@@joebudd6716 I took it as a loop. He returned the ideas to his younger self and that's where the story of Ray's father came from. The very thing which prompted Ray to find him.
I subscribe to that same conclusion. "Ease his pain" , Terrence would have died alone in his apartment had Ray not intervened. His interviews with the elderly, perhaps dead residents indicates thet his time was coming.
you missed the hint in the first scene after the apartment "kidnapping". at the baseball game when they get up to leave the camera lingers on their seats , Ray's seat is down while Terence Mann"s seat is up indicating that no one had actually been sitting there.
All the times I have seen this movie I never noticed. Then I watched again after you mentioned it ....one of those things that makes you say “Hmmmm”...
Well... it was partly up. Which also means that he could've been alive as well. That happens to me at times. However, yeah I believe at the moment when Mark heard that Ray mentions that he was talking to Terrance Mann, I believe that he thought Ray was kidding, and believed that Mann was already dead. So at the end when he went into the corn field and dissolved he was already dead.
Excellent gets hurt… You had me looking up the scene 35 years later… Great observation.. but it doesn’t explain why the brother-in-law could see him and not the players… Was it because he was outside the parameters of the field?
"Commander, tear this cornfield apart until you've found those playbooks, and bring me the baseball players, I want them alive!!!!" "Terence Mann, only you could be so bold. The Imperial Senate will not sit still for this; when they hear you've attacked an innocent cornfield..." "Don't act so surprised, you weren't on any mercy mission this time. Several playbooks where beamed to this cornfield by Rebel spies, I want to know what happened to those playbooks they sent you." Great video.
When I watched it, I always thought he was alive UNTIL Shoeless Joe invites him to go into the corn, like that was his time to go. Like Kate Winlet’s character at the end of “Titanic” when she was an old lady.
People come up with crazy theories. No. Terrance Mann was not dead. Going into the cornfield also didn't kill him. His entire reason for being there was to get inspiration for his next book. Killing him before he did that would make no sense to the context of the story. He interacts with multiple people, including Mark who is obviously not just playing along by shaking hands with thin air, since he walked directly over to Terrance before they were introduced and said, "who's this?" Multiple people reference him as a living author. His character is literally JD Salinger in the novel, who was alive. Aside from being kind of an interesting thought, nothing about this theory holds water... but it's a movie... interpret it how you wish, I suppose.
Terrance Mann was alive till he went into the Corn. That's why he told Ray you don't want to go there. Ray's Dad described the Real Heaven as different place than that field and portal to it was the Corn.
He isn't dead. And he doesn't 'die' when he enters the corn. He probably did some time travel. His dream was to see Jackie Robinson AT Ebbets Field. Only one way to do that. He did.
His spirit was dead. The cornfield gave his spirit something to come back to life for. He was suddenly curious again, he had something that he was inspired to explore and write about.
Interesting. Perhaps the brother-in-law didn't really see Terrence. He might have been shaking hands with what he thought was thin air saying like "yeah hey I'm the Easter bunny". I have to watch this movie again with this new perspective.
Vinny Mac Watching the movie right now and was just thinking that. Because that's the only time he really "makes contact with him". It would also explain why he called him Elvis.
And the part at the concession stand, Ray actually tells the staff what the order is for both of them, right after Mann tells Ray what he wants to order.
First off, love the film. One of my all-time favorites. Ive probably watched it 30 some times. And, this is a cool theory. But, I believe Mann is alive until he walks into the cornfield. Just my own theory.
Spirits on the field could not be seen by the brother-in-law, but perhaps those spirits outside of the spirits' "zone" could be. Remember, once Doc crossed beyond those rocks (which served as something of a zone) he could then be seen, as well as the other players. Just a thought.
Fascinating theory I never thought about with Mann. I stumbled onto this trying to see what people thought the cornfield actually is. I just assumed he was invited because of his dream of playing at Ebbet Field and his skill as a journalist.
He's real in the film. When Liotta's character asks if he wants to go with him Jones doesn't know what is out there and his comical hesitation at the corn is obvious as well. He's real.
makes total sense. all the characters that ray helps to find peace are already dead too, but terrance just didn't know he had died yet. he realizes it when shoeless joe invites him into the cornfield.
Considering that in the movie, Ray Kinsella checks out any and all information ARCHIVED about Terence Mann, and comes across no obituary for him (or articles about his death), he's very much alive in the film. They were easily able to come across the info for Doctor Archibald "Moonlight" Graham when they trekked into Chisholm, Minnesota. Also, if he had died years earlier, the environment of Boston would've looked somewhat different - like it did for Doc Graham when he died in 1972 (the film actually got that wrong about the REAL "Moonlight" Graham). If anything, it's the correlation of the "death of his spirit" that enables him to be invited to walk out into the cornfield. Terence Mann was a voice of reason, peace, and understanding - promoting love - during the 60's, which was the time of the Civil Rights Movement and also Vietnam. He himself states that he became embittered the more people turned away from pacifism, and it's messengers (including having them murdered, like MLK, or having ultra-conservatives like Nixon elected twice, despite his policies), and instead stayed ignorant out of fear of change. So he retreated from the national stage, stopped spreading his messages out of cynicism, gave up on his pacifist and cultural passions (minus the software programming), and became a recluse. He also stopped writing altogether, which was the true passion of his soul, much like how he had secretly loved baseball and wanted to play with Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers...which he may have gotten to do when he "walked" through the cornfield (Heaven's Gates) and passed to the other side. So, in essence, him going to Iowa with Ray, witnessing those dead baseball players relive their greatest joy and passion, with the power of Heaven/God to support their dream...well, it was a way to "resurrect" his dead spirit and have him promote his messages of peace, faith, love, and understanding once more. In other words, " ease his pain," was what correct for Ray to hear for BOTH his father AND Terence Mann...who was the writer that awoke Ray's consciousness of humanity and made him disconnect from his father's, more than likely, conservative viewpoint. And yes, Terence would most definitely be allowed to come back and write the novel - which would obviously be the same REAL novel written by W.P. Kinsella (called 'Shoeless Joe') that the movie was based upon - and start rehashing his work to promote peace again. After all, those dead baseball players were all allowed to come and go as they pleased from the cornfield, despite being dead. I think being alive would give Terence Mann more leeway.
@@mswhunter118 Because it would've been in the news, whether it was national or local. His apartment would've been cleaned out or Ray would've stumbled across his son who was cleaning out his father's apartment. There would've been some notice about funeral services and where the ceremony would've taken place. The character was, at one point, a national treasure. His death would've made headlines as soon as his body was discovered. Granted, there were cellphones in the early 90's, but the press machines still ran hot and fast. Also, since the environment in the town where Archibald "Moonlight" Graham was reflective of the time he died...considering that the town was where he was happiest, overall, than that same treatment would've been given to Terrence Mann. He might've regressed to when he was younger, more hopeful, more passionate, and not in need of having his soul revived...because it would've been alive again already.
@@kimspencer7096 You do realize that there's a scene of Mann reading a newspaper article about how he disappeared without a trace right? Also the ballplayers didn't "come and go as they pleased" they could only be on the ball field without literally disappearing. Did you even watch the movie?
