MovieChat Forums > Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) Discussion > Bad message and unlikeable lead characte...

Bad message and unlikeable lead character


Can anybody explain to me exactly why I am supposed to be rooting for the main protagonist of this film? I mean, she spends money lavishly ON HERSELF despite all the poverty going on in the world, she lies to her boss, and basically gets into trouble through her own fault but manages to get out of them out of shear luck. Like when the boss pays the big money at the auction for the scarf so she can pay off her debt. Yeah right, people in the real world don't have a Prince Charming help get them out of a financial pickle.

What kind of message is this film supposed to be conveying? That its okay to be selfish?

reply

You do realize this is based on a book right? As in entertainment? I'm glad your world seems so perfect, but there are a LOT of people with an addiction to shopping that can relate aside from the fans of the book (obviously not all so lavishly). If you've never had an addiction to anything before, congrats! She does the right thing in the end and sells it all off to pay her debt. And honestly, I don't know ANYONE that thinks, "oh I shouldn't be spending money on this when there's so much poverty in the world!" Shame on me I guess for my honesty. I'm not sure how it conveys that selfishness is okay as it shows that she's in trouble for creating her mess. And again, entertainment. I didn't go see "The Hangover" and decide it was okay to go to Vegas, get drunk, and steal a tiger. Lighten up a little and just enjoy.

reply

Well I did enjoy the movie but I would've enjoyed it more had she been more likeable.

SHe does pay off her debt at the end but only because her boyfriend/boss, who is extremely willing to put up with her crap buys up the scarf for a huge pile of money.

Perhaps I'm overly idealistic but I can't feel sorry for someone who spends money buying things for themselves and ends up in debt when they could be using that same amount of money to help others.

At the end of the movie she still hasn't grown as a person, she still never really learned her lesson.

I agree that it is entertainment, but at the same time this movie needed a main character that you could actually root for. Not someone who gets screws up her life and has someone else fix it for her.

Am I not allowed to enjoy a movie and at the same time scrutinize its faults?

reply

[deleted]

I admit in the book she does alot worse, but does Luke do more for her? No he doesn't. Not in the first series anyway.

reply

Um, didn't the boyfriend only buy the scarf for like $300, or am I mistaken? Wasn't her debt nearly $20,000? He didn't exactly "save the day."

Of course she's grown as a person at the end. She (1.) turns down the offer and (2.) has learned to resist her urge to shop (as illustrated when she DOESN'T enter the store.)

I agree with the other poster, though. This movie was purely for entertainment purposes.

reply

[deleted]

Well I think you guys are right. After watching it again I liked her character alot more the second time around. She's still terribly flawed but I guess thats what makes her human.

reply

[deleted]

Smoovasbutter, you sound very compassionate and thoughtful. You are right Becky is very flawed and yes that makes her human. In the end she does get it right, she turns down the job that would be all about promoting lavish shopping and encouraging other girls to get into the same kind of mess that she did. She sold off all her stuff. Very few people would part with all their beloved stuff, they would maybe just scrimp and work another job to pay it off and still keep it so that shows real growth in terms of material greed. She gets the dress back for Suze's wedding and in the end she lives a much more fulfilling life, learns a new language instead off shopping her way through life and even the dress she wears to the party at the end is borrowed when she surely could afford to buy a brand new one with cash (NOT credit). So she does do tremendous growth, growth that I have yet to see ANY woman who likes to shop do. I've never seen anyone overcome an addictive behaviour so triumphantly so she certainly learnt her lesson.

celebritardtours - you said it very well here and should be the main point of the movie. Becky did learn something and learnt her lesson at the end. It's not like she stayed shopaholic throughout the movie or till the end of the movie (though in the books, she just can't resist and stop shopping even through the 5th book, lol). She turned her life around in the end and even got Luke and scarf back. So, I don't think it's a bad message when you learn from your mistakes and did something to turn your life around...and Isla/Becky was not an unlikable character, at least not in my viewing and opinion. I thought she was funny and she had some moments where she felt bad (and sad) for what she did...mostly she lied because she had a shopping addiction (and a lot of people can relate to that), but that doesn't mean Rebecca wasn't a good person. Besides this movie was for fun and for entertainment (mostly)...and not too be taken to seriously. Yet, her shopping addiction still relates to those who are one, which made this movie even more funny esp. when she tries to pay with different cards when she was trying to buy the green scarf, lol. There are actually people I know who does that when they shop and gets their card decline ...and they always reminded me of Rebecca in the green scarf scene.


