Bedsheet Ghost: Difference between revisions

Like many images common to modern culture, the Bed Sheet'''Bedsheet Ghost''' began as a theatrical convention that has long lost its context. In Shakespeare's day, it was common to portray ghosts in armor on stage (for example, Hamlet's father is often depicted in a full suit of armor in historical depictions.) In Elizabethan England, armor was no longer worn in combat, and the costuming convention at the time was to dress characters in contemporary (Renaissance) clothing. So, by dressing a character in armor, the character was given an out of date look, and recognized as a ghost. However, as special effects became more elaborate, it became common to lower the actor playing the ghost onto stage with a pulley. Of course, the heavy armor clanked loudly, and by the 19th century, the sight of an armored ghost on stage was more likely to bring laughter than fear.

As a result, the white sheet has become pop culture's visual shorthand for spirits of the dead, and a bedsheet with eye holes is the standard costume for fictional characters trying to dress like ghosts. This idea dates back at least to the Post-U.S. Civil War period--theperiod—the white robes and hoods of the Ku Klux Klan were intended to look ghostly. (This Klan connection, in turn, is why the pointy-headed Bedsheet Ghost is no longer a popular design.)

* Used in an episode of ''[[Kirby: ofRight theBack Starsat Ya!]]''. Dedede actually falls for it and thinks it's a real ghost.

== [[Live -Action TV]] ==

* In the British kids' show ''[[The Ghosts Ofof Motley Hall]]'', the ghosts want to scare off some people who've been hanging around their house, but the problem is they're invisible to most humans. Solution: One of the ghosts covers himself with an old bedsheet. In other words, a ghost [[Lampshade Hanging|dressing up as a ghost]].

== [[Music Videos]] ==

== [[Recorded and Stand Up Comedy]] ==

* An [[Eddie Izzard]] sketch involves the [[Christianity|Holy Spirit]] as a [[Bedsheet Ghost]]:

* As mentioned in the Head Injury Theater quote above, ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' has the Sheet Phantom, which is an actual [[Bedsheet Ghost]]. As with some of the other actual Bedsheet Ghosts, the explanation given is that the being's spirit is imbued into his bedclothes as he dies.

* ''[[RunescapeRuneScape]]'' does this twice. Once with a green bedsheet (to fit in with green ghosts) and once with regular bedsheets for a Christmas Carol parody.

* Paul ([[Catch Phrase|who is a ghost]]) from ''[[Pictures for Sad Children]]''. He actually has [[Jacob Marley Apparel]] (and he's oddly physical, to boot), but he wears a bedsheet over it because he [https://web.archive.org/web/20190710221851/http://www.picturesforsadchildrenbolanet.comtop/index.php?comicID=2 "wanted to look ghosty"].

*** Or maybe he's a ''mutant''{{'}}s ghost, which would be at least a little creepy.

** Also, Danny tried pulling off the [[Bedsheet Ghost]] look during ''Fright Night''. The same episode gave us this nice quote:

* ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]'' has the episode "Halloween Bash", a [[For Halloween I Am Going as Myself]] episode with a [[Muggle]] / Magical Being party. Two Normals show up, dressed as Bedsheet Ghosts, and are annoyed to see how many of the other "costumes" are so much better than theirs.

** Same thing happened in "Pink Eye" from the first season, when Principal Victoria sees Cartman dressed as Hitler and thinks a [[Bedsheet Ghost]] would be a less controversial costume. Er, not so much.

[[Category:Bedsheet Ghost{{PAGENAME}}]]