Always thought he was alive until the last time I watched it. It's possible he was alive until the night Ray took him to the ball game and dropped him off. When Terrence reappears in front of the van is when he may have been a ghost. He was reported missing after that night. Maybe Ray killed him lol
I wondered this myself as well but the. don't think he was dead at first but I think he was passing on in the journey, that's why he was asked to go along with Shoeless Joe Jackson at the very end. Also, I just wanted to correct two things although I'm sure others may have pointed this out already but first, the newspaper article just stared that he was reported missing after his son repeatedly tried to call him and got no answer. And secondly, it wasn't his father he was trying to or supposedly trying to call after seeing the newspaper article, but rather the son. The reason I don't think he was dead at the beginning of the journey or after he makes it to Iowa is because the newspaper article states that he is missing and wasn't found dead in his apartment which I would think that if he has died beforehand or at the start that they would've found his body at his apartment when they went to check on him and reported it in the newspaper rather than just saying he was missing. Also, all those that had previously died in the movie either knew they were dead and/ or it was stated as fact that they were dead. The fact that they were dead wasn't hidden at any point. Also, again, all the players knew they were dead but just unsure of where they currently were. Repeatedly asking "Is this Heaven?" But I also don't think he was dead before entering the field but rather on deaths door basically and he sorta knew it when he was asked to go. But he, besides Ray, was the last one to have a wish granted as well, thus his dying wish was granted to go with them as he found his curiosity and his desire to want to write again.But I could be wrong, I have been before lol. I've never read the book and didn't even know it was a book for the longest time but perhaps, the answer to that question may lie in the book somewheres or perhaps it's just one of those pain in the REAR cliff hangers in movies and books that are for us, the reader and viewer, to decide for ourselves, OR we are just looking way too deeply into it. Either way, I always wondered the same myself. Glad I wasn't the only one!
I also had the same question which was sparked by Manning going into the cornfield. I came up with the analogy Manning was alive but was fed up with the world for blaming his novels on why the world had became screwed up. Costner showed him there was still magic in the world and it had grown from the simple love of a boy and his father intertwined with baseball which they both shared. The book that he wrote in which his Costner's father was mentioned was the link to get Manning in on the magic that had been created. His walking into the cornfield could be interpreted as Manning finally going to the other side with peace in his soul for the good he had sparked with his novels and the good that he saw still existing in the world.
I do like this theory, I hadn't heard of it before. First of all, I don't think it has to be air-tight and 100% consistent and explainable. A lot of it is impressionistic and mystical, such as the 1972 scenes. There are the pure spirits/ghosts in the baseball players that can't be seen unless "believed", but then there are the form spirits who can interact with the real world and aren't seen for what they really are. Terence Mann, as a recycled soul to be a foil in the quest, might not even know his true nature, he may have forgotten and thinks he's really here until Shoeless Joe invites him into the corn. Doc Graham is also one, but when he makes the decision to intervene in the real world has to abide by the rules and "can't go back" to the magic of the field and with no regret heads back into the corn.
This is a great movie, one of my favourites. It's a good thought regarding Terrence Mann. After they have left the ball game, Ray asks Mann if he saw the sign Mann said no. Then just as Ray is driving away Mann stops him and says the name of Doc Graham. An interesting theme
Ok...this was fun:-) I watched the film carefully twice and drew the conclusion that Terence was on the 'cusp' of going home. His reward for being a passionate force of good in this life was to allow his end to be a peaceful exit over the baseball field into the corn field. I believe he suspected that he would never come back. There is just one moment in the movie that makes this uncertain and we don't get enough information to know. The scene in the hotel room, when Ray sees the article that Terence was 'missing'. What was the date on that paper? And then Terence, picking up the phone...presuming to call his father.. but then stops and chuckles saying, and says "what should I tell him". Now, like Ray..at first pass I assumed Terence was refferring to what he was going to explain to his father...but Ray immediately finds himself in a twilight zone. Did Terence know and the "him" he was refferring to was to Ray upon his return from his meeting with the ghost of Doc Graham? It is possible Terence was in on 'it' and was a ghost who was there to lead Ray to Doc Graham ...to gather him and bring him to the ball field but I believe that wasn't the case for three reasons. First of all, unlike Doc Graham, Ray never found an obituary for Terence and there were plenty of real life witnesses who knew where he lived when Ray was trying to track down his residence. Secondly, when I saw his expression of amazement when he saw the baseball field and the players for the first time. Third and finally, in the first seconds of the scene when he is invited to the corn field, as we are focusing on the brother who is needing some 'refreshment' you see Terence looking ahead across the field to the corn field with stone faced resolve. When Ray says, "I want a full description", Terence only replies with, "take care of your family." Terence knew he wasn't coming back and that it was his time.
I say No..... Terence walked over and back again on the 'no go' line on the playing field while the others who were recycled could not for fear of what may happen to them. One of the best scenes.. the Ump saying to Moonlight ... "you want a warning, watch out you don't get killed"
I've speculated that he was alive until he got out of the car after leaving Fenway. The car turned around and he was standing in the middle of the road and said "Moonlight Graham". Ray was the only one who supposedly heard the voice (thus Joe telling Ray "No Ray, it was you" at the end making it seem it was in his head). I think he died after getting out of the car. The idea that his brother saw him was proven wrong when he said "Who's this? Elvis?" and the fact that he only saw the ghosts when they were on the other side of the rocks and the entire field when Doc crossed over.
Is Terrence really dead? I’ve never considered it, but it does pose an interesting thought exercise. The main argument against the theory seems to be centered around the fact that others besides Ray can interact with him. But, the counterpoint is the fact that the ghosts, like young Archie, seem to appear to the living other than Ray (like Annie and Karin) BEFORE he crosses the boundary gravel to step on the field. If God, or Fate, or John Kinsella, or WHATEVER power is driving this WANTS Terrence to be visible, then he’s visible. Weighed against all the other evidence, the case for Terrence being dead all along is pretty convincing. In the end, I think it’s deliberately vague so it spurs conversation. Much like The Time Machine, when Wells goes back to the future and Weena, he takes three very specific books with him to build a civilization, but doesn’t say what 3 books. That leaves the question for the audience, what three books would YOU take? I see similarities here. If Terrence were alive, WHAT would happen to his physical body once he entered the cornfield. If he’s dead, it answers a lot of plot points.
I would definitely say no, because that'd also mean a ghost was helping to drive Ray's VW bus halfway across the country. Besides, the movie went out of its way to show a giant headline saying Mann was America's "Greatest LIVING Writer." Also, Archie never interacted with anyone off the farm besides Ray and Terence. He even states that Ray's was the first car to have come by. Once he was on the field and playing, Mark couldn't see him just like he couldn't see any of the other ghosts. It was only once he stepped off and became Doctor Graham again that Mark could.
@@AirLancer a very strong argument. That’s what’s great about art, particularly cinema, we can interpret and discuss and draw our own conclusions about what it means. For me, my mind is open on the issue of Terrence, but you make some really strong points.
not dead ... There's a part where he tells costner he has no passion for life anymore. NoT to mention he was also a hasbeen and a recluse . walking the cornfield was a painless suicide for him
So you're saying he's not dead because he committed suicide? So not only did you apparently not understand any of the movie but you don't know what suicide means.
A theory that I had was that when it mentions on the news he was missing, he may have been dead already, but it was his spirit that went with Ray. But the two things that ulltimately work against Terence being dead is that he called his son to let him know he was okay, and also that Ray's brother-in-law could already see him. As well as everyone he interviewed in the town, when he was asking about Archie Graham.
See my other comments. Near the end of the movie, Ray's brother-in-law could see Mann but still couldn't see the ghosts. Therefore, Mann wasn't a ghost.
The brother was obviously being sarcastic, and didn't actually see him at first, hence the "who is this, Elvis?" If he saw a large black guy sitting there, Elvis wouldn't have been who he said.
He didn't react at all to the speech Mann was giving and he also sees the all players. Which is why he says "when did all these ball players get here" don't worry its not like its the climax to the brother in law's plot or anything.
when Ray goes to Boston and asks where Terrance lives the mechanic tells him the window without a chicken in it. If he were dead, the mechanic would have said so.
@@edwarddeguzman3258 thats interesting. When Ray tells him he's missing from the newspaper that his father I think reported him missing... then Terrance says I better call him, I don't know what to tell him. Ray says, do you want me to leave, Terrance says yes. Thats when Ray meets up with Doc Graham. It would make for an interesting twist but I think Terrance tells Ray, before he goes into the field.. Im a writer, thats what I do. So he's going to write about it when he returns. But then again to your point, only the dead go in and out of the corn field. Then again Mark sees Terrance and asked who he was. Its a great twist but I think I'll leave it as is.
