Analysis of Nang Nak: Female Ghosts, Gender Roles, and Society

This report provides a detailed analysis of the Thai film Nang Nak. The introduction discusses the movie's plot and explores why female characters are often cast as ghosts in cinema, linking this to societal expectations and the portrayal of women's experiences. Task 1 examines the reasons behind this trend, highlighting the association of female ghosts with fear and emotional storytelling, and also considering the societal conditions and unfulfilled dreams of women. The analysis references the film's narrative, where a soldier's wife becomes a ghost due to unfulfilled wishes and societal conditions. Task 2 delves into the dark side of feminine domestic roles as depicted in the film, focusing on the challenges faced by women in the absence of their husbands and the societal pressures they endure. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, emphasizing the struggles women face and how these experiences influence their representation in film, particularly in the context of horror and ghost stories. The report references multiple academic sources to support its arguments.

SOUTHEAST ASIAN
CULTURAL PRODUCTION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
In the current report, detail discussion is carried out on the Thailand movie Nang Nak. The
story of the movie is discussed and along with in by considering story of this movie the reason
due to which in most of movies ghost role is given to females is identified. In the second part of
the report, dark side of female domestic role and its cost to women, men and society is explained
briefly.
TASK 1
Anns Bilson has given the right statement that the female play majority of role of ghost
character in movies but are also scary in nature. It can be observed that in the movie, females are
depicted as a ghost in a better way than male. This is because the audiences are scared by the
long hair of women in the dark which is regarded as more dangerous than men ghosts Moreover,
by using emotional story, women ghost are presented as more dangerous than male. It can be
said that these are the two factors due to which female are more suitable for the role of the ghost
than men. This is the reason due to which in most of Hollywood and in other cinemas ghost role
is given to females in comparison to males (Ingawanij, 2007). There are some other reasons due
to which most horror movies ghost role is given to females. It can be observed that in every
society and culture women is in pathetic condition in comparison to males. There are lots of
dreams of the females then males in terms of happiness and comfort in life. In most of the
movies, dissatisfaction or non-fulfillment of wishes in human life is revealed as the major reason
behind origination of any soul as ghost. Thus, women’s have higher expectation and dreams than
males in their life. Moreover, they are in pathetic condition than males. These are the two main
reasons due to which in most movies ghost role is given to females than males.
There are two things that can be verified from Nang Nak movie of Thailand. In this
movie, there is a character Mek. As Mek is a soldier and went for Siamese-Vietnamese war
(1831-1834). Mek had wife which was pregnant and he left her alone because as a soldier he has
to fight in a war. During war, Mek got wounded and he survived after facing lot of problems
(Ghosts on film why women make the scariest ghosts, 2017). Finally, Mek returned back home
to meet her wife and child. From here the story begins and answers of the question that why only
females get a role of ghost. Mek reached his home and met his wife and child. Friends and
relatives of Mek observed that mentioned person is talking to someone which is not appearing

physically. They communicated to Mek that his wife and child were dead. During pregnancy,
wife of Mek faced many problems and she was not able to handle pain and finally she died with
her child. She wanted to meet her husband before death. It can be said that Mek wife died in and
his wish remain unfulfilled. Due to this reason, she become ghost and waited for her husband.
Lots of people told Mek that her wife was died with child and both do not exist. But Mek did not
believe their statement (Fuhrmann, 2009). One day, Mek observed something sticky in his home
and then dug a hole in relevant place and found that his wife who has become ghost is painting
her hair. At that time, he identified that his wife was dead and people told him truth about his
wife.
Thus, from this movie, it is clear that women are in pathetic condition then male and they
have lots of dreams relative to male. Pathetic condition refers to the situation where women is
exploited by society and family members Due to this reason women are taken as ghost in most
of the movies.
TASK 2
Film Nang Nak revealed the dark side of feminine domestic role of wife and mother. It
can be observed that in the story, it is clearly revealed that husband was compelled to leave his
wife due to war that was commenced on the border. Behind him, there was no one to take care of
his wife. To some extent, due to this reason, his wife dead. There are dark sides of the married
life of women without man. Such kind of women are tortured by people a lot to fulfill their
interest at any cost. Moreover, people try to take advantage of them. When such kind of women
need the help of men, they do not receive support of them which is the dark side of married life
of female when the husband is not with her or died due to some incident. Same happened in case
of role of mother (Tan, 2010). Without husband, all responsibilities are needed to be fulfilled by
woman only and she has to take care of her child like father and mother both. It is correct that
dark side of the feminine domestic role comes at cost of women themselves. This is because; a
woman have to fight alone for her interest. Every woman is not so strong and does not have high
level caliber to handle hard situations in life. This is the reason, some women give up in front of
numerous problems of their life or become a mental patient. Thus, it can be said that dark side of
the female roles come at cost of women themselves. Condition of women affects entire family
because she is the one who handles it. The nation where condition is women is not good, there

society gets highly affected. It can be said that society and men also get affected due to dark side
of female.
CONCLSUION
On the basis of above discussion, it can be concluded that women face a lot of struggle in
their life as compared to male. Apart from that, their maximum expectations remain unfulfilled
during their life. Due to this reason, women are given with number of roles as a ghost than males
in the movies as they can show their emotions in a better way. Moreover, women can perform
scary role in a better way than males and this is another reason due to which maximum roles of
ghost are given to females only.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ingawanij, M. A., 2007. Nang Nak: Thai bourgeois heritage cinema. Inter
‐Asia Cultural
Studies. 8(2). pp.180-19.
Fuhrmann, A., 2009. Nang Nak—Ghost Wife: Desire, Embodiment, and Buddhist Melancholia
in a Contemporary Thai Ghost Film. Discourse. 31(3). pp.220-247.
Tan, K. P., 2010. Pontianak s, Ghosts and the Possessed: Female Monstrosity and National
Anxiety in Singapore Cinema. Asian Studies Review. 34(2). pp.151-170.
Online
Ghosts on film why women make the scariest ghosts. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/jan/19/film-women-ghosts>. [Accessed on 16th
March 2017].