I think what the movie does--and this is something so current that I don't think any other American artist right now is even attempting to deal with it--is show that getting a job these days is not nearly as possible as it used to be. I don't mean to cast any dispersions here, as I have no idea who you are, but I would venture the guest that your situation may be different than Wendy's and those of millions of other young people today who, regardless of education, experience, work history, references, professional attitude, attire, etc., simply cannot find work right now. People are calling it a recession, but let's face facts and realize that we're growing closer and closer to a subtle kind of depression that will soon rival the economic inclemency of the 30's. And as someone coming from that world and from just having spent four months in the Oregon area, I can tell you that the line about, "you can't get a job without a job, you can't get an address without an address" is completely viable, and I know is not limited only to that area. I myself was well educated and have an impressive work history for someone my age, and I found it near impossible to find a routine office temp gig or work at a retail store. I would have been extremely depressed about this... until I discovered inestimable crops of other young people, who had graduated from the best schools in the country, who had been engineers, architects, business prodigies, who either because they were laid-off or because they simply decided to try out a new city, suddenly couldn't even find work as janitors. This reality completely pervaded the marketplace, and hearing from friends in LA, New York, and other cities, I know we weren't alone here.
There may have been a time when an itinerant traveler could just pop into a storefront and get a simple job washing dishes or stocking groceries. The problem is that these days, 1) A lot of small-time Mom & Pop shops simply can't afford to pay any new employees and in fact are laying off many of their staff members, 2) Corporate stores have very long hiring processes that can sometimes take up to three months and require a great deal of Internet access for online personality tests and the like, 3) A lot of local businesses smartly do not want to invest time or money in short-term hires at present.
Anyone who has attempted to find work in a new town will completely empathize with what Wendy goes through and would know that, frankly, looking for a job would only be a waste of time and money (photocopies of resumes, cleansing utilities, perhaps a new shirt, etc.). It's so axiomatic that a job isn't an option that the director doesn't bother to bring it up. It would be as extraneous as Wendy trying to win the Lottery or entering a singing contest to win $50 or something.
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humanophobia
15 years ago
You make some valid points but the movie itself completely fails to make a point because it's impossible to care about Wendy or sympathize with her due to the fact that she acts like a complete moron throughout the film.
- She gets a dog in the first place in spite of the fact she obviously can't afford to look after it and neither can her family, the phone call tells as much.
- She shoplifts a couple dog treats..worth it in the end, considering that she has to pay $50 more? No, not worth it, retarded.
- She drives her car until it completely dies and becomes too expensive to fix. It probably would have been cheap to fix early on.
- When the old man suggests that she leaves a shirt that last place she saw her dog she seems surprised. A shirt? Really? And they came back? As if it's some sort of astounding revelation that dogs actually HAVE A GOOD SENSE OF SMELL.
But saying that finding a job would be "as extraneous as Wendy trying to win the Lottery" is really incredibly retarded because I'm pretty sure it's a lot easier to become a DISHWASHER at a restaurant than it is to win the lottery. You - and ALL the idiot people like Wendy in the world - need to get a sense of reality.
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15 years ago
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humanophobia
15 years ago
Haha you must be really young and naive because you get really easily worked up. "What's your PROBLEM?! She didn't take your charity" has to be one of the funniest replies I've ever got. My PROBLEM concerns the credibility of the movie. My PROBLEM is with poorly developed characters; characters that are not believable; characters that act like simpletons.
And by the way, the clothes thing wasn't "Far fetched" and if you bothered actually reading my post you would know I wasn't saying that the clothes thing was far fetched; I was saying that Wendy was a total moron for being so surprised by the clothes thing and not making the logical connection between dogs having a GOOD SENSE OF SMELL (something that 99.9% of people know).
Secondly, I have to agree with another poster who wrote that Wendy would not have what it takes to work in Alaska and would most likely not find a job there. Most jobs that are available in Alaska involve hard physical labour, construction, oil rigs, etc. Any company hiring for that sort of labor will always give the job to a physically fit healthy male rather than a skinny, homeless girl who obviously doesn't have the strength to work outdoors in the freezing cold.
I think the writer of this movie accidentally created a character who comes across as dumb, slow, irresponsible, and immature, which is a shame because had Wendy's character been better developed and had the movie actually had a plot, then it could have made a good statement about capitalism and the current economic environment. Unfortunately, it totally FAILS.
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little_mi
14 years ago
I took it that she was a 'normal' girl, materially speaking (modest income & accommodation or at least scraping by) who had fallen on hard times - so she'd presumably got the dog and car when she could, ostensibly, afford to maintain them. The film seems to be illustrating how (easily) people can slip through the cracks, socially and mentally, so she has to have something to lose at the start of the story.
Ie, she still maintains a degree of personal grooming - changing her underwear and washing her face etc - so she hasn't totally lost the concept of personal comfort or social obligations; she also bothers to maintain a scribbled budget throughout the film, so she at least has some notion of fiscal responsibility... but she makes some very strange choices which illustrate either a fragile mental state or outright desperation: she steals a treat for her dog because she's so hard up but then pays for a taxi to go and see her, etc. It's something of a melodrama in this way, in that tiny events which seemed avoidable at first rapidly tumble out of control, but it's underplayed enough to seem like a realistically bad (albeit extremely bad) day.
However, it's also balanced out with enough milk of human kindness to illustrate how easily she could *not* slip through the cracks, if only more people cared a little more.
For the record - I know a tonne of great people with impeccable work histories who are being turned down for jobs they could do in their sleep at the moment, so I imagine if you had no home address, no phone number and no transport, let alone no smart clothes and hadn't showered for weeks, you'd be utterly screwed.
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suzeclark
13 years ago
I find your use of the word "retarded" to be offensive. Also, it appears you lack empathy in general. I would feel sorry for you, but it's hard to feel empathy for someone who is narcissistic to the point of jerkiness.
I can't expect others to share my virtues, it's good enough for me if they share my vices.
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sonofindiandelta
14 years ago
@Kilickberg Now in 2010, even with a degree from an Ivy League school you can't even get into the moat basic job, such as landscaping, because illegal immigrants have you outcompeted in every way, ditto for the moving gig, the trash collating gig, the janitor gig etc. Mom and pop stores won't even cover the bills for an apartment in many cities, even ones that supposedly "need" people in demographically challenged states.
You have to be a well connected local to get any work outside of work the illegals do. For example, I know someone who works at a bar/music club and has bogged this job for 7 years now, anyone from out of town has literally years long waiting lists.
The only other way to make money is through the drug trade. Right now, people are making an boatload of money taking marijuana cross the border underwater.
So, you either make little to no money and have little hope, or you make a decent living off the black market while making a huge gamble on your freedom. Things are getting to be depression like here in rural America. Try going to any town in upstate NY! It's worse than many ghettos.
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