So he agreed to take the attractive girl to prom, and then instead went to see the dying girl in the hospital instead. What happened to prom? Was it actually that night, or was it another night? When his mom said "Take lots of pictures" she must have not known that he was going to the hospital, right? I feel bad for any girl jilted on prom night. Did he jilt the girl that he was going to take? I'm very confused by this and don't see a discussion of this anywhere.
shareOne detail: if he was planning on going to the prom rather than the hospital when he got in the limo, why did he bring a portable projector with him?
shareHe didn't. He only brought the corsage. Nothing else in his hands. Projector was hers.
http://www.mkse.com
Has been part of the Swedish film "Detaljer".
Nope... He pulled the projector out from his right coat pocket and his phone from his left. Who takes a projector to a prom... also he makes films so a camera should have made more sense if he actually was going to the prom. This settles it... he meant to see Rachel when he left in limo.
shareWhat if we consider the possibility he, after listening to the limo driver, went back to his house and picked up the projector?!
He never meant to see Rachel when he left. He was going for that Madison girl, but changed his mind after the limo driver started talking.
OP, come on man. It seem like u missed the whole point of the movie:
"What happened to prom?" -> What I just said.
"Was it actually that night, or was it another night?" -> Yes, it was that night, it seems pretty obvious and a few scenes point that out (like a poster in school saying "prom tonight or something like that".
"When his mom said "Take lots of pictures" she must have not known that he was going to the hospital, right?" -> No, she didn't know. She thought he was going to prom with Madison, that's why she said she knew he'd find a girl for prom.
"I feel bad for any girl jilted on prom night. Did he jilt the girl that he was going to take? I'm very confused by this and don't see a discussion of this anywhere." -> Yep, he did, but as the other guy said before, "I imagine Madison would be fairly understanding" considering the whole situation.
Either watch it again paying more attention to it and you'll see what a fantastic movie this is, or just forget about it..
I know I loved it, and I'm not ashamed to say I cried like a baby, in the most manly way possible :D.
And I don't mean to be rude by any of this, so forgive me if it sounds too harsh. I just freaking loved it so much I can't believe u couldn't feel the same way I did because u missed a few things, so my advice would be to watch it again if possible..
@ jecois: I felt the EXACT same way after seeing the movie (28yrs old guy here). It's hard for a movie to make guys get tearful in most scenarios, but when they do, it's just beautiful on an emotional level !!
I'd highly recommend watching this one too : Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0398808/
Glad to find someone who felt just like I did (I'm 23 btw). And I also watched Bridge To Terabithia on release, great movie, but I'm gonna watch it again sometime.
Idk about u but the moment I started sobbing was at the hospital when he shows the movie and that song, or sound effect started playing. The soundtrack, specially in that scene, along with the facial expressions on her face, made me cry like a baby :), and I know the same thing is gonna happen she I watch it again. This movie definitely became one of my favorites of all time.
jecois, you are so convinced that you are right. Are you saying it is possible to be sure about this? If so then I am sure that the writers were sloppy.
shareIt's my interpretation Sam, but I can't be 100% sure about it, only the ones involved can.
What do u mean by the writers being sloppy? where?
You are entitled to your opinion and I support you in being free to express it. Some people try to suppress others from expressing opinion.
What I mean by sloppy is doing something quick without concern about doing it well. It is a lot of work to write something and we should appreciate a writer that is able to write a story that is concise (while still being effective), enjoyable and understandable.
I can understand how difficult it can be to write something in which the story fits together totally and is feasible and that the viewers can understand what the writer intends. I know it is difficult. Some are better at it than others. It takes time and imagination. Being sloppy means they did not take the time to make it all fit toghether and such.
Nearly every story has an inconsistency of some type. Many of us keep hoping for perfection. I think the writer or writers of this movie did not try enough to make everything fit together and to explain things (either by words or actions). Sometimes they use the excuse that they did it on purpose.
Computer programmers sometimes say a program is sloppy. Sloppy programs are more likely to have bugs (errors). Sloppy programs are more difficult to understand by other programmers and maybe even the programmer that wrote them. Managers sometimes prefer sloppy programmers, not because they are sloppy, but because managers think they are getting more because sloppy programmers are willing to work more hours when their programs are buggy.
A sloppy writer is likely to cost (require) less than a quality writer.
The concept of taking more time to make something shorter is quite common among writers; see:
http://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/04/28/shorter-letter
Writing something good takes time. I could have written this better if I wanted to spend more time on it.
Yeah, totally agree with u on that, and I apologize if I sounded like one of those people, I respect different opinions, but english is my second language so sometimes when I write something it seems ok in my language but it may sound harsh in english :P.