There's also the scene where Ray sees the newspaper article about Terrance Mann's father being concerned when he didn't get answers to his phone calls to his son's apartment. Ray tells Mann if he knew that he was missing. Mann then decides to call his father. Mann's character is alive.
Remember when the brother shook his hand it was like a hey nice to meet ya, like no one is there and he’s just playing along and James just laughs like yea he doesn’t see me LOL!!!! And omg he enters that field like a child, so innocent and pure like when a child sees the ocean for the first time and goes to the water.... omg good movie doesn’t even begin to describe this film
No matter great movie,Jones is a great actor and they can play with us at will when given a great script especially when its a script they like god help us then,I'm a baseball player so I'm biased of course...but thanks for the post and the tease...really.
If he was dead, then he didn’t become a ghost until he gets dropped off by Ray. After that scene he only interacts with really old people, and the one older lady even commented to him when he compliments her on her writings, she says he was as well in past tense. He also interacts with Ray’s family and brother in law but the brother in law doesn’t believe this is him. The writing in this movie was great in order for a theory like this to be a true possibility. Their is enough room in the story for this to be true and him to be alive the whole time to also be true.
According to the author of the book "Shoeless Joe" which the film is based on, said that the character Terrence Mann was based on JD Salinger, who was very much alive at the time of the filming.
The character Terence Mann was based on the real-life reclusive writer, JD Salinger, who wrote The Catcher in the Rye. The film Field of Dreams is based on Bill Kinsella's 1982 novel, Shoeless Joe. Kinsella was a huge fan of Salinger, and in his book Terrance Mann IS Salinger (having the name JD Salinger, changed for the film to avoid possible legal problems) and Kinsella takes him to a baseball game. The real JD Salinger was living alone at that time in Cornish, New Hampshire, where he lived until his death in 2010, and not doing any interviews. Salinger was also the subject of another great film, Finding Forrester, starring Sean Connery (a reclusive writer brought back into writing by a gifted young man from Harlem), and also centered on the topic of baseball. Both characters in both films were reclusive and somewhat ghostly, but very much alive. I hope this was helpful.
Watching this recently, I never noticed that Terrance’s seat at Fenway park when he and Ray leave is in the up position and Ray’s is down. I think he’s been dead the entire time
I don't think he was dead - the interactions Mark has with him and the newspaper article about him being missing seem to prove he was not. I also am not necessarily convinced that he died when he went out into the corn. I think it's meant to be a mystery.
It's a very interesting idea, and I'm actually more inclined to believe it than many movie theories. But the moment that convinces me Mann is actually real is when he says he may write about the field and his experiences. This ties in to JEJ saying that what Mann wanted more than anything was to become a journalist again.
I saw a reaction video the other day that, for me, dwalt with this question. No question, Terrence Mann is a ghost at the end. But the moment in question was after the ball game at Fenway. Terry and Ray talk, Terry gets out of the van, Ray makes a U turn. In that instant, Terry gets into the headlights. The reactor asks," How did he move SO FAST ?" In that moment Terry was or became a spirit being. That explains the supernaturally quick movement. Maybe...
terrence mann represents the author of the book with which this movie was based off of he was and idea he was a part of rays sub conscious guiding him to the end of his journey and realization
He was clearly suppose to come back. Kevin Costner said "when you come back, I want details ", to Terrence. Also when they had that meeting at that school about burning books, they were talking about Terrence mann and his books in the present tense. He was alive
or he was mocking Ray because to him it looked like Ray was talking to thin air, and obviously with Elvis being dead it would be Ray talking to a ghost.
Seen this movie a bunch. Never thought he could be dead. It makes perfect sense actually. He didn't realize he could walk into the corn until Shoeless Shoe asked him to.
The actual screenwriter says, no, he wasn't dead the whole film. Even if he passed on when he crossed into the cornfield, we've _seen_ it's a place where the post-living essence returns from the source back to this mortal plane, so there's no reason to think he'd _stay_ there, especially since he has a father and the media was brought in when he went missing. At worst, he'd probably be confined to the field same as all the players, and that means he'd need a good ghostwriter (HA!) to publish his new books under. That, or the second he crosses the line, he can never return to the ghostly ballpark.
He isn't a ghost until he goes into the corn and gets Raptured. That's why he tells Ray he needs to stay behind because he has a family. If Ray ascends to a higher plane, he leaves them behind, but Terrence is ready to move on.
Mann wasn't dead. His dream was to see Jackie Robinson play again and it is my estimation that Joe invited him to the corn to do just that. He tells Ray that when he returns he'll write about Shoeless Joe coming to Iowa, he couldn't do that if he was already dead.
The other thing I don't get in that doc has a very specific dream of squinting up at a sky so blue it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To slide into 3rd, and wrap your arms around the bag. Yet when he gets to live his dream, none of those things happen.
Terence Mann is not dead till he goes in the Corn but he knows before hand probably right when Ray comes over to his apartment. He hears a voice calling him to go with Ray so he can enter death at the Corn.
I believe one other thing that goes against this ghostly Terrence Mann theory of yours: Back when Ray first goes to Boston to find him, you see that series of shots of Ray going all over town asking people where to find Mann's place (while "Jessica" by the Allman Brothers Band is still playing). Ray eventually finds the apartment by paying-off an attendant at a neighborhood gas station. Was this guy a ghost too? And the others in Boston Ray stopped to ask? If they were living, wouldn't at least one of them know that Mann was dead, and they'd clue Ray in on that bit of information?
In theory, it's possible he died not long before Ray went to see him. I don't remember anything that makes this theory impossible. The idea being that maybe he died in his bed or something shortly before (with people around town not really knowing for sure because he was so private) and what Ray was encountering was the spirit form, needing a kind of resolution at his end, sort of like how Moonlight Graham did. So Ray was at first encountering Mann in his jaded state shortly before he died and then as he got him involved, he saw Mann more as he was in his youth... impassioned and full of zest for life. Almost like Mann was going backwards in time, to the part of him that made him whole, and seeing that it was worth something all along. I mean, it's a theory. It could also explain the jump-scare style way that scene plays out, where Ray lies about what he saw, thinking he needs to just let go of Mann. And then he turns the bus around and Mann is standing right there and says, "Moonlight Graham." It was almost like he needed to let go of the old version of Mann, the jaded one, so that the one with his old passion could join him. Mann even says right before he leaves, "I wish I had your passion. I once had passion like that."
Well now that you mentioned that, it sure seems like we have to take a big leap of faith to think he was a ghost. But there are little things that maybe they put in there so that it would make us wonder.
I always wondered it myself, but now I think there's enough to suggest he was alive, at least until the cornfield. Mann, with Ray, is the living redemption where Joe and John and the others are the spiritual ones. Also, if part of the spirit force, he wouldn't be hearing the spirit calls himself.
The movie hints that Terrence was a young man when he stopped writing. It would lead me to speculate that he died around this time if indeed he did. But then, ghosts don't age, so...
I believe there is more than 2 scenes, he either implies or says he will write about what he sees in the corn, if he were dead it wouldn't matter if he wrote about it we would never see it. I say he was alive, as it really only takes 1 scene for me to say he is in the present and they could have demonstrated his existence by having him as a young man like Moonlight Graham. Also Ray didn't drive to Boston to see a dead man and all of the people he asks for direction with the exception of the old bag swinging lady never imply him to be passed on, the kid didn't say you would have found he says he lives and you can't miss it. He is most certainly alive but nice try.
My theory was Mark couldnt see the players because the field is heaven and couldnt see into it and once Graham stepped off to save Karin he manifested into a ghost which people can see..same with Terrance he was still waiting to pass into heaven so still a manifestation....
