying softly "so pretty" when she was staring at it. That part definitely gave the feel that she was drawn to it, and didn't think anything bad would happen.
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I agree, and the close up they show of the blob, with the light reflecting off the water's surface, had a hypnotic quality to it. I think I mentioned on another thread too that if you listen, there is a faint "trippy" sound effect at that moment.
share I have not read the short story in ages but wasn't she just getting over a breakup or something? I don't really remember though.
How can a gourmet chef not know how to make rice?
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Bump.
shareI feel he was either Randy's girlfriend or his long time friend who had a crush on him, but she was obviously disappointed because she feels Randy had the hots for Rachel.
Could probably make a feature length film out of some of these segments.
http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/
nobody noticed the fact that once rachel removes her sweater she becomes all cool and 'visible nipples' and can smoke a joint like shes used to it
shareInteresting how they handled her character.
shareto her credit, Rachel didn't try to sleep with someone who was asleep; with a flesh-eating blob hanging around.
shareMy theory:
Rachel knew what was in that water the whole time. She was angry at her boyfriend for liking that other girl, and as a form of vengeance, maybe she was the one to come up with the idea of going out on the raft...cause she knew that thing in the water would eliminate the competition. But then again, she was killed by that thing in the water and it definitely didn't benefit her in the end. So her plan failed.
Sure, my theory may not make a whole lot of sense. But Rachel seemed awfully suspicious.
Her plan didn't fail. It was supposed to be a murder-suicide the whole time.
shareShe didn't know why Randy was being such a spaz about her getting out of the water. He grabs her very rough, twice to try and pull her out. He rips on her arm and throws her to the side once she's finally up. Totally understandable.
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