MovieChat Forums > Pay It Forward (2000) Discussion > Arlene`s mother got it all wrong.

Arlene`s mother got it all wrong.

posted 10 years ago by mistershankly
3 replies | jump to latest

Trevor is trying to make the world a better place with the "Pay it forward" plan, and Arlene pays it forward to her mom by forgiving her, which is a good deed. But Arlene`s mom is definiteley not committing a good deed by helping a criminal escape justice, when she tried to pay it forward.

The idea was to make the world a better place, but you don`t do that by assisting criminals. She did him a favor yes, but a good deed? No.

Only excuse I can think of is that Arlene didn`t specify to her mom that you have to do something good for someone else, she just told her you gotta do someone else a big favor.

[–] Bob_Brooker 10 years ago

Arlene pays it forward to her mom by forgiving her

I already have trouble accepting this as a good deed. Certainly did the reconciliation better the mother-daughter relationship, but it just didn't come across as being sincere. Same as you cannot will yourself to love somebody. It's an internal process that cannot be forced as suggested by the book/movie.

__________
Last movie watched: Borgman (7/10)

[–] Can_a_bitch_get_a_donut 10 years ago

Arlene's mother saw someone in need and helped him. She may or may not have known he was committing a crime. Either way, as a homeless woman, she probably empathizes with somebody running from the cops (if she even knew) more than many of us.

Anyway, she got a criminal to pay it forward, and he did, so it worked out.

----------------------
Boopee doopee doop boop SEX

[–] shonoffilm 8 years ago

Nope she got it right. You don't discriminate when you pay it forward.