Btw, I thought the scarf thing was a very good twist/surprise at the end...I didn't know Luke was both the bidder (which was a good surprise for me)...I didn't read the books prior to the movie (that's why), but after it...I did and loved both versions...books and this movie...so no nitpicking and complaints from me...I loved and enjoyed both separately.




Check out my P&P (2005) forum:
http://pridenprejudice.proboards101.com/

reply

ok the thing youre missing here is that this is a movie...
so she isnt spending REAL money, no poor people in africa are losing out because shes blown her credit cards. movie. not real. no poor people. moving on...

reply

but he only buys 1 thing. the scarf for $300. Its a lot but only a fraction of the 16000 dollars she gets by selling all of her stuff. The scarf is the only thing the boss buys. She did learn her lesson. I guess that is why I am confused by your comment. in the end, she chooses not to go into the stores and buy stuff where her old self would have. She is selfish for much of the movie (she puts her dreams and addiction above others). She is honest with some things - the quality the boss likes. She lies when it comes to her debt and addiction.

She really learns her lesson when she hurts people like her boss and her friend with her lies, selfishness. Then she changes.

reply

smoovasbutter- why does it have to be about spending moneyon others? why can't you buy books/an education or a car and not shoes and crap like that? why doesn't it have to be only about giving??

reply

It's one thing to be somebody dealing with being a shopaholic. It's another thing to be a ditzy, self-absorbed air head with no angle for sympathy. Throughout the film, I felt no sympathy for this character because of her bumbling idiocy.

This movie might have a good message behind it and might have even had some nice comedic moments but the main character just made me angry to watch. The OP's original post hit the nail on the head and shame on all of you for being such dicks and forcing him/her to retract that opinion.

reply

I see what the OP means. Book Becky was WAY more sympathetic and the situations were A LOT funnier/less awkward. I hated how they made Smeathie such a creep. Their encounters (letters, phone calls, etc) in the book were sooo funny. My favorite was when she wrote a letter saying that she accepted Jesus as her Savior, and he wrote her back that he was happy but could not do what she wanted. Calling him a stalker was lame, and didn't make me feel sorry for her at all.

I honestly think that if they had stuck closer to the book, and perhaps gotten another lead, the perception of Becky would be better.

Shawn:Boomboomboomboom..MUFFINS
Dexter S4:Hope it's worth it. Up there w/Jim=Sam=Jim again

reply

I feel that the movie-writers took exactely the wrong message from the book: that readers like Becky because of her flashy lifestyle and hate her debt-collecting 'enemies' for being such party-poopers.
But i felt that what made book-Becky so interesting (at least before the wish-fullfilment final chapters) is that she tries, really tries, to get her life back on the rail. She honestly *wants* to get out of debt, but can't quit understand what she is doing wrong (In her eyes the people around her effortlessly balance frugality with happy lives). And also she is a bit too selfish to _really_ adjust her finances (get cheaper hobbies, get a demanding but well-paid job), but not so selfish that she becomes a shrill charicature. She cares about other people and their opinion. When one of her best friends gets 'a real job' it makes Becky doubt herself: that friend and her liked to make fun of 'squares' but maybe Becky should also 'grow up'.
Pretending to her parents that Smeath was a stalker was a desperate attempt to hide from him, not something she actually believed (their encounters surely are the highlights of the book, with him reacting to her ever-more-ridiculous excuses while staying polite and proffesional throughout and never once outright calling her a liar)

reply

It doesnt matter, the character is very annoying, I dont wanna see her get her goals, I kinda saw myself wishing her bad things. A shallow and plain spoiled girl with no soul or sense of the important things in life.