How does anyone not understand this? The movie does everything but flash "dead guy!" on the screen. It'd be like someone watching Forest Gump and going, "Hey, I think this fella might be slow".
He was invited to experience the 'other side' and he's the only one capable of committing to written word the experience so definitely not dead. He's a reclusive has-been who's spirit is gone. That's why he was able to go.
I figured this out the first time I watched it. And the brother in law can see ghosts he literally says “where did all those ball players come from” so either they choose who can see them or he had a change when he threw the little girl. Also he threw the girl off a bleacher and the problem was she was choking on a hot dog? What?😐
If he was dead Kevin Costner's character would have come across several articles or obituaries when he was researching Terrance Mann in the library scene.
But he goes to Boston and finds Mann at the apartment, and people he asks (in particular the young guy at the gas station), apparently know where Mann lives. This fact alone eliminates the possibility of him being a ghost. Ray also mentions to his wife, "You know what he does now? He writes software for children." He says this as if the information is current, not that Mann used to do that.
Fair point; but the director said that Mann is a recluse like JD Salinger. So maybe these people only see Mann once and a while when he has to come out for food or gas.
I think that either Ray is dead and the ghosts are helping him make the adjustment to being in heaven or it is purgatory and Ray is helping the ghosts to move on to heaven by helping them fulfill their wishes (keep playing baseball (Black Sox players), see if they were good enough to make it (Graham), make amends with his son (John Kinsella)). I think Terrance Mann was alive, but was living a hollow existence and the world had moved on without him. I think he did die when he went into the corn field. He tells Ray before he goes "that he has a family", meaning something to live for.
Sean, I thought this a long time ago. Even though he orders the hot dog and the beer at Fenway, and even though he shakes the brother-in-law's hand, I think he is dead. It's the only plausible explanation. Then again, it's a movie, and Hollywood makes things up at is sees fit.
I don’t think he was dead at all. The fact that Ray’s wife’s brother could see him proves he wasn’t dead. He was a complete unbeliever until the very end of the movie.
Maybe angels can really eat. Angels would never just appear to be eating because that would be dishonest and they can't do anything dishonest. So if they eat, they're really eating. The Hebrew word used to describe them as angels is difficult to translate. perhaps these were members of the city of Enoch. If that is the case, then they have bodies because they haven't died yet.
Just finished watching Field of Dreams. Always a favorite. Always seemed to leave me asking the same question...after drying my eyes...allergies.... After really thinking about it, there is only little evidence that Mann is actually LIVING. Of course there's the "dog and a beer" sequence, Ray being charged 10$ for two orders in 1989 sounds about right. I don't have vivid memories of Fenway until I was 15 or 16, so I don't know if the electric scoreboard with Moonlight's info on it would be accurate for 1989. When Ray leaves for Boston and questions some quirky locals where to find Mr. Mann, 'Jessica' by Allman Brothers plays. 'Jessica' was recorded in December, 1972. The year Ray supernaturally meets Doc Graham. When Mr. Mann tells Ray that they're going to Minnesota together, 'China Grove' by Doobie Brothers plays. From what I gather, that song was actually recorded in 1973....So, maybe, maybe not tied in with the movie on a deeper level. I don't know if the background music in the movie is trying to give us clues or just good road trip songs. Maybe. So, all in all, Ray gets to Boston but it's Boston 1972 and he doesn't notice? Ehh...Idk. Maybe. I grew up in Boston and some parts still look like 1972 so...yeah lol. But he certainly notices when in Minn. The Godfather sign, Nixon poster etc. So, idk. I haven't read the original book, though I doubt it gives much more explanation if James Earl Jones doesn't know for sure whether he was playing a ghost or not...fun stuff to think about. Underrated movie for 1989 too and probably top 3 Costner acting jobs.
Interesting theory. However, in the book "Shoeless Joe," which the movie is based on, the writer is not the fictional Terrance Mann, but the real author J.D. Salinger ("Catcher in the Rye"), who was very much alive - but a recluse - when the book was written AND when the movie came out. Salinger died in 2010. "Field of Dreams" is one of my favorite movies - the book is great too. W.P. Kinsella also wrote "The Iowa Baseball Confederacy," another great baseball book - even crazier than "Shoeless Joe."
Not dead, at least not his physical self. His spirit is broken. His dream was to see Jackie Robinson play at Ebbets Field. Him walking into the corn signifies that his spirit is no longer broken, and that he got to see his dream. He is not dead before, during, or after he walks through the corn.
No he wasn't dead.. he said he would write about his experience.. and as he walks into the corn you can hear a crowd cheering in the background. He said his dream was to watch a game at Emmets Field. So i think when he went into thy corn that's where he was taken which is why he was so happy at the time. I assume when he comes out of there he will write about his experience. He might even call the writing. The Field of Dreams
Another way to look at it, is maybe Terrance was about to die, and Shoeless Joe knew it was almost his time. Maybe he was alive for most of the movie, and then died at the very end.
The more questions like this pop up, the more you realize this was one of the most tremendous movies ever made
I always speculated that he was alive UNTIL he was asked to go with the others. He died happy and got to go to the other side.
but he was supposed to come back and write about it. Wouldn't they be misleading him?
Joe Budd haven’t you heard of a “Ghost writer”. (Rim shot) 😜
@@joebudd6716 I took it as a loop. He returned the ideas to his younger self and that's where the story of Ray's father came from. The very thing which prompted Ray to find him.
I subscribe to that same conclusion. "Ease his pain" , Terrence would have died alone in his apartment had Ray not intervened. His interviews with the elderly, perhaps dead residents indicates thet his time was coming.
you missed the hint in the first scene after the apartment "kidnapping". at the baseball game when they get up to leave the camera lingers on their seats , Ray's seat is down while Terence Mann"s seat is up indicating that no one had actually been sitting there.
All the times I have seen this movie I never noticed. Then I watched again after you mentioned it ....one of those things that makes you say “Hmmmm”...
wow - that is a great catch (no pun intended lol)
Well... it was partly up. Which also means that he could've been alive as well. That happens to me at times. However, yeah I believe at the moment when Mark heard that Ray mentions that he was talking to Terrance Mann, I believe that he thought Ray was kidding, and believed that Mann was already dead. So at the end when he went into the corn field and dissolved he was already dead.
Interesting point. But the camera focuses on Kevin’s seat and the number “1”. Any significance to that I wonder
Excellent gets hurt… You had me looking up the scene 35 years later… Great observation.. but it doesn’t explain why the brother-in-law could see him and not the players… Was it because he was outside the parameters of the field?
"Commander, tear this cornfield apart until you've found those playbooks, and bring me the baseball players, I want them alive!!!!"
"Terence Mann, only you could be so bold. The Imperial Senate will not sit still for this; when they hear you've attacked an innocent cornfield..."
"Don't act so surprised, you weren't on any mercy mission this time. Several playbooks where beamed to this cornfield by Rebel spies, I want to know what happened to those playbooks they sent you."
Great video.
cammameil 😀👍
@MANCHESTER UNITED did you have seizure?
@@RealGateGuardian 🤭🤣
The Caine Mutiny Court Martial.
@MANCHESTER UNITED F.C yeah, the 12 countries that matter
When I watched it, I always thought he was alive UNTIL Shoeless Joe invites him to go into the corn, like that was his time to go. Like Kate Winlet’s character at the end of “Titanic” when she was an old lady.
People come up with crazy theories. No. Terrance Mann was not dead. Going into the cornfield also didn't kill him. His entire reason for being there was to get inspiration for his next book. Killing him before he did that would make no sense to the context of the story. He interacts with multiple people, including Mark who is obviously not just playing along by shaking hands with thin air, since he walked directly over to Terrance before they were introduced and said, "who's this?" Multiple people reference him as a living author. His character is literally JD Salinger in the novel, who was alive. Aside from being kind of an interesting thought, nothing about this theory holds water... but it's a movie... interpret it how you wish, I suppose.