And ok, I understand that pretty much all movies have some kind of inconsistency of some sort, but what part of this movie in particular is sloppy for u? Just so I can get an idea of what I didn't catch in the first view (gonna watch it again soon).
Exactly what I was thinking after I finished being tortured for two hours. Still, after reading few threads here, I don't know what the film tried to convey. Like someone said it here, "it was a hot mess."
How the 2015 hit Malayalam film Premam affected my life: http://bitly.com/Premam2015Film
Do you recall what it would be like to be jilted at Prom? FIrst you tell all your friends you are going, buy an expensive dress, plan your evening, wait with your parents to take pictures, etc. That night would have been horrible for her, waiting around for him to show up for hours sitting in her prom dress.
The movie was far too good to have to do "tricks" like this. (Unless the movie was about lying ...."Want to go to the prom", "the girl doesn't die in the end", etc.)
There are a million ways that the movie could have dealt with this without making all of us think he is more of a jerk that he was already.
This really ruined the movie for me.
Probably he called other girl and told his plans about prom .They just didnt show that to surprise us with hospital scene.
shareI can only imagine the pain that a girl who is ditched on her prom would go through. However, Madison is "supposedly" an attractive girl, and the way her character is portrayed, I am pretty sure she would find another guy. There must be tens of boys who would be ready to ditch their respective lesser-attractive dates, mind you, and go with the a girl who is known for her curvy bod. All told, this is film culture I am talking about. Nothing like this happens in real world. At least, not in India.
However, this theory does not protect the film from being a smart-alecky nonsense.
How the 2015 hit Malayalam film Premam affected my life: http://bitly.com/Premam2015Film
Well either he chose to spend time with Rachel instead, or as I think, he just swung by there beforehand. To actually involve Rachel in this big night somehow, and I mean what better night could he possible show her this film? He didn't know how the night would turn out, and after something like that it would be plain cold to go to prom after. Just skipping it is the humane and natural way, and it goes hand-in-hand with the tone of this film.
share^ This. :)
Sir, I appreciate the struggle you have been through, and I am very sorry to have caused you pain.
Obviously. So glad someone else finally said it. Nothing I do takes All Day. He went to the hospital for say an hour. Show of the film etc. Was going to go to the prom afterwards. I mean, why the limo otherwise? She wasn't going to come out of her hospital room and go for a ride.
Dying ruined the plan and interrupted the narrative so he didn't get to the prom or discuss it.
Exactly. The plan was to go to the hospital show the film and then take the limo to the prom.
shareThe Prom happened, the girl went alone and He decide to spent his time with Her.
It was really awesome how everything happened.
My only question is why didn't Madison have a date before asking Greg? She was obviously "the hot girl", so why didn't she have a date until she asked a guy that wasn't even planning to go?
Who did Earl go with?
"That poor girl would feel so bad at prom! Horrible Greg!"
You do realize he chose to see a girl that was LITERALLY DYING and died that night instead, right?
In my opinion the "Prom debacle" was the highlight of the movie, not only because it was one of the most important scenes in the story, but also because we come to realise that for the VERY FIRST TIME! Greg is able to make a decision by himself. He´s not pressured by his mom, Earl or anyone around him. Its the first time he decides to take action, do what he wants and not be afraid to admit that he deeply respects his friendship with Rachel and also that he´s no longer affected by what other people may think about him; including Madison.
THIS IS THE BEST PART. GREG GREW SOME BALLS. :)
Yes!
That's a very good interpretation.
"Maybe it's another dimension. Or, you know, just really deep." --Needy
People that feel a need to pressure need to listen. Pressure is unnecessary when someone can explain why a decision is good and then the person learns how to make the decisions themselves. If meeting Rachel was the right decision then they could have discussed it with him instead of pressuring him. If a person does not "grow some balls" when they are continuously pressured then it is because the person pressuring them is confusing.
In this case, he made decisions on his own. The fact that his parents pressured him does not prove he did not.
I see 3 theories, but each have their contradictions.
Theory one. He never actually agreed to take Madison to the prom. If this is the case then why rent a limo to see a girl that can't leave the hospital?
Theory two. He changed his mind about prom only after talking with the limo driver. Then why have the projector on him?
Theory three. His plan was to visit Rachel, show her the movie, and then go and pick up Madison for prom. Then why give his only corsage to Rachel?
Theory three makes the most sense, but I do wish they had a line or two to clear up the confusion. Otherwise he does look like a jerk that ditched his prom date.
Wasn't that Madison and another guy together at the funeral gathering -- and Greg gave them a sort of dirty look?
shareIt was Madison and the douchey Goth-guy that was his mortal enemy. I doubt very much that they were there "together". They were just two of the probably many school friends of Rachel who came to the service. And I dont think Greg gave them a dirty look, he was just obviously upset at the service.
sharerickypramos, I agree with your 3 theories.
share