Friday, August 28, 2009

Confessions Of A Shopaholic: Fashion Reality Or Sad Hollywood Portrayal?

Even though "Confessions of a Shopaholic" burst onto the big screen in February of this year, fashion-obsessed people all over are still watching it for the first time.
So just a heads-up if you haven't seen it--I wouldn't recommend it. "Oh sure," you say, "It's all about clothes so I just have to watch it!" But a lot of it isn't very realistic.
Rebecca Bloomwood, the warm-hearted main character (played by the lovable-but-often-portrays-crazy-characters Isla Fisher) is literally addicted to shopping. She doesn't just check out the local boutiques once a month...she seems to rack up debt with every passing day. So much so that her new job at a savings magazine (can you say irony?) can't pay for her expenses and a debt collector is constantly following her around. Even though this movie is meant to be a comedy, we as the viewers can still see that 'Becky' needs some professional help.
Here's where the weirdness comes in. Everytime Becky sees something in a store window she loves but is wondering if she should buy, the mannequins become personified and easily convince her that she deserves those Prada pumps. I don't know about you, but this screams "Help this woman!" Sure, it's a movie, but couldn't a grown woman at least defend herself a little better in front of pieces of molded plastic wearing ridiculously expensive clothing?
The thing is, even though we know we should feel sorry for Becky because she is so obsessed with shopping and it practically ruins her life, but the movie is so random that we can't. It doesn't focus enough on the clothes, which is what draws most viewers to the movie, and instead moves quickly from one scene to the next, never allowing us to get to know the main characters and have an opinion about them.
Some of the outfits are a little over the top (exhibit A: a pink bridesmaid dress and a dalmation-style faux fur wrap) but this is New York, of course, the land of unattainable, downright strange fashion.
And that's what makes me glad I live in suburbia, where I can easily find relatively-affordable clothes that I love. Not to mention I don't have to keep a credit card encased in a block of ice...

2 comments:

  1. Interesting...I have yet to see this movie. However, I've heard it's incredibly good. (my favorite movie ever is probably The Devil Wears Prada as I am also a shopaholic!)

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  2. I definitely preferred The Devil Wears Prada to Confessions of a Shopaholic. It's true--not all shopping movies are created equally. And the combination of Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway...how can you top that?

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