It is possible that everyone was actually dead and that farm and baseball field was actually heaven and not really Iowa
Terrance Mann was alive till he went into the Corn. That's why he told Ray you don't want to go there. Ray's Dad described the Real Heaven as different place than that field and portal to it was the Corn.
He had one of the Infinity Stones in his pocket that kept him safe.
He isn't dead. And he doesn't 'die' when he enters the corn. He probably did some time travel.
His dream was to see Jackie Robinson AT Ebbets Field.
Only one way to do that.
He did.
I would have loved to see Jackie play at Ebbets.
His spirit was dead. The cornfield gave his spirit something to come back to life for. He was suddenly curious again, he had something that he was inspired to explore and write about.
I like this version. There are different kinds of "dead" In the words of another movie, he was only MOSTLY dead.
Interesting. Perhaps the brother-in-law didn't really see Terrence. He might have been shaking hands with what he thought was thin air saying like "yeah hey I'm the Easter bunny". I have to watch this movie again with this new perspective.
Vinny so true. The brother in law does not react to anything Terence Mann says he is merely reacting to Ray interactions with him
Vinny Mac Watching the movie right now and was just thinking that.
Because that's the only time he really "makes contact with him".
It would also explain why he called him Elvis.
well, there's still a lot of things we'd have to believe in order to take that leaf of faith. But I think it's 50/50 and they want it to be open.
The Ignored Gender yes but the brother in law points and asks "whos this?"
And the part at the concession stand, Ray actually tells the staff what the order is for both of them, right after Mann tells Ray what he wants to order.
Incredible insight. Never thought of it this way. Thank you.
First off, love the film. One of my all-time favorites. Ive probably watched it 30 some times. And, this is a cool theory. But, I believe Mann is alive until he walks into the cornfield. Just my own theory.
My friend and I loved this movie. I bought it for her as a gift one year. Dreams are always a good thing. And forgiveness is eternal.
Spirits on the field could not be seen by the brother-in-law, but perhaps those spirits outside of the spirits' "zone" could be. Remember, once Doc crossed beyond those rocks (which served as something of a zone) he could then be seen, as well as the other players.
Just a thought.
ahhhh good point - that's when he was like "when did all these baseball players get here?"
One thing I am certain of JEJ's voice is a treasure and his speech at the end wouldn't have been as moving if delivered by any other
I’ll concur with that statement
Fascinating theory I never thought about with Mann. I stumbled onto this trying to see what people thought the cornfield actually is. I just assumed he was invited because of his dream of playing at Ebbet Field and his skill as a journalist.
He's real in the film. When Liotta's character asks if he wants to go with him Jones doesn't know what is out there and his comical hesitation at the corn is obvious as well. He's real.
Good point.
makes total sense. all the characters that ray helps to find peace are already dead too, but terrance just didn't know he had died yet. he realizes it when shoeless joe invites him into the cornfield.
Damn this good and i'll keep it in mind next time I watch it.
Considering that in the movie, Ray Kinsella checks out any and all information ARCHIVED about Terence Mann, and comes across no obituary for him (or articles about his death), he's very much alive in the film. They were easily able to come across the info for Doctor Archibald "Moonlight" Graham when they trekked into Chisholm, Minnesota. Also, if he had died years earlier, the environment of Boston would've looked somewhat different - like it did for Doc Graham when he died in 1972 (the film actually got that wrong about the REAL "Moonlight" Graham).
If anything, it's the correlation of the "death of his spirit" that enables him to be invited to walk out into the cornfield. Terence Mann was a voice of reason, peace, and understanding - promoting love - during the 60's, which was the time of the Civil Rights Movement and also Vietnam. He himself states that he became embittered the more people turned away from pacifism, and it's messengers (including having them murdered, like MLK, or having ultra-conservatives like Nixon elected twice, despite his policies), and instead stayed ignorant out of fear of change. So he retreated from the national stage, stopped spreading his messages out of cynicism, gave up on his pacifist and cultural passions (minus the software programming), and became a recluse. He also stopped writing altogether, which was the true passion of his soul, much like how he had secretly loved baseball and wanted to play with Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers...which he may have gotten to do when he "walked" through the cornfield (Heaven's Gates) and passed to the other side.
So, in essence, him going to Iowa with Ray, witnessing those dead baseball players relive their greatest joy and passion, with the power of Heaven/God to support their dream...well, it was a way to "resurrect" his dead spirit and have him promote his messages of peace, faith, love, and understanding once more. In other words, " ease his pain," was what correct for Ray to hear for BOTH his father AND Terence Mann...who was the writer that awoke Ray's consciousness of humanity and made him disconnect from his father's, more than likely, conservative viewpoint. And yes, Terence would most definitely be allowed to come back and write the novel - which would obviously be the same REAL novel written by W.P. Kinsella (called 'Shoeless Joe') that the movie was based upon - and start rehashing his work to promote peace again. After all, those dead baseball players were all allowed to come and go as they pleased from the cornfield, despite being dead. I think being alive would give Terence Mann more leeway.
Excellent points.
I love this.
If he was a recluse and had only died a few days (long enough for his father to get something printed) who would have known?
@@mswhunter118 Because it would've been in the news, whether it was national or local. His apartment would've been cleaned out or Ray would've stumbled across his son who was cleaning out his father's apartment. There would've been some notice about funeral services and where the ceremony would've taken place. The character was, at one point, a national treasure. His death would've made headlines as soon as his body was discovered. Granted, there were cellphones in the early 90's, but the press machines still ran hot and fast.
Also, since the environment in the town where Archibald "Moonlight" Graham was reflective of the time he died...considering that the town was where he was happiest, overall, than that same treatment would've been given to Terrence Mann. He might've regressed to when he was younger, more hopeful, more passionate, and not in need of having his soul revived...because it would've been alive again already.
@@kimspencer7096 You do realize that there's a scene of Mann reading a newspaper article about how he disappeared without a trace right? Also the ballplayers didn't "come and go as they pleased" they could only be on the ball field without literally disappearing. Did you even watch the movie?
Always thought he was alive until the last time I watched it. It's possible he was alive until the night Ray took him to the ball game and dropped him off. When Terrence reappears in front of the van is when he may have been a ghost. He was reported missing after that night. Maybe Ray killed him lol
I thought the whole thing was a dream. a way to deal with his relationship with his dad
The part where he is standing in the street at night and says Moonlight Graham is very creepy but also very beautiful.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who has pondered this over the years
I wondered this myself as well but the. don't think he was dead at first but I think he was passing on in the journey, that's why he was asked to go along with Shoeless Joe Jackson at the very end.
Also, I just wanted to correct two things although I'm sure others may have pointed this out already but first, the newspaper article just stared that he was reported missing after his son repeatedly tried to call him and got no answer. And secondly, it wasn't his father he was trying to or supposedly trying to call after seeing the newspaper article, but rather the son.
The reason I don't think he was dead at the beginning of the journey or after he makes it to Iowa is because the newspaper article states that he is missing and wasn't found dead in his apartment which I would think that if he has died beforehand or at the start that they would've found his body at his apartment when they went to check on him and reported it in the newspaper rather than just saying he was missing. Also, all those that had previously died in the movie either knew they were dead and/ or it was stated as fact that they were dead. The fact that they were dead wasn't hidden at any point. Also, again, all the players knew they were dead but just unsure of where they currently were. Repeatedly asking "Is this Heaven?" But I also don't think he was dead before entering the field but rather on deaths door basically and he sorta knew it when he was asked to go. But he, besides Ray, was the last one to have a wish granted as well, thus his dying wish was granted to go with them as he found his curiosity and his desire to want to write again.But I could be wrong, I have been before lol. I've never read the book and didn't even know it was a book for the longest time but perhaps, the answer to that question may lie in the book somewheres or perhaps it's just one of those pain in the REAR cliff hangers in movies and books that are for us, the reader and viewer, to decide for ourselves, OR we are just looking way too deeply into it. Either way, I always wondered the same myself. Glad I wasn't the only one!
