Sympathy Lack of... (SPOILERS) - Wendy and Lucy (2009) Discussion

[–] quick-carl 14 years ago

I think she was scared and desperate and counting every penny. She kept looking at her budget so you know money was tight. It may be a bad decision but desperate people do desperate things.

I hope you nor I ever find ourselves in that situation. I think the point was how one bad decision can lead to things spiralling even more out of control than they already are.

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[–] WarpedRecord 14 years ago

I think it's fine to have no sympathy for Lucy. I had very little, most of it relating to the dog's well-being. All along I was hoping that Lucy would wind up with a better owner, and she did.

This does not detract from my appreciation for this film. In fact, it made me like it more. I'd much rather watch a film like this with believable characters than the standard Hollywood drivel with heroes battling the odds and winding up with lessons learned.

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[–] ynisfre 14 years ago

You guys are proving the point of the film. There is no imperative to care for troubled people like Wendy. We are probably one of the most charitable and emotionally sensitive cultures in the history of the planet, but that doesn't stop people from slipping through the cracks every day. And plus, for all our enlightenment, we can't help but apply economic calculations when we take our measure of a person.

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[–] macrascals 14 years ago

ynisfire that is how i would like to put it

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[–] tdoa 13 years ago

I guess I need a lesson in empathy, but apart from this being one of the most boring aimless films I've seen in a long time, it says something if I feel more sorry for Lucy than I do for Wendy. Once she started stealing and then her attitude like everyone owed her something rather than the other way around, made me lose any sympathy I might have had for her. Ironic how her grocery bill might have been $10 tops, whereas the fine for stealing ended up being $50! What a lesson in stupidity that was.

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[–] ynisfre 13 years ago

Talk about acting like they were owed something. Did you see Lucy just waiting for handouts? What a mooch. She's a dog, she has all the tools to go fend for herself. Go find some food, you lazy mutt.

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[–] movie11 13 years ago

:-))) Good one!

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] hilaryjrp 13 years ago

"She may have made a bad decision. But that served as a catalyst for what the whole point of the movie was, that because she's not financially stable, she has to give up the one thing in the world that means the most to her."

Yep, there it is.

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[–] RodReels-2 13 years ago

But really it makes no sense that when she was being accused of shoplifting, she wouldn't have at least offered to pay for the items rather than just leave the dog behind. She later offers to pay the $50 fine when she is being let out of jail. Why wouldn't she offer to pay the $10 for the dog food? I know. It's because the one major plot development in this aimless movie would not have happened had she done something sensible.

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[–] stars-fade-into-day 13 years ago

The store person made it pretty clear that she was to be "made an example of" and that it wasn't about the food but the "principle". They clearly weren't interested in her paying for the dog food at that point.

I'd say she made it clear that she would pay for the food after she'd been caught when she claimed that it was just a mistake and she was checking on her dog.

What I don't get is why one of the people in the store didn't take care of the dog themselves. They could've tied Lucy up out back and waited for Wendy to get back from the Police. I can understand their hostility towards her but not towards the dog.

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[–] activista 13 years ago

@tdoa

Obviously her money was almost completely gone, and she probably barely had $10.00, which was the only reason she took the chance of trying to steal something in the first place---she had gotten down to the point where she was desperate enough to steal---it was still wrong as hell, though. Believe me,it's all too easy to judge if you're never been in that type of situation to begin with. As someone who's been homeless before, I could relate a little bit to some of the stuff she had to do (not the stealing,however).
I didn't percieve her as having an attitude---just disappointment at having gotten caught AND losing the dog, as well as delaying her trip. I admit it would have been nice if a backstory had been provided as to how she had gotten herself into that situation in the first place. I wouldn't call what she did stupid, because she obviously knew the consequences of her actions, and ended up having to accept them.

As bad as the economy is, you're got more & more people ending up where she is---a lot more than you think. Like,for example here in Michigan,which has the highest rate of unemployment, foreclosures & job layoffs since the 2008 economic crash, it's not just bums,alcoholics & drug addicts that wind up homeless, it's also people that end up losing their homes because they still can't find a job to keep up with the mortgage 6 months after they got laid off, and their unemployment won't be extended. It's not just Detroiters this is happening to---there are folks in upper-middle-class Bloomfield Hills (in Oakland County, the richest district in the tri-county area) who used to donate foods to food banks for tax-write offs now having to go to those same food banks simply to make ends meet--the same thing's happening next door in Macomb County (the blue-collar area). Also, it's getting hard as hell even for people with years of job exp. and degrees to find a job---even they have no guarantee that they will find a job right after they get laid off from their last one, because the job market has become that tight. A lot of people have already left the state because they can't find any work here----which is why Detroit's pop. has dropped big-time, by about 250,000 folks. So Wendy's situation isn't as far from reality as most people would like to think for a lot of folks,period.

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[–] tdoa 13 years ago

as I stated up front myself kgreene, I probably need a lesson in empathy. Consider yourself a good teacher. I also commend you for not resorting to the usual online cowardly rudeness & name calling, when disagreeing with someone's point of view. And if you are now at a place in your life that you are no longer homeless and able to make a living, I am most happy for you!

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[–] activista 11 years ago

@tboa

Thank you--your post made my day. Good to know I got through to someone!

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[–] eelsman1993 13 years ago

We really had no idea why she left home, and the way her sister and her husband acted, it seemed like she really had no home to go to.

It's a shame she had to leave Lucy, but I don't see her really having any other choice, and we see the dog at the start of the film being hungry, with Wendy unable even then to pay for Lucy's food, and like she said, she still had a long way to go. It's like the whistleblower from the store said; she shouldn't have a dog if she couldn't pay for it. And if she made enough money in Alaska, she could always come back down and pick Lucy up.

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[–] rc-108 12 years ago

I had a lot of sympathy for her.

She never called or talked about her parents...
She talked to her Brother and his wife, who wanted nothing to do with her.
She was on her own...and totally unprepared for it.
SHe was trying to save her family(her and Lucy) as best she could.
She made a plan....and her plan was not good enough, and it fell apart.
SHe reminded me a lot of the character in Into The Wild..
wanting to be free... but not totally ready..

even when she was getting help... she was leary of accepting it...
her trust in people was gone...which says something about why she was leaving Indiana...

Interesting movie... and you see her making better choices at the end...
accepting her life as it is.. maturing into where she was.

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[–] kevinsean-185-7961 11 years ago

Empathy is dying a long slow death and Apathy is in the prime of its life. We could get into hours of debate about everything relating to that. I've been in a situation similar to Wendys so it was easier for me to step into her shoes(although im a guy so there tight). The reasons for her being in the spot shes in are not known...on purpose...and I could see why in this film that hurt the empathy factor. In some films it works...not having concrete answers to everything....but for some reason I dont think it did in this. Is she running away to Alaska to get away from a horribly abusive husband or mysterious tragedy? Or is she a con-artist who burnt too many bridges? I think the movie painted her more like the former but was a little TOO vague. Someone else will probably explain it better.

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[–] 11 years ago

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