MovieChat Forums > In Her Shoes (2005) Discussion > Do People STEAL So Easily?

Do People STEAL So Easily?

posted 9 years ago by StrayCat1000
4 replies | jump to latest

A lot of critics, reviews, etc, state that this movie is "honest", "realistic", etc, blah, blah, blah.

Cameron Diaz's character Maggie is a bit messed up, in a slump, etc, but it's not like she's a complete loser, or brought up poorly, or some kind of junkie.

Yet, she steals so easily from the people closest to her, like money from her parent's place, $20s from her sister's bf's pocket, rummaging for moola through her long lost grandma's stuff who generously took her in when she had nowhere else to go, and some other things.

So it begs the question -- do people NOT in the categories stated above (i.e. NOT a complete loser, poor upbringing, junkie) steal sh*t SO EASILY from FAMILY and people so close to them? And, further to the opening statement, does this also qualify as "honest", "realistic", etc?

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"There's a lot of RAGE inside me about it". ~ Austin Matelson

[–] lano_star 9 years ago

I hope not, if I even thought of stealing something, I'd look so guilty right away that I would never get away with it.

[–] Goldlionsfire 8 years ago

I know a lot of well off people who are kleptomaniacs. I am not well off myself but I would say I've stolen things here & there that have nothing to do with my needs but it's thrilling/fills a void for a minute, just like all the one night stands in this movie. It's psychological.

[–] cpoet 8 years ago

Maggie felt "entitled" in all kinds of ways.

I had a friend who didn't think twice about dropping by my apartment when I wasn't home--she had a key--to see whether I had a new outfit she might want to wear or to "borrow" that bottle of champagne I'd been saving, because she had a date coming over. I thought it was very strange because I had access to her apartment as well, but it just wouldn't ever have occurred to me to go rummage around for goodies. Was it because she was incredibly pretty and she was used to people being generous, or giving her a pass . . . or what?

I finally told her to knock it off, which caused a big fight--she just didn't see it as any big deal.

I can't answer your question because I never quite figured it out, but I know both my friend and Maggie would have protested that they weren't really, like, you know, STEALING.

[–] elegantblkchina1 8 years ago

Yes they do and if they don't fit in the categories you mentioned they're usually middle-class or rich people that are used to getting whatever they want. I had a friend in college who had everything going for her in life. Good grades, family was well off, own apartment, own car, somehow managed to be a functioning drunk and pill popper and she was always shoplifting because "it was fun". She wasn't doing it for the drugs and alcohol because she was never broke. As a matter of fact she was always the person people would borrow from because she always had extra money. She just liked to steal.