A hot dog? It's FENWAY! IT'S A FENWAY FRANK! Hot dogh, shesh.
I also had the same question which was sparked by Manning going into the cornfield. I came up with the analogy Manning was alive but was fed up with the world for blaming his novels on why the world had became screwed up. Costner showed him there was still magic in the world and it had grown from the simple love of a boy and his father intertwined with baseball which they both shared. The book that he wrote in which his Costner's father was mentioned was the link to get Manning in on the magic that had been created. His walking into the cornfield could be interpreted as Manning finally going to the other side with peace in his soul for the good he had sparked with his novels and the good that he saw still existing in the world.
It’s Mann
I do like this theory, I hadn't heard of it before. First of all, I don't think it has to be air-tight and 100% consistent and explainable. A lot of it is impressionistic and mystical, such as the 1972 scenes. There are the pure spirits/ghosts in the baseball players that can't be seen unless "believed", but then there are the form spirits who can interact with the real world and aren't seen for what they really are. Terence Mann, as a recycled soul to be a foil in the quest, might not even know his true nature, he may have forgotten and thinks he's really here until Shoeless Joe invites him into the corn. Doc Graham is also one, but when he makes the decision to intervene in the real world has to abide by the rules and "can't go back" to the magic of the field and with no regret heads back into the corn.
This is a great movie, one of my favourites. It's a good thought regarding Terrence Mann. After they have left the ball game, Ray asks Mann if he saw the sign Mann said no. Then just as Ray is driving away Mann stops him and says the name of Doc Graham. An interesting theme
He's dead and that big-ass Boston apartment is going unclaimed? Unlikely.
As an aside, I love the visual effect of the people fading in and out as they enter and leave the corn field.
Ok...this was fun:-) I watched the film carefully twice and drew the conclusion that Terence was on the 'cusp' of going home. His reward for being a passionate force of good in this life was to allow his end to be a peaceful exit over the baseball field into the corn field. I believe he suspected that he would never come back. There is just one moment in the movie that makes this uncertain and we don't get enough information to know. The scene in the hotel room, when Ray sees the article that Terence was 'missing'. What was the date on that paper? And then Terence, picking up the phone...presuming to call his father.. but then stops and chuckles saying, and says "what should I tell him". Now, like Ray..at first pass I assumed Terence was refferring to what he was going to explain to his father...but Ray immediately finds himself in a twilight zone. Did Terence know and the "him" he was refferring to was to Ray upon his return from his meeting with the ghost of Doc Graham? It is possible Terence was in on 'it' and was a ghost who was there to lead Ray to Doc Graham ...to gather him and bring him to the ball field but I believe that wasn't the case for three reasons. First of all, unlike Doc Graham, Ray never found an obituary for Terence and there were plenty of real life witnesses who knew where he lived when Ray was trying to track down his residence. Secondly, when I saw his expression of amazement when he saw the baseball field and the players for the first time. Third and finally, in the first seconds of the scene when he is invited to the corn field, as we are focusing on the brother who is needing some 'refreshment' you see Terence looking ahead across the field to the corn field with stone faced resolve. When Ray says, "I want a full description", Terence only replies with, "take care of your family." Terence knew he wasn't coming back and that it was his time.
I say No..... Terence walked over and back again on the 'no go' line on the playing field while the others who were recycled could not for fear of what may happen to them. One of the best scenes.. the Ump saying to Moonlight ... "you want a warning, watch out you don't get killed"
I've speculated that he was alive until he got out of the car after leaving Fenway. The car turned around and he was standing in the middle of the road and said "Moonlight Graham". Ray was the only one who supposedly heard the voice (thus Joe telling Ray "No Ray, it was you" at the end making it seem it was in his head). I think he died after getting out of the car. The idea that his brother saw him was proven wrong when he said "Who's this? Elvis?" and the fact that he only saw the ghosts when they were on the other side of the rocks and the entire field when Doc crossed over.
Is Terrence really dead? I’ve never considered it, but it does pose an interesting thought exercise. The main argument against the theory seems to be centered around the fact that others besides Ray can interact with him. But, the counterpoint is the fact that the ghosts, like young Archie, seem to appear to the living other than Ray (like Annie and Karin) BEFORE he crosses the boundary gravel to step on the field. If God, or Fate, or John Kinsella, or WHATEVER power is driving this WANTS Terrence to be visible, then he’s visible. Weighed against all the other evidence, the case for Terrence being dead all along is pretty convincing. In the end, I think it’s deliberately vague so it spurs conversation. Much like The Time Machine, when Wells goes back to the future and Weena, he takes three very specific books with him to build a civilization, but doesn’t say what 3 books. That leaves the question for the audience, what three books would YOU take? I see similarities here. If Terrence were alive, WHAT would happen to his physical body once he entered the cornfield. If he’s dead, it answers a lot of plot points.
I would definitely say no, because that'd also mean a ghost was helping to drive Ray's VW bus halfway across the country. Besides, the movie went out of its way to show a giant headline saying Mann was America's "Greatest LIVING Writer."
Also, Archie never interacted with anyone off the farm besides Ray and Terence. He even states that Ray's was the first car to have come by. Once he was on the field and playing, Mark couldn't see him just like he couldn't see any of the other ghosts. It was only once he stepped off and became Doctor Graham again that Mark could.
@@AirLancer a very strong argument. That’s what’s great about art, particularly cinema, we can interpret and discuss and draw our own conclusions about what it means. For me, my mind is open on the issue of Terrence, but you make some really strong points.
not dead ... There's a part where he tells costner he has no passion for life anymore. NoT to mention he was also a hasbeen and a recluse . walking the cornfield was a painless suicide for him
MANCHESTER UNITED F.C yawn
So you're saying he's not dead because he committed suicide? So not only did you apparently not understand any of the movie but you don't know what suicide means.
@@sethsassy you should try it yourself
A theory that I had was that when it mentions on the news he was missing, he may have been dead already, but it was his spirit that went with Ray. But the two things that ulltimately work against Terence being dead is that he called his son to let him know he was okay, and also that Ray's brother-in-law could already see him. As well as everyone he interviewed in the town, when he was asking about Archie Graham.
You never saw him make any phone call
And all the people were old. How do you know they weren’t dead too?
See my other comments. Near the end of the movie, Ray's brother-in-law could see Mann but still couldn't see the ghosts. Therefore, Mann wasn't a ghost.
that's true. But someone else said that since he called him Elvis that maybe he was just pulling everyone's leg and didn't see him. Will watch again.
The brother was obviously being sarcastic, and didn't actually see him at first, hence the "who is this, Elvis?" If he saw a large black guy sitting there, Elvis wouldn't have been who he said.
He didn't react at all to the speech Mann was giving and he also sees the all players. Which is why he says "when did all these ball players get here" don't worry its not like its the climax to the brother in law's plot or anything.
Whenever Terrance and Ray go to the game together whenever they both get up out of their seats Ray’s seat was down Terrance’s seat was up.
Exactly. I have been to Fenway many times, those seats do not pop up by themselves, they have to be put up manually.
when Ray goes to Boston and asks where Terrance lives the mechanic tells him the window without a chicken in it. If he were dead, the mechanic would have said so.
my only thought is that he's recently deceased, like he dropped dead right before Ray shows up at his door
@@edwarddeguzman3258 thats interesting. When Ray tells him he's missing from the newspaper that his father I think reported him missing... then Terrance says I better call him, I don't know what to tell him. Ray says, do you want me to leave, Terrance says yes. Thats when Ray meets up with Doc Graham. It would make for an interesting twist but I think Terrance tells Ray, before he goes into the field.. Im a writer, thats what I do. So he's going to write about it when he returns. But then again to your point, only the dead go in and out of the corn field. Then again Mark sees Terrance and asked who he was. Its a great twist but I think I'll leave it as is.
