Confessions of a Shopaholic

So, how about that Slumdog Millionaire? Uh...how about Confessions of a Shopaholic? Yep, you've been warned...you're about to encounter some froth. Believe it or not, a few years ago I read the novel on which the movie is based and enjoyed it. Like I've said before, chick lit really is my sci-fi. In most chick lit stories, romance is the central theme. However, Shopaholic dealt with a major issue I could really relate to: Financial problems. I loved reading a book that dealt with financial problems in a funny way. And so, I was looking forward to seeing the movie. And even though it's totally predictable-- it's sort of like Sex and the City meets The Devil Wears Prada meets Legally Blonde-- that's not the point. I enjoyed it because not only is it pure escapism, but I found it oddly relatable.

As we've explored, asexuals are poor people, and I'm no different. Like Shopaholic's New York (and the book's London), living in San Francisco can be torturous when you don't have much money. You're constantly surrounded by "the trappings of wealth". Even my co-workers at Goodwill that make minimum wage have iPhones. The fact that your own wants are modest (I would kill to have a working clothes dryer) makes it all seem even worse. Some writers said the film was in poor taste, coming out during an economic crisis. But visit any of San Francisco's most affluent 'hoods and you'll see a lot more shopping than this one movie can convey. We all cope with these desire/lifestyle discrepancies in different ways. I pretty much became a socialist, and Becky, heroine of Shopaholic, shops. But it's all, perhaps, asexier than just the poverty connection.

In the first few minutes of the film, Becky says:

"You know when a cute guy smiles at you, and your heart goes all warm butter sliding down toast? That's how I feel when I see a store."

And I said to myself, as I am wont to do, "I am SO blogging about this!" Now, I don't love shopping any more than the average stylista, but that statement resonated with me. It was refreshing to see that something was more important than cute guys, even if it's something as dumb as shopping. But alongside with shopping, Becky is also passionate about her career in journalism. Her biggest dream is to get a job at a top fashion magazine. At the beginning of the movie, it was a job that Becky was seeking, not a boyfriend. When Becky does get her man in the end (which is so obvious I can't even call it a spoiler), I was pleased, because I felt like Becky had more going for her than just one guy. And even though Becky netted her ideal partner, her most enduring romance seems to be with a scarf.

At the conclusion of the film, when Becky is making out with Luke, the man in question, she's still distracted by shoes in a store window. That's either sad, or the expansion of romantic ideals that I've been pushing for. It's hard to really tell.