Tuesday 12 April 2016

J - Jacob Marley & Shoeless Joe Jackson - Fictional Phantoms #AtoZChallenge 2016


Hello and welcome to my blog for the 10th day of the AtoZChallenge. Today I have two fictional phantoms for you who are more benevolent than awful, however, the first is rather terrible to behold, according to the text. I give you the letter J.

Jacob Marley (A Christmas Carol)

Frank Finlay (A Christmas Carol, 1984)
First a ghost from my favourite Christmas viewing/reading, Jacob Marley.

Marley is a frightening ghost in that he rattles chains, makes terrible wailing noises and needs a strip of cloth to keep his jaw properly closed. However he is benevolent in that he returned to Scrooge to help his old friend avoid the same fate he has.

In life Marley cared for nothing except money. In death he is fated to see all that he can no longer change because he is cursed to walk abroad among humankind as he did not do so in life.

Michael Horden (Scrooge, 1951)
He is a tragic figure and one deserving of pity. When Scrooge reminds him he was a good business man he says:

"Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business."

In death he has learned what he never comprehended in life.

That he is willing to change the fate of his friend even though his is set, is quite remarkable. That's why he is one of my favourite fictional phantoms.

Shoeless Joe Jackson (Field of Dreams)

My second phantom today is very definitely not terrifying in any way. He is Shoeless Joe Jackson from Kevin Costner's classic, Field of Dreams.

Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears a disembodied voice in his corn field telling him, "If you build it, he will come." It is a baseball diamond, which Ray builds. Later he see a ball player in the diamond and it turns out to be the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta), a baseball player banned in his lifetime for being part of the Black Sox Scandal.

Shoeless Joe brings other players to use the diamond and sets Ray on a path to reconnecting with his deceased father.

Marley and Jackson are both rather reassuring ghosts - do you have any favourite reassuring ghosts?

P.S. If there are any blogs you think should definitely not be missed (as well as your own :)), feel free to rec them in the comments.
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My Other Blogs
I am sharing blogging duties with my sister, Sophie, on two other blogs for the AtoZ as well :

And Sophie also has her own blog in the AtoZ too:

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Other People's Blogs
Don't forget to check out the other participant in this years AtoZChallenge. Click on the image to visit the main site and see the full list.

37 comments:

  1. I did enjoy Field of Dreams :) That was a very nice ghost indeed! Christmas Carol always scared me a bit; the ghosts seemed a bit on the scary side (at least to me)

    betty

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    1. Field of dreams is one of my feel good films to watch :) Marley was always a bit frightening, and the Ghost of Christmas yet to come, but the other two never bothered me :)

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  2. I guess everyone knows Jacob Marley. And you picked one of my favourite films - Field of Dreams. I've had at least two opportunities in my life to say, "If you build it, they will come."
    Fran
    @FranClarkAuthor
    Writing Women’s Fiction

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  3. Favorite reassuring ghosts, hmm...Casper, perhaps?

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  5. The ghost of Christmas Future ALWAYS scares the crap out of me, no matter what depiction. Jacob Marley isn't so bad compared to him!

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    1. Christmas Yet to Come is always creepy as hell, I have to agree. I don't know, the whole dangling jaw thing always gets me with Marley :)

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  6. Well, there's the very sexy ghost in GHOST. I love ghost stories.

    Meet My Imaginary Friends
    #AtoZchallenge http://www.kathleenvalentineblog.com/

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  7. In one of my favorite Stephen King books, The Shining, the main character in peril, a 5-year-old-boy, is visited by a "ghost" of his future self, warning him of upcoming dangers.

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    1. Now that is very useful - I keep meaning to read THe Shining, but I've only ever seen bits of the movie and the TV adaptation.

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  8. Two pretty harmless ghosts. I too am in favour of the Ghost in Ghost, Patrick Swazy was always one of my favourites. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir is another friendly ghost.

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    1. Ah, Ghost, a wonderful film - I will be delving into that later in the month :)

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  9. how beautiful was ray liotta back then :)

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  10. MARLEY always freaked me out... how much of a bad guy he must have been, really!

    Welcome in the letter "J"... thank you!
    Jeremy [Retro]
    AtoZ Challenge Co-Host [2016]

    Stop over and find a free "SIX STRINGS: BLOGGING AtoZ CHALLENGE" Here: http://www.jmhdigital.com/

    HOLLYWOOD NUTS!
    You know you want to know if me or Hollywood... is Nuts?

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  11. I like the idea of a reassuring ghost. Sometimes a spirit from the beyond is more needed for comfort and reassurance than haunting.

    Welcome to My Magick Theatre
    Onomastics Outside the Box

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    1. If all of them were like that I suppose we wouldn't be frightened of them ... maybe.

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  12. Reassuring ghost would be Casper for sure. He's so friendly, after all.

    ~Ninja Minion Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
    Story Dam
    Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

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  13. Two very interesting ghost characters, one decidedly creepier than the other. :)

    The Immarcescible Word

    Frox'n'Fox

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  14. Marley is one of my favorite ghosts. I have used him as a template for "Spectres" in my games for years.

    --
    Tim Brannan, The Other Side Blog
    2015 A to Z of Adventure!
    http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/

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  15. I'm very fond of the sea captain from The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. :-)


    @mirymom1 from
    Balancing Act

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  16. I don't know any reassuring ghosts but I enjoyed reading about yours.

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  17. I like Marley ( and the ghosts of Christmas Past and Present) but never went for Field of Dreams. Not into baseball I'm afraid :)
    I've just finished reading Piers Anthony's Spell for a Chameleon and that had some lovely ghosts in it. Quite my type, in fact. I may have to read more of that series!
    Jemima Pett

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  18. Jacob Marley is probably one of the most famous ghosts of all time. I guess it's a good thing that he's a reassuring one.

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  19. I was always rather afraid of Marley when I was young - but who could be scared of Shoeless Joe?
    Pempi
    A Stormy’s Sidekick
    Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace

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  20. Don't care if some folks thought it was smarmy, I really like Field of Dreams . Joe was definitely not scary.

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  21. Shoeless is a favorite and I love the George Scott version of A Christmas Carol.

    Susan Says

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  22. Lovely examples. Does the ghost of the Captain in the Ghost and Mrs. Muir count? Old movie that I loved!

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  23. Wow, that is very biblical for a baseball movie... XD Only in America.

    @TarkabarkaHolgy from
    The Multicolored Diary
    MopDog

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  24. The only reassuring ghost that I can think of is Casper the Friendly ghost! :D Ghosts have never been my favourite subject so I usually avoid most things that have them.

    Tracy (Black Boots, Long Legs)

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  25. We watch "A Christmas Carol" every year as part of our holiday movie marathon. Field of Dreams was also a good movie. My favourite movie ghost is Patrick Swayze.

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