@@frattura30 personally I think he was alive, but in the overall context of the video and post it’s a plausible answer to your question
You do understand what a recluse is, right?
There's also the scene where Ray sees the newspaper article about Terrance Mann's father being concerned when he didn't get answers to his phone calls to his son's apartment. Ray tells Mann if he knew that he was missing. Mann then decides to call his father. Mann's character is alive.
Remember when the brother shook his hand it was like a hey nice to meet ya, like no one is there and he’s just playing along and James just laughs like yea he doesn’t see me LOL!!!! And omg he enters that field like a child, so innocent and pure like when a child sees the ocean for the first time and goes to the water.... omg good movie doesn’t even begin to describe this film
Maybe he was alive and then the ending of him going into the corn was him dying.
No matter great movie,Jones is a great actor and they can play with us at will when given a great script especially when its a script they like god help us then,I'm a baseball player so I'm biased of course...but thanks for the post and the tease...really.
If he was dead, then he didn’t become a ghost until he gets dropped off by Ray. After that scene he only interacts with really old people, and the one older lady even commented to him when he compliments her on her writings, she says he was as well in past tense. He also interacts with Ray’s family and brother in law but the brother in law doesn’t believe this is him. The writing in this movie was great in order for a theory like this to be a true possibility. Their is enough room in the story for this to be true and him to be alive the whole time to also be true.
According to the author of the book "Shoeless Joe" which the film is based on, said that the character Terrence Mann was based on JD Salinger, who was very much alive at the time of the filming.
Ok but doesn’t mean he had to be alive as a character in the book...
There was no Terrence Mann character in the book.
The character Terence Mann was based on the real-life reclusive writer, JD Salinger, who wrote The Catcher in the Rye. The film Field of Dreams is based on Bill Kinsella's 1982 novel, Shoeless Joe. Kinsella was a huge fan of Salinger, and in his book Terrance Mann IS Salinger (having the name JD Salinger, changed for the film to avoid possible legal problems) and Kinsella takes him to a baseball game. The real JD Salinger was living alone at that time in Cornish, New Hampshire, where he lived until his death in 2010, and not doing any interviews. Salinger was also the subject of another great film, Finding Forrester, starring Sean Connery (a reclusive writer brought back into writing by a gifted young man from Harlem), and also centered on the topic of baseball. Both characters in both films were reclusive and somewhat ghostly, but very much alive. I hope this was helpful.
It’s actually not. You folks are acting like just because he was alive when it was written means that he can’t be dead in a FICTIONAL book.
Watching this recently, I never noticed that Terrance’s seat at Fenway park when he and Ray leave is in the up position and Ray’s is down. I think he’s been dead the entire time
I don't think he was dead - the interactions Mark has with him and the newspaper article about him being missing seem to prove he was not. I also am not necessarily convinced that he died when he went out into the corn. I think it's meant to be a mystery.
It's a very interesting idea, and I'm actually more inclined to believe it than many movie theories. But the moment that convinces me Mann is actually real is when he says he may write about the field and his experiences. This ties in to JEJ saying that what Mann wanted more than anything was to become a journalist again.
hejlmatthew i think he died when he was invited to come with them
I saw a reaction video the other day that, for me, dwalt with this question. No question, Terrence Mann is a ghost at the end.
But the moment in question was after the ball game at Fenway. Terry and Ray talk, Terry gets out of the van, Ray makes a U turn. In that instant, Terry gets into the headlights. The reactor asks," How did he move SO FAST ?" In that moment Terry was or became a spirit being. That explains the supernaturally quick movement. Maybe...
Maybe everyone was dead in the film though and the farm and field was actually heaven and not Iowa
terrence mann represents the author of the book with which this movie was based off of he was and idea he was a part of rays sub conscious guiding him to the end of his journey and realization
Interesting question.
What if only Ray is alive?
And he is living a fantasy to try and make peace with his father?
☮
He was clearly suppose to come back. Kevin Costner said "when you come back, I want details ", to Terrence. Also when they had that meeting at that school about burning books, they were talking about Terrence mann and his books in the present tense. He was alive
If he was dead, why did the newspaper report that his father was unable to contact him and reported Terrence missing?
A 2nd look at a great film? I must have seen it 1000 times lol
In the booking banning scene all the characters speak about him in presence tense. I believe he is alive.
Mark said "Who's this, Elvis?"
He specifically saw someone.
or he was mocking Ray because to him it looked like Ray was talking to thin air, and obviously with Elvis being dead it would be Ray talking to a ghost.
In the book the character is J.D. Salinger
Seen this movie a bunch. Never thought he could be dead. It makes perfect sense actually. He didn't realize he could walk into the corn until Shoeless Shoe asked him to.
I’m thinking that everyone was actually dead and the farm and baseball field was actually heaven and not Iowa
The actual screenwriter says, no, he wasn't dead the whole film. Even if he passed on when he crossed into the cornfield, we've _seen_ it's a place where the post-living essence returns from the source back to this mortal plane, so there's no reason to think he'd _stay_ there, especially since he has a father and the media was brought in when he went missing. At worst, he'd probably be confined to the field same as all the players, and that means he'd need a good ghostwriter (HA!) to publish his new books under. That, or the second he crosses the line, he can never return to the ghostly ballpark.
I always thought he was dead or dying by the end.
He isn't a ghost until he goes into the corn and gets Raptured. That's why he tells Ray he needs to stay behind because he has a family. If Ray ascends to a higher plane, he leaves them behind, but Terrence is ready to move on.
Mann wasn't dead. His dream was to see Jackie Robinson play again and it is my estimation that Joe invited him to the corn to do just that.
He tells Ray that when he returns he'll write about Shoeless Joe coming to Iowa, he couldn't do that if he was already dead.
Kinsella said the working title of the book was “The Kidnapping of J.D. Salinger.”
The other thing I don't get in that doc has a very specific dream of squinting up at a sky so blue it hurts your eyes just to look at it. To slide into 3rd, and wrap your arms around the bag. Yet when he gets to live his dream, none of those things happen.
Yeah I thought he should have gotten that triple too, but it was hilarious when he got to wink at a big league pitcher.
And the pitcher threw at him
he hits a SACRIFICE FLY to RF. do i need to explain more? its perfect
SeamHead33 Good point, it is actually really fitting for the way his entire life played out.
bob sapp he technically never had an at bat either since he hit a sacrifice fly.
Terence Mann is not dead till he goes in the Corn but he knows before hand probably right when Ray comes over to his apartment. He hears a voice calling him to go with Ray so he can enter death at the Corn.
I believe one other thing that goes against this ghostly Terrence Mann theory of yours: Back when Ray first goes to Boston to find him, you see that series of shots of Ray going all over town asking people where to find Mann's place (while "Jessica" by the Allman Brothers Band is still playing). Ray eventually finds the apartment by paying-off an attendant at a neighborhood gas station. Was this guy a ghost too? And the others in Boston Ray stopped to ask? If they were living, wouldn't at least one of them know that Mann was dead, and they'd clue Ray in on that bit of information?
In theory, it's possible he died not long before Ray went to see him. I don't remember anything that makes this theory impossible. The idea being that maybe he died in his bed or something shortly before (with people around town not really knowing for sure because he was so private) and what Ray was encountering was the spirit form, needing a kind of resolution at his end, sort of like how Moonlight Graham did. So Ray was at first encountering Mann in his jaded state shortly before he died and then as he got him involved, he saw Mann more as he was in his youth... impassioned and full of zest for life. Almost like Mann was going backwards in time, to the part of him that made him whole, and seeing that it was worth something all along.
