MovieChat Forums > Charlie Bartlett (2008) Discussion > few things that didnt make sense

few things that didnt make sense

posted 16 years ago by Chris_McVey
36 replies | jump to latest

I am in no way certified to make an intelligent post on here but just a few things I noticed:

1. Wouldn't it be impossible to get ALL those medications/prescriptions? I have problems getting my prescription eye drops at the pharmacy when you can take one look at me and know I have pinkeye.
2. they say class of '83. In the movie they talk about downloading porn while Charlie and Kip are playing some sort of modern video game. Technologically speaking, those things weren't available in 1983.
3. No matter how popular you are...some people still hate you.
4. Charlie takes one pill of Ritalin and goes crazy. Wouldn't those kind of drugs take a few weeks to "get" in the bloodstream.
5. Charlie gained popularity just a little too fast don't you think??

[–] chiquitasally 16 years ago

1) I was wondering about the prescriptions too-- it looked like he was going to several doctors; he may have gone to several pharmacies as well.

2) I must have missed that part. When did they give a year?

3) Yea, this ties into 5, but it's one of those things you have to take as granted for the sake of the plot.

4) As for the Ritalin, it takes a couple days before he completely flips. Besides, since he didn't actually have ADD, the drugs had a different effect on him. There's a big difference between taking drugs as needed and recreationally. Like those people that take pain pills when they're not in any pain-- it has a completely different effect on the brain and can cause dependence.

5) Probably.

The thing that really didn't make much sense to me was the whole "student lounge" premise. It's high school... the closest thing to a break is lunch. At my high school lunch was only half an hour... Not to mention-- what's the big deal that it had cameras monitoring it? It's either that or having teachers walk around. They're kids on school property during school hours-- they'd need to be supervised if only for liability reasons.

It irked me that the principal etc. were made out to be bad guys for wanting some level of supervision. In addition, can anyone really blame the principal when he wanted to look in the prescription bag that the prescription drug dealing boy gave to his daughter? There are so many posts here about what a jerk he was for doing that.

hehe... sorry, most of this is unrelated to your post.

^_^

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] actionmanrandell 11 years ago

my school had a student lounge where we all hang out.

[–] pjmcguirk85 16 years ago

so they cant bring in video games and stuff from the outside world?

how hard is it to bring in an xbox and tv. you put the tv on a stand, put the xbox by it, plug them both in, and you got yourself a nice little video game console.

hm. i guess my college dorm room that has been there since the 80s must not have internet access... oh wait, IT TOTALLY DOES!
~~~
Terry: You think this is funny?
Danny: Well Terry it sure as sh*t aint sad (Ocean's Thirteen)

[–] eak19 16 years ago

dude, what are you even talking about??

Anyway, yeah, the top of the building had Class of '83 painted on it, as though it were a gift from them.

I did think it was pretty funny how awesome they had it! When I was in high school we were barely allowed outside of 50 yards from the school. We definitely had nothing cool like that - nor time to enjoy it. I always think it's funny when school kids on tv or movies get to leave school for lunch! We would have been picked up by school police in a heartbeat!

[–] pjmcguirk85 16 years ago

or we would need a signed note from a parent to leave for lunch. lunch consisted of penetentiary quality food being cooked by penetentiary quality people.

~~~
Terry: You think this is funny?
Danny: Well Terry it sure as sh*t aint sad (Ocean's Thirteen)

[–] wayneandaimee 16 years ago

I left my high school every day for lunch and never once ate in the cafeteria.

It wasn't Charlie flipping out on the Ritalin that was difficult for me, it was that kids bought it for 10 bucks a pill and took it at the school dance with effects similar to those of Ecstasy.

[–] ddswen10 16 years ago

I am from the class of 83 and I can tell you that it wasn't like that in my school. Most of our school was inside and we had a huge area in the middle where everyone could hang out, but it was there for everyone to see. I guess the fact that Bevin had a mohawk was some kind of a clue to the time. We were able to off campus for lunch, but I kind of think only seniors could and we had to have written parental permission on file or something like that. My kids are in H.S. now and can barely leave the area even after school, it's so monitored.

[–] CallmeLightning 16 years ago

The movie does not take place in 1983.

Strange fascinations,fascinating me.

[–] Superkeener 16 years ago

1. Wouldn't it be impossible to get ALL those medications/prescriptions? I have problems getting my prescription eye drops at the pharmacy when you can take one look at me and know I have pinkeye.

He went to several psychiatrists, first off (probably so he would be able to obtain more prescriptions without being overly questioned) and if you go to several different pharmacies (especially if you don't already have an account set up with them) they wouldn't necessarily know what medications you're already taking, they wouldn't have that on file if you're getting Xanax from Walgreens and Ritalin from CVS or something.

2. they say class of '83. In the movie they talk about downloading porn while Charlie and Kip are playing some sort of modern video game. Technologically speaking, those things weren't available in 1983.

Uh, yeah, it didn't take place in 1983, the lounge was a class *gift* from the class of '83. For those of you who don't know (and a lot of you probably wouldn't), every graduating class donates a 'gift' to their school. It's usually set up and done through the Student Government and if yours was anything like mine, they didn't really tell us what stuff they did in SGA so I have no idea what we gave to my school. I think they donated a bench for our senior courtyard or something.

3. No matter how popular you are...some people still hate you.

I think it's possible that they change their mind because of how much he's helped them. It's somewhat indicated that he's helped nearly every student in the school, and even if he hadn't helped *every* student, word gets around and there would be people who could see what a difference he's made to their friends and classmates and appreciate him for that. Plus, let's face it, teenagers are sheep sometimes, if it's suddenly 'cool' to like someone, a lot of the rest will go along with that idea. Maybe not everyone but I think that the ones who are smarter than just going along with the crowd could discern easily that he's an intelligent, decent guy and again, appreciate him for that.