reply

I sort of agree. Some of us (not to be a downer) work really hard, pay all our debts and still struggle financially without being shopaholics. I get this was supposed to be entertaining but it was kind of, instead, frustrating. Normally I can sit through any movie and enjoy it purely for it's entertainment value but this was just too over the top stressful.

reply

I've read all the "Shopaholic" books and enjoyed them. In the books, Rebecca was much more likable, and her actions were not as irritating. I barely finished the movie. In the movie Rebecca embodies everything I don't like, liars, deadbeats who don't pay their bills, and who go thru life creating trouble. In the books, she was much more likable, and the reader could root for her, but not in the movie. Also, what was with that silly dance she did--- are we supposed to believe that a 'girl on the town', out and about, obviously very social, doesn't know how to follow a guy when he is leading in a dance, and would act like she did. Give me a break.

reply

By your morals, how dare you spend this much money on going to the movies when there is poverty in the world!
Do you spend all of your money on charities? If so, congrats. However, if you do not, you are in no position to judge a CHARACTER in a MOVIE!

And yes, selfishness is good :)

reply

[deleted]

Message i got from you:

Youre ugly.

reply

This is a bunch of hoo ha. Quite frankly, the majority of America is in debt and spends way beyond their means for THEMSELVES. See : the homeowner crisis, where homeowners were taking out mortgages for homes WELL above their means. I think the charachter was fun and lovable and relatable. Not just for people in debt, but she speaks to the flaws in all of us really.

I'm not sure why people felt she didn't learn her lesson either. The line towards the end where she says she shops because it makes the world a better place, but then it all goes away and she has to do it again; I think that was a really moving line and shows she definately was in touch with what was taking place.

I don't know, I expected it to be O.K instead I laughed my ass off and was thoroughly entertained every moment of the way.

reply

She was very unlikeable for me and that spoiled a movie with great potential.

She may have grown some at the end, but the final shot of her eyeing another item, and now with a very wealthy man to pay her bills pretty much guarantees she didn't learn anything and will fall back to her old behaviour, only with more money at her disposal.

I particularly thought she was mean-spirited when she paid off her debt with pennies. What a b***h. She DID run up those bills, she DID dodge the collector with endless lies, she DID fail to pay off her debts - it was all her fault. The debt collector was just doing his job, but she has the audacity to pay her legal debts in this way.

reply

someone missed the point. completely.
"What a b***h. She DID run up those bills, she DID dodge the collector with endless lies, she DID fail to pay off her debts - it was all her fault."
this part makes sense when removed from the rest of your bullcrap in that paragraph. the rest is just a waste of time and a shockingly bad comprehension of the movie.

reply

YOU SHOULD SPEND THE MONEY YOU EARN ON YOURSELF OR YOUR FAMILY. IT IS NOT OUR JOB TO SOLVE WORLD PROBLEMS WITH MONEY WE BUST ASS TO MAKE FOR OUR FAMILIES. WHY SHOULD I PAY FOR SOMEONE ELSES HEALTH CARE OR ENERGY BILL OR RENT WITH MY HARD EARNED MONEY?

reply

i really dont expect someone who writes in all caps and responds to random people to grasp anything so complex. just go back to playing with your shoelaces and let the adults take care of the important issues.

reply

This is a movie, based on a book!! Made for entertainment... nothing less, nothing more!!
Of course it is not dealing with the problems of poor poeple that are not able to buy food for them!! It has no message behind the film! It is a kind of exageration of almost every women which enjoy shopping, or more than that!! Some women that has no addiction to shopping recognize it like that, and laught at this movie, or the books, because the see themselves in Becky. Like a little bit of me. But it is not meaning that I am not conserned of the other issues! But in this kind of movies, or the books, I am not looking for an analyses of the world consuption and the unfairness of the rich against the poors!!!

reply

Well there seem to be some good arguements made from both sides, which was my intent when I started this thread.

I still think that the movie could've benefitted with more of a "message" to go along with the obvious entertainment value. However, not to overdo it and make it overly preachy, which deters from the entertainment aspect.

I think Rebecca would've been more likeable if she took more responsibility and "did the right thing".

reply

[deleted]

"See, that's my problem with helping out with poverty. I really believe a lot of these people could take care of themselves if they tried."

