Movie Review: "Shopgirl" ~ Steve Martin

Synopsis:

Mirabelle works as the glove seller in a department store in Los Angeles. She has moved to LA with hopes that she will make the necessary connections to get a better life, but soon she realizes that this is not easy and that she doesn’t have an active social life that would lead her to make conections which would open doors to her dream to become an artist.

She falls in love with two men. One is rich, divorced and older than her, his name is Ray Porter. The other guy is Jeremy, poor, growing emotionally as well as economically, loving, sensitive and a really nice guy with a lot of weakness because of his youth.

Mirabelle eventually chooses a reciprocal relation with Jeremy, rather than a relation where she can have many things with Ray but unreciprocated love.

---

My Opinion:

• The whole movie is centered on women’s behavior in some way. I am not sure if the intention of the writer (Steve Martin ) is to critize women working in low paying jobs who in some way manage to use their beauty and sex skills to get money from men, or if the movie is a portrait of a woman in similar circumstances to her colleages, but in some way she manages to take control of her life, and find a man who respects and loves her genuinely. Mirabelle is an example of a woman who tries to fit and overcome challenges, and almost loses herself in the relationship with Ray , but eventually she understands her position in this relationship and then she leaves him, gets another job, and continues working on her art pieces; at that point she is ready for a relationship with Jeremy and he is ready too because both of them have grown emotionally. This respectful relationship and the changes in her life eventually lead her to have her art on display in a gallery. At this point the rich man says sorry to her, but she shows by her body language that that relationship has hurt her, but now she is free, succesful and with a man who respects and loves her.

• I think that a lot of women throughout history had long battles in order to have rights in a society where women struggled for the right to vote, to be considered human beings, to have meaningful relationships where they have equal rights. We can read the books of Margaret Lawrence where women did not have equal status in their marriages. Another example was Julia Ward who struggled for these rights. There have been so many efforts, so many sacrifices, for so long, and now, when finally women can exercise their rights, I saw a movie where some women choose to misuse these rights and become people who work in a big store, liking beautiful things but not having enough income to buy them. As a result they become a kind of candy for anyone, losing their self-esteem and control of their lives; they do not exercise their rights as women who believe in themselves. If all the women who contributed in the past to the achievement of equal rights could see this movie, what might they say to these women?