MovieChat Forums > Gothika (2003) Discussion > The sheriff's shirt

The sheriff's shirt

posted 10 years ago by dorseybelle
5 replies | jump to latest

I love this movie. It scares the crap out of me; especially the jerky dead girl.(That's what my daughter and I call it when there is a female ghost walking, well, jerky.)
Every time I watch most movies, I see something that I didn't notice before. When Miranda is escaping her cell at the jail, the sheriff comes chasing her up the stairs. What gets me is the ham-handed way he takes his shirt off. It needs to come off so that his tattoo will show, but other than that, there was no reason for him to take his shirt off. Even the busted pipe could explain it, but he made no move to block the steam with his shirt. Eh.

My brother's mother is my mother, too.

[–] Neptunechild87 10 years ago

Ha. THAT is what bothers you about that scenario. Well for me it was this.

1. Why is it just Miranda and the Sheriff alone in the precinct?? Where is everyone else? I thought precinct were open 24 hours.

2. This one REALLY bugs me. Miranda is a college educated trained psychiatrist yet she waits until she is ALONE with a total psycho to let him know she is aware he is the killer. Like WTf. Seriously. Awful writing.

[–] dorseybelle 10 years ago

I agree with you 100%. There are so many things wrong with this, like the fact that you are expected to suspend all connections with reality. I know that works in other movies, but not this one. I think my favorite scene is when she is hiding in the pool. How deep was that pool?

Did you ever work at Pizza Hut? No, but I ate there a lot.

[–] Prismark10 9 years ago

The film has too many flaws which kinds of ruin it initially interesting premise.

It's that man again!!

[–] lex-kat 8 years ago

Are you 100% positive she knew it was him when she started telling him that there was a second assailant? To me, she only starts to come to the realization that it's him as she is telling him.

As for the precinct being open 24/7, even if that is true, and the office they are in is a Precinct office, it would all depend on how many officers they dedicate to working the office during the night hours. Some offices only have 1 dispatcher, while the other officers are on patrol. So it is possible that he would be the only one in the office at the time.

[–] samantharifkinftb 9 years ago

For me its pretty clear he takes it off because he's going to rape Miranda - I think if he'd have had his way he would have liked to have taken a lot more of his clothes off. Plus, he saw her reaction when she ripped the shirt open (screaming coupled with recognition), he probably took it off as well for some sadistic pleasure in that regard. Remember, too, when he's in Chloe's cell his chest is on view - admittedly, had he kept his shirt on in that scene is identity would have been discovered - but he clearly likes showing the tattoo off; making his victims see it and have them suffer like the girl depicted in the image.

Its only when Miranda hides in the office he makes the decision to just kill her. But remember, she injected him with the serum; so not only is he semi-hallucinating, he could also be burning up as well. There's quite a few reasons why the shirt comes off, but the primal one is because he intends to rape her.