What was it that Graham does for money?
Just before he makes the video with Ann, she asks him why he doesn't have a job, or what he does for money or something like that. He tells her that he pulls money out of his mattress, and that he wasn't worried about running out of cash...
What does that mean? Is he living off an inheritance or something? I was waiting for the mysterious source of his income to be revealed, but it never appeared. What did I miss?
I always assumed it was a trust fund, something to do with wealthy parents or grandparents. Someone on another thread suggested it he could be on some kind of disability benefit because his mental health status has been judged shaky enough for him to qualify. That could be so. They also said that the original script hinted at compensation from a car accident. He does not seem to have any physical or mental problems that could have been caused by a car accident, but perhaps they are not clear.
I wonder if he gets a job when Ann goes back to work, but like that we are not told. It's nice to have a film where the central character DOESN'T have a job, just for once.
I hope her job was recycling "garbage" (or "rubbish", as we call it on this side of the Atlantic) or something useful.
I assumed he worked and saved up money in the nine years since he last saw John. Who knows how long he's been traveling around for.
Or that it had something to do with how he used to be a pathological liar. Maybe he scammed a bunch of people or sold drugs or something.
-Caroline
"Let the lovefeast begin."
"People are dying. The dialogue has to be up to it."
"Maybe he scammed a bunch of people" - interesting. Would he try to make amends or avoid the issue?
" ... or sold drugs" - is selling drugs part of being a pathological liar? Does it depend on whether he lies to his customers about the purity of the drugs or does just lying to the police (by claiming not to be a drug dealer) count?
I think if he had been a con man, he might have also been willing to make money by doing less dishonest, but still illegal things, like selling drugs. That was really just speculation based on very little, though. If he was dishonest in his personal life that could carry over to other areas of his life, but I can't imagine someone who had enjoyed scamming people out of their money ending up voluntarily living out of their car, even many years later.
-Caroline
"Let the lovefeast begin."
"People are dying. The dialogue has to be up to it."
[deleted]
Interesting. Why did he come across as a drug dealer to you? He seemed very laid-back about personal security for someone moving in such circles, but maybe that is a rather stereotyped view of drug dealing.
shareYeah, didn't John say that Graham was really popular in college? It'd make sense if they were friends because they were both into partying and Graham could provide the drugs. Plus you can make a ton of money in a relatively short amount of time that way.
-Caroline
"Let the lovefeast begin."
"People are dying. The dialogue has to be up to it."
I think what Radiant Rose wrote is the most likely thing. He could have recieved some sort of disability, because I had a second cousin who quite his 17 year career as a high school guidance counselor in June, 1989 (right when this movie came out), and the next year (1990) was diagnosed with paranoid sciznoprenia, and then began recieving a sizable monthly disability payment, and never had to work again (just had to regularly see his psychiatrist and take medication, and would continue to get this until he died (which he unfortunately did of a heart attack, on April 22, 1995). Or he could have had a physical injury of some type and reciever disability payments for this. I had a coworker in 1999 that told me he had traveled to all 50 states, just traveled around for over a year, and when I asked how he paid for it he said he had had a previous work injury and recieved disability payments. He was working as a sweeper in a textile plant then, and showed no signs of this, but did have it earlier. Or he could have indeed recieved an inheritance, as his parents could have been wealthy, and this was enough to live off of comfortably for the rest of his life. I recieved an inheritance from my own mother's will earlier this year, and she was not wealthy and it was not of that amount, but I know this too is likely. He could, as was also mentioned on here, been a drug dealer, as I have nothing to do with that but do realize it can get one wealthy quickly. But I think the inheritance or disability is really what it was, and I as a big liberal fully support didability payments (though thankfully have never needed them), and was glad to get this inheritance, though really would rather just have had the career I desire and worked, and hope to get it from now on until I die.
"I happen to be a vegetarian". Lex, from Jurrasic Park
Perhaps your co-worker's injury was severe enough to cause major problems for a while, and thence to merit a large award, but not severe enough to cause permanent problems?
Sorry to hear about the death of your second cousin and your mother.
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Don't dream it, be it.
I don't see anything in the film that would indicate that either by temperament or some ability that he had or anything that he consciously did by work, by initiative, inventiveness, no - nothing that could account for him having a financial independence like that, which he could attribute to himself. It would have to have originated from some freak accident or perhaps a benefactor or inheritance that he stumbled into. He doesn't even have the necessary faculties to manage that kind of wealth even if it was given to him. Someone (or institution) would have to be managing it for him.
"The truth does not make it easier to understand." Sophie Zawistowski
Graham seemed like the kind of guy who thought the world owed him a living. He probably sponged off relatives and friends.
shareI think it's part of the appeal of the movie that we're trying to sound out Graham. The other three characters are pretty easy to fathom -- the yuppie lawyer bastard, his neurotic wife and her freewheeling sister -- but Graham keeps us on our toes.
But if you want a backstory, maybe he was in advertising, or insurance. He was some hotshot just like John. Maybe that's part and parcel of the lying game that he's trying put behind him.
But in brief: We don't know. We're supposed to wonder.