4. Charlie takes one pill of Ritalin and goes crazy. Wouldn't those kind of drugs take a few weeks to "get" in the bloodstream.

I'm on medication for ADHD and trust me, even when I was off for several years and started a new prescription, it started acting quite quickly in my system, according to my doctor it only takes a few days to really get in your system. (Also, it only takes a matter of an hour or so to get in the 'bloodstream', just so you know)

5. Charlie gained popularity just a little too fast don't you think??

It's a movie. Maybe he did but it's hardly reality.

[–] dsjyns13n 15 years ago

Good explanations on one through three. It's about time someone gave some accurate answers. Number 4: Ritalin can have the opposite effect on kids without ADD. Even one pill will cause a high even if you have never taken it before. The effect isn't as dramatic as they make it out to be in the movie, but you can notice a difference. Number 5: These days, you can lose or gain complete popularity in a matter of hours. With all the communication devices these days (which shows the era the movie was set in...the girl was texting on her phone) everyone knows everything about what you did by the next day.

[–] dobbsflower 15 years ago

we only get 25 minutes for lunch.

[–] Female_Trouble 15 years ago

WHAT? I'm 24 and we were allowed to leave for lunch..Hardly anyone who had a car stayed.

[–] Raging_Bull27 15 years ago

Im pretty sure it was just a gift or something from the class of 83'...

my school had a lounge in the cafeteria but everytime they opened it up people would just mess it up or break the tv and stuff so it would be closed basically all the time

Dear Diary.... JACKPOT

[–] angelicksin 15 years ago

I think what OP is saying is that it said it was the class of 83 in the movie, why are there video games from this day and age? in 83 they didn't have x box or ps or ps2 they had atari and nintendo

[–] ilixabethe 15 years ago

2. it didn't take place in 83. the student lounge was built during the class of 83. if you look at it, its obviously well lived in.

4. like the other person said. if you don't need it, it wont take weeks, it'll take ooo about 45 minutes maybe an hour.

[–] KarNicBel 15 years ago

I though Robert Downey, Jr. said that the class of '83 had detention. The scene where Charlie gets arrested.

Before too long you'll only be a memory.

[–] Can_a_bitch_get_a_donut 15 years ago

No, he said something to the effect of that the "Class of '83 Lounge" is being turned into [something, I couldn't hear]. It was clearly a modern movie. The Lounge where all the kids hung out had "Class of 1983" painted on the roof.

Ev'lyone's a ritter bit lacist.

[–] untitledg13 15 years ago

1) not impossible but it wouldn't be so immediate. and they have tests for ADD and ADHD he wouldn't just write him a prescription. but then again, it's a movie. who has time for such details.
2) i don't know.
3) yes but this movie wasn't about those people. irrelevant.
4) no they are immediate. and if you don't have ADD or ADHD, it can effect you that way. Though he definitely was effin around with the cop when waiting at his house... it doesn't get you high like that.
5) it's a movie. they sped things up for you. they show suggested that time was passing though, so that's good enough.. it's not like this happened in a week.

[–] biscuits090 15 years ago

Here's the deal:
1. The psychologist is a family doctor, so they would not need to run tests on him, they would just give him the Rx. In addition, he was going to numerous doctors. He is a rich kid and could do that. There is no real way for his psychiatrists to communicate with each other, so it would be easy for really anyone to do it, and even easier if you had money.

2. It is the class of '83. There was an anachronism with the "porn" comment. Good call.

3. Yes, but we never really saw those who "hated" Charlie, it was just implied that he was rejoiced by "everyone." It's easier to say.

4. Ritalin is basically a form of speed. Just like taking aspirin, it works quickly. He really doesn't go crazy right away, he just gets hyper, a trait of the drug for those who do not have ADD/ADHD. The more he took, the crazier he got. It's portrayed correctly.

5. It was never really stated how long it took him, but in HS popularity can come pretty quick, especially if you pull crazy stunts. And, anyway, how long did you want his treck to popularity to take? It's a movie. Not a book series.

[–] madali0 15 years ago

"It is the class of '83. There was an anachronism with the "porn" comment. Good call. "

It wasn't, because the internet porn wouldn't be the ONLY mistake. They used cell phones. I don't think Xanax and Ritalin were even popular in the 80s. Clothing styles weren't 80s. The game the depressed kid was playing wasn't an 80s game.

You really need to sort of a retard to think the movie was set in the 80s.

[–] PaintedVelvet 15 years ago

The class of '83 donated the student lounge. Thats why the roof says "class of 1983" on it.

“The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma”

[–] mariahscary 15 years ago

I don't think the intent of the movie was that you find you can relate to Charlie Bartlett because you too are a subscription drug dealer at your high school. So as far as the drug related things, you're pretty much supposed to accept the fact that he is really rich, he went to a lot of shrinks, and managed to obtain subscriptions for a lot of people. Take into account the fact that he's obscenely rich, and rich people generally can get whatever they want.

[–] tyk85 15 years ago

If you listen the principal says something along the lines of "The gift from the Class of 83 will be now be known as the Charlie Bartlett detention center." So the student lounge was a gift from 1983, not set in 1983.

I alway wanted to have someone to hold, to love... having met you, I changed my mind

[–] LailaDaBest 15 years ago

for number 2, its NOT supposed to be class of 1983. if you look at the fake drivers' licenses in the beginning of the movie it says that they were issued in 2004 and expire in 2009. so the date for the movie is spposed to be between those years