The Ghost In Aerith's Church
I was suppose to do this entry a while back but kept forgetting. I know...shame on you, Miguel. So my topic for today is relating to Aerith. Have any of you seen her ghost at the church? I believe the ghost appears around disc 3 (some say this is false), pretty much any time after her death. My friend called me up and asked me about it. Apparently
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I've never actually seen the ghost, though I have heard that in the international version it was intentionally programmed into the game after her death. But from what I have heard it does sound like it was probably just a glitch.
As far as her appearance at the end of AC...it does kind of make me think of the game, but I think either way she would have shown up. That scene is full of visual symbolism, but the biggest is the cleansing or purging of impurities--directly through the "baptism" in the church's water--the curing of the geostigma, but it is a very internal and psychologically significant scene for Cloud as well...he has for all intents and purposes been resurrected...and for the first time probably in his entire life he feels a sense of belonging and security with himself...and he realizes that he does not have to be anybody but himself in order to have friends...I think Aerith's appearance initially was to show that she too was there to witness Cloud's rebirth, but the fact that she walked *out* of the church showed Cloud finally letting her go. The church of course would be where he always held her, so by her walking out of it Cloud was released from all the guilt he felt about letting her die, and realized that even though she was still with him, that he could not hang onto her memories anymore and needed to focus on the people who were still with him.
I think that entire last scene is really powerful...it's just so amazingly effective, it conveys so much with hardly any dialogue...*loves*
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That is true. Even if there was a similar scene in the game, there is a huge chance of the Aerith ending scene still happening. I simply adore your way of looking at these kinds of things. I totally overlooked the symbolism of Aerith walking out the door. Now that I think of it...it does resemble Cloud letting her go along with the guilt he had in his heart. The only question is...will he now focus on Tiffa? I guess we'll never know.
But yes, that scene is indeed very powerful. When I watched it for the first time, I must have been crying my eyes out, lol. It’s a very touchy yet powerful moment indeed.
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Haha in my fanfictions forever Cloud and Tifa will finally admit their feelings, get married, and have children of their own...but alas, as long as SE continues the FFVII storyline I think they will always leave us hanging on the LTD :p
Yeah I think the biggest part of Aerith's appearance at the church is that she actually left...before when Cloud saw her the vision disappeared because of something that he did, but at the end she actually turns and walks away...and the fact that she (and Zack) walked out of the church I think just means so much.
I think the ghost in the game topic is interesting, but I think it isn't psychological enough for me...eventually there will be a right answer to that since it's all about data and programming, I like the good debates that will never really have a correct answer :p
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