Wow.

ANYWAY, I didn't read the book so I am not sure how closely the film follows it, but I really didn't like the main character either. I didn't expect a'chick flick' comedy about shopping to have depth or a moral message, but she was so shallow and superficial that the whole story just seemed too far-fetched. A lot of naive people get into debt, but this was absurd - $16k debt on Clothes?? Give me a break.

reply

Grnwch19, I think I can understand your reaction to the assumption that the poor can make their lives better by their own efforts, but what good will it do them to proceed on any other assumption? You seem to see the statement as being about laziness; I see it as being about hope and faith. It won't do poor people any good to help them see themselves as hopeless victims.

It doesn't do anyone any good to patronize them. A lot of us have good lives today because of our immigrant ancestors, who did any kind of job here in the hope of a better life, not for them, but for their children and grandchildren. It was hard for them, I'm sure. But they had to make their own way.

I don't know where you live, but in the US, people CAN and DO get out of poverty by their hard work and sacrifice.

That being said, I liked Becky better in the book, maybe because she and her problems were in London! It didn't hit so close to home. And everything in the book was in British pounds (or maybe euros - it's been a while since I read it!)


I was an actor once, damn it. NOW look at me. LOOK at me!

reply

I think you are confusing poverty with homelessness. It is true that a century ago, and today, impoverished immigrants work illegally-long hours for below minimum wage to make a better life for their families. But they are not homeless. I understand your 'pull yourself up by the bootstraps' notion that anyone can make it if they really really try. However, a large percentage of the homeless in the US are:
a. mentally ill
b. children
c. veterans who suffered physical/emotional trauma in combat

I'm not saying that people should fork over 5 bucks to every panhandler on the street. But when we as a society can feel no sympathy for the least fortunate among us, we are in a sad state in this country.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying a fictional story of a young woman's shopping addiction, but the fact that some people see her 'problems' as more valid than the real-life problems of the homeless in this country? That is frankly very disturbing.

reply

she's not more likeable just because she's in another country in the books. that's just silly

reply

you should know better. your first two sentences are correct but the rest is crap.

reply

What bothered me about her was that she was a liar to her lover and boss, and a traitor to her best friend by selling off the bridesmaid dress. If I was her friend I wouldn't take her back; it was a super bitchy move to do.

She was unfair to the debt collector because she accused him of being a stalker.

she was stupid because she didn't know how to spend and save money correctly. being thousands in debt and still prying over a prada boots is plain stupid.

but the debt collector did deserve the pennies. because of her statement that was something like "just like you did to me, I'm giving you what you deserve, but in a very inconvenient way" He nearly ruined her career by embarrassing her on national tv (stupid on his part because she had no way of paying the debt if her career was destroyed and she couldn't find jobs). He did give her a wake up call which she deserved, but in a horrid, rude manner. She gave him his money back the exact same way.


reply

[deleted]

Your logic is totally flawed and ignorant. Some of the people living on the streets are of course are able bodied, but they lack any credentials to get a job. Quit being so cold-hearted and ruthless, then maybe you will understand why some of these people really need help. No one has ever become something without the help of others. I do my share by volunteering my time since helping isn't always about money which a lot of these ignorant people don't understand.

reply

Here is a true story that will probably surprise YOU ALL!!!

A few days ago I was at a bar in Las Vegas. This young man was chatting me up even though my looks are similar to a troll and this young man was clearly a first cousin to the archangel Michael!! I mean he was truly beautiful. It was clear this young man, whose name was "the angel Christopher", was a prostitute looking for a trick.

Well, I just didn't want to soil his beauty, so I gave him $100 from my wallet... and then as he hugged me goodbye, (to obviously go buy some drugs) he ripped me off for another $30 or so in change that I'd been stashing in my front pocket when the bartender cashed my $20s for drinks (for Christopher as well as myself).

Anyway, the point of my story is that beauty demands to be paid. If I really think a guy is beautiful, then I'm going to pay for it. It's what I do and I don't think I'm all that weird.

reply