I mean, it's a theory. It could also explain the jump-scare style way that scene plays out, where Ray lies about what he saw, thinking he needs to just let go of Mann. And then he turns the bus around and Mann is standing right there and says, "Moonlight Graham." It was almost like he needed to let go of the old version of Mann, the jaded one, so that the one with his old passion could join him. Mann even says right before he leaves, "I wish I had your passion. I once had passion like that."
Well now that you mentioned that, it sure seems like we have to take a big leap of faith to think he was a ghost. But there are little things that maybe they put in there so that it would make us wonder.
Ray could have traveled back in time, just like he did when he talked to Doc Graham.
How does anyone know a recluse dies, other than from the stench days later?
Damn, I think your right. It makes much more sense that way. Only the dead enter the corn.
I always wondered it myself, but now I think there's enough to suggest he was alive, at least until the cornfield. Mann, with Ray, is the living redemption where Joe and John and the others are the spiritual ones. Also, if part of the spirit force, he wouldn't be hearing the spirit calls himself.
Is that a rule you made up? Who told you the spirits couldn’t hear the calls?
The movie hints that Terrence was a young man when he stopped writing. It would lead me to speculate that he died around this time if indeed he did. But then, ghosts don't age, so...
I believe there is more than 2 scenes, he either implies or says he will write about what he sees in the corn, if he were dead it wouldn't matter if he wrote about it we would never see it.
I say he was alive, as it really only takes 1 scene for me to say he is in the present and they could have demonstrated his existence by having him as a young man like Moonlight Graham.
Also Ray didn't drive to Boston to see a dead man and all of the people he asks for direction with the exception of the old bag swinging lady never imply him to be passed on, the kid didn't say you would have found he says he lives and you can't miss it.
He is most certainly alive but nice try.
but he also vanishes into thin air. people who are alive don't do that.
My theory was Mark couldnt see the players because the field is heaven and couldnt see into it and once Graham stepped off to save Karin he manifested into a ghost which people can see..same with Terrance he was still waiting to pass into heaven so still a manifestation....
I always wondered that after he disappears into the corn.
Terry can't be dead. He promised Ray he'd come back and write about it. "Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa."
How does anyone not understand this? The movie does everything but flash "dead guy!" on the screen. It'd be like someone watching Forest Gump and going, "Hey, I think this fella might be slow".
He was invited to experience the 'other side' and he's the only one capable of committing to written word the experience so definitely not dead. He's a reclusive has-been who's spirit is gone. That's why he was able to go.
I figured this out the first time I watched it. And the brother in law can see ghosts he literally says “where did all those ball players come from” so either they choose who can see them or he had a change when he threw the little girl. Also he threw the girl off a bleacher and the problem was she was choking on a hot dog? What?😐
If he was dead Kevin Costner's character would have come across several articles or obituaries when he was researching Terrance Mann in the library scene.
But he goes to Boston and finds Mann at the apartment, and people he asks (in particular the young guy at the gas station), apparently know where Mann lives. This fact alone eliminates the possibility of him being a ghost. Ray also mentions to his wife, "You know what he does now? He writes software for children." He says this as if the information is current, not that Mann used to do that.
Fair point; but the director said that Mann is a recluse like JD Salinger. So maybe these people only see Mann once and a while when he has to come out for food or gas.
Ah, so you're saying that he died recently in the film's timeline. Perhaps when Ray had the dream. I could see that maybe being the case, sure.
@@SeaTac411 only comment that makes sense lol
Never a Ghost [all the Fenway Park interaction] but smart take that we might all consider Grey Areas of Life and or Mortality.
I think that either Ray is dead and the ghosts are helping him make the adjustment to being in heaven or it is purgatory and Ray is helping the ghosts to move on to heaven by helping them fulfill their wishes (keep playing baseball (Black Sox players), see if they were good enough to make it (Graham), make amends with his son (John Kinsella)). I think Terrance Mann was alive, but was living a hollow existence and the world had moved on without him. I think he did die when he went into the corn field. He tells Ray before he goes "that he has a family", meaning something to live for.
Classic movie!!!
Sean, I thought this a long time ago. Even though he orders the hot dog and the beer at Fenway, and even though he shakes the brother-in-law's hand, I think he is dead. It's the only plausible explanation. Then again, it's a movie, and Hollywood makes things up at is sees fit.
I think he was alive until he walked into the cornfield. I never wondered if he was dead or alive
I def think so..
I don’t think he was dead at all. The fact that Ray’s wife’s brother could see him proves he wasn’t dead. He was a complete unbeliever until the very end of the movie.
Regarding eating, angels can appear to be eating. We learn this when 3 angels visit Abraham
Maybe angels can really eat. Angels would never just appear to be eating because that would be dishonest and they can't do anything dishonest. So if they eat, they're really eating.
The Hebrew word used to describe them as angels is difficult to translate. perhaps these were members of the city of Enoch. If that is the case, then they have bodies because they haven't died yet.
How do you answer Terrence talking to his son?
When did you see him do that?
Mind blown
Just finished watching Field of Dreams. Always a favorite. Always seemed to leave me asking the same question...after drying my eyes...allergies....
After really thinking about it, there is only little evidence that Mann is actually LIVING. Of course there's the "dog and a beer" sequence, Ray being charged 10$ for two orders in 1989 sounds about right. I don't have vivid memories of Fenway until I was 15 or 16, so I don't know if the electric scoreboard with Moonlight's info on it would be accurate for 1989.
When Ray leaves for Boston and questions some quirky locals where to find Mr. Mann, 'Jessica' by Allman Brothers plays. 'Jessica' was recorded in December, 1972. The year Ray supernaturally meets Doc Graham. When Mr. Mann tells Ray that they're going to Minnesota together, 'China Grove' by Doobie Brothers plays. From what I gather, that song was actually recorded in 1973....So, maybe, maybe not tied in with the movie on a deeper level. I don't know if the background music in the movie is trying to give us clues or just good road trip songs. Maybe.
So, all in all, Ray gets to Boston but it's Boston 1972 and he doesn't notice? Ehh...Idk. Maybe. I grew up in Boston and some parts still look like 1972 so...yeah lol.
But he certainly notices when in Minn. The Godfather sign, Nixon poster etc.
So, idk. I haven't read the original book, though I doubt it gives much more explanation if James Earl Jones doesn't know for sure whether he was playing a ghost or not...fun stuff to think about.
Underrated movie for 1989 too and probably top 3 Costner acting jobs.
Why was he laughing at the end?
Interesting theory. However, in the book "Shoeless Joe," which the movie is based on, the writer is not the fictional Terrance Mann, but the real author J.D. Salinger ("Catcher in the Rye"), who was very much alive - but a recluse - when the book was written AND when the movie came out. Salinger died in 2010. "Field of Dreams" is one of my favorite movies - the book is great too. W.P. Kinsella also wrote "The Iowa Baseball Confederacy," another great baseball book - even crazier than "Shoeless Joe."
For the umpteenth time, what frigging difference does it make if Salinger was alive in real life??
Shoeless kept crossing the line
Same thing with the doctor they were ghosts waiting for ray
Not dead, at least not his physical self. His spirit is broken. His dream was to see Jackie Robinson play at Ebbets Field. Him walking into the corn signifies that his spirit is no longer broken, and that he got to see his dream. He is not dead before, during, or after he walks through the corn.
No he wasn't dead.. he said he would write about his experience.. and as he walks into the corn you can hear a crowd cheering in the background. He said his dream was to watch a game at Emmets Field. So i think when he went into thy corn that's where he was taken which is why he was so happy at the time. I assume when he comes out of there he will write about his experience. He might even call the writing. The Field of Dreams
YES, Terrance Mann died while on the Road w/ Kostner.
Another way to look at it, is maybe Terrance was about to die, and Shoeless Joe knew it was almost his time. Maybe he was alive for most of the movie, and then died at the very end.
He was found near dead by a burning lake of lava and brought back to life by his mentor Sheev Palpatine.