MovieChat Forums > Bogus (1996) Discussion > What do you guys think of Lorraine's fri...

What do you guys think of Lorraine's friends?

posted 15 years ago by harlowfan
2 replies | jump to latest

One thing that always bothered me - the way Lorraine's friends behaved. They seemed like warm and loving people, and they seemed to care enough to take the time to ensure a home for Albert and handle her funeral, but I thought it was tacky how they just put him on a plane all by himself. Couldn't someone take a few days out of their busy schedule, given the circumstances, and fly to Newark with him?

And then not checking up on him at all afterward? I felt that the scene in which Harriet picks him up in Atlantic City and yells at those magicians and says "You didn't even call to find out how he was!"... that spoke volumes. Albert, from a child's perspective, thinks these people are wonderful and can do no wrong, but in fact they are really all just flawed, self-absorbed stage performers with no families of their own and no concept of putting someone before themselves. I'm not saying they're not nice people, they are. But.... they seemed to be so engrossed in their own feelings/mourning and doing what was emotionally easiest for THEM, they didn't think about how to cushion things for Albert. They were fun people for a seven-year-old to be around, but responsible? Not at all.

And suppose Harriet would've turned out to have been a jerk and would've refused to take Albert. Would they have really let Albert go into the state system? I wonder...

[–] dynastyu 14 years ago

When my mother died a few years ago, I was only 19 years old. My mom put all the responsibilities of supervising a smooth transition of her money, house to us, in her friend. And she expected her friend to take us in or atleast check up on us once in a while. Well, when she passed away she quickly demanded that the responsibilities be transferred to our grandma, and she didn't take us in, and didn't even bother checking up on us once in a while, just send a stupid Christmas card every year. Hell, my brother and I are were pretty much grown up and were able to take care of ourselves, but we didn't want to be alone. And so her "friend" *beep* her and us. So when I saw that part of the movie I quickly thought about my experience. People are your "friends" until something coplex happens (such as death).

I only trust one friend to take care of things when I'm gone, and I'm so happy I have one friend to that. Most people don't have anybody that loyal to take care of their children, or other things after their passing.

[–] jenni_doll_1 14 years ago

I think it's possible Lorraine's friends thought it best for Albert for them to lay low for awhile. Albert needed time to get used to his situation and bond with his new caregiver. Now, I would think close contact with his mom's friends would help reduce the sense of loss that he experienced, but that's not the case for everyone. Maybe the circus crew felt it would be better to just let Albert go on with his life and it would be easier for him to do that by letting go of the past. He clearly loved them all as they loved him and Lorraine and it could be they thought having too much contact with them right away would intervene in his adjustment by giving him false hope and longing that he could come back to them and go on the road with them, living the life he knew before, which wasn't going to happen. I'm sure they would have checked up on him at some point, but they could have been well intentioned by staying away for awhile. I don't know if that argument holds water, but it's the best I can reason. As far as one of them accompanying him to Newark, that really would have put a damper on his interaction with his new friend Bogus. They probably wouldn't have found each other had Albert not been bored and lonely looking for something to amuse him.