Samara Morgan

Samara Morgan is a fictional character in the "Ring" series of horror films. She is loosely based on Sadako Yamamura from the original Japanese "Ring" series, who at her turn was inspired by the traditional onryō.

Character biography

"Ring 2" establishes that her mother, Evelyn Osorio (Sissy Spacek), gave birth to Samara at a Christian hospital. She always claimed that Samara's father was "a monster from the sea" and finally tried to drown her when she still was a baby. It is revealed later that Evelyn tried to drown Samara because she told her to.

Afterwards Evelyn was taken to a mental institution and Samara was adopted by Richard (Brian Cox) and Anna Morgan (Shannon Cochran).

Samara possesses the power of "projected thermography" - she can "burn" images into the mind of other living beings or on any recording media. After taking Samara home, Anna had a hard time concentrating and sleeping - her mind would be filled with gruesome images when her daughter was around. Samara's presence made the horses on the Morgan's farm go insane and die, which threw her mother into a deep depression. Samara also never slept and her adopted parents soon were terrified of her. Finally Anna Morgan attempted to kill her by pulling a garbage bag over her head, hitting her with a brick and throwing her into a well. Anna then committed suicide by jumping off a nearby cliff.

Samara lived on for seven days, her spirit creating the cursed video tape after her death. After anyone watches this tape their phone rings and Samara will answer and say "seven days". Seven days later the viewer will suffer a terrible death unless they have shown someone else the tape so that Samara still will be heard.

The name "Samara" is actually a Jain term meaning "the wheel of life and death". This term refers to the theme of the movie and the shape of a ring. It remains unconfirmed if the character was intentionally named this way, or if the connection is purely coincidental.

In the films

After journalist Rachel Keller's (Naomi Watts) niece falls victim to the curse in the first film, Rachel investigates and discovers the tape and its origins. Towards the end of the first film, Rachel discovers Samara's corpse at the bottom of the well and gives her a proper burial, presumably putting her spirit to rest. Samara, however, cannot sleep, and kills the last person to have watched the tape -- Rachel's ex-boyfriend, Noah (Martin Henderson). Samara's waterlogged corpse passes into the real world from the nearest reflective surface, and shows her face, killing him with fear. Rachel and her son Aidan (David Dorfman) realize that Samara is not seeking peace or understanding; she wishes only to inflict pain and suffering on a world that had hurt her. Rachel realizes that the curse skipped her because she made a copy and showed it to Noah, therefore spreading the curse, she realizes this is the only way to get rid of her. So she has her son make a copy, before his time runs out. In the film, it does not say or show who they show it to. Rachel simply sneaks it into a video store and puts it up on a shelf. (In an abandoned plot, Rachel gives the tape to a sex offender.)

In "The Ring Two", Rachel finds out Samara's true origin. Samara's spirit then tries to possess Aidan, telepathically forcing anyone who crosses her to commit suicide. In the first movie, Rachel found Samara's body and comforted her, proving, in Samara's eyes, that she could provide Samara with the love and care her own mother didn't have. When Rachel banishes Samara's spirit from her son, she returns again, pulling Rachel through her television down into the well seen on the video. Rachel climbs out of the well, pushing the cover over Samara. Rachel is saved when part of the wall breaks off, the water sending Samara down and delaying her. Rachel finally makes it out, just as Samara starts her climb again. Rachel slides the lid on the well, at the exact moment when Samara is going to climb out. Samara is not shown to emerge again from the well, although her eventual fate is left ambiguous.

Portrayals

In "The Ring", Samara is played by Daveigh Chase. Archival footage of Chase was also used in "The Ring Two". For the remaining scenes in "The Ring Two", Samara is played by Kelly Stables and is credited as "Evil Samara".

The characterization of Samara in "The Ring" followed very closely that of Sadako Yamamura in the 1998 film "Ringu". Samara appears to lack Sadako's power of "blacking out" her image from footage taken before her death, presumably because this would have made the hospital footage of her impossible. Samara was also a full decade younger than Sadako when she was killed.

The Samara of the "The Ring Two" has a more conventionally undead appearance, with make-up on her arms suggesting long immersion. She frequently appears without the flickering videotape texture, and in a much more varied range of situations. Her movements are faster and semi-bestial, and she seems to be associated more with water and less with electricity.

Continuity errors concerning origins

While Noah is looking through Samara's files in the first film, a birth certificate citing Richard as the father can briefly be seen. [cite web | url = http://www.neodymsystems.com/ring/r_img/remake/records/samara_birthc.jpg| title = Document seen in film]

In a deleted scene, a woman at a market tells Rachel Anna came back from a special doctor pregnant and had Samara herself.

Other Media

Samara Morgan appeared in the "Robot Chicken" episode "Operation: Rich in Spirit" voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar.

In the video game F.E.A.R, Alma [one of the main protagonists throughout the series.] is popularly known to be and is quite possibly based off of Samara. The assumption is fueled more so by the fact that there are 'two Almas'; one being a much more innocent looking young version, and the other being a [often naked oddly enough] teenage version, the one used to help produce clones.

Samara and Alma are striking similar in many ways, but it was stated that this is just pure coincidence, and that Alma was just taken from the Japanese template of creepy little girls wearing traditional dress and act on revenge.

References