How To Celebrate Black Friday

Sophie Kinsella’s charming novel “Confessions of a Shopaholic” was written in – and captures the spirit of -- the late 1990’s, back when people thought more about dot com riches than Bernie Madoff, and Citibank was a name on credit cards and not the banking equivalent of the Titanic. The main character, Rebecca Bloomwood, played by the mesmerizing Isla Fisher, grew up thinking Visas and American Express were “magic cards” that allowed adults to buy whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. So when she became one, she got twelve of these magic cards, rationalized extravagant purchases (I’m-saving-money-if-it’s-on-sale!), and simply ignored the not-so-magical credit card statements that came in the mail every month.

Anyone who’s ever had a credit card might identify with this story -- and that would be all of us.  The average family today carries $8,000 in credit card debt, only slightly less than the sum Rebecca is trying to conquer in the film, and 14% of us carry more than ten cards in their wallets.  Of course, most Americans went into debt less glamorously – by buying new SUVs and plasma screens, not Hermes scarves or the latest Prada shoes. But honest viewers can see Rebecca Bloomwood’s on-screen antics and identify the same disease in themselves – an unwillingness to delay gratification by working hard, saving, and then purchasing… or, even more radically, not purchasing at all.

Some say producer Jerry Bruckheimer – who spent almost eight years developing this movie – had extremely bad luck with the timing of the release since much of the current economic crisis was due to everyday people overspending on credit.  On the contrary, I think the current economic malaise makes Shopaholic a much more interesting film.

For example, in this day and age, who doesn’t dislike credit card collectors? The villain in Shopaholic is collector Derek Smeath (played by actor Robert Stanton) who pursues Rebecca throughout the movie, using common psychological techniques to get her to pay her bills – persistence and embarrassment. He works in a lifeless, drab gray cubicle and encourages new collectors to drive their debtors to despair.  In fact, this character could have been written by financial guru Dave Ramsey, who constantly warns of credit cards and the unethical behavior of their collectors.

Of course, Mr. Ramsey advocates hard work, personal responsibility, and sacrifice to get back on financial track. And this is where the movie asks you to suspend your disbelief. The irony of the film is that she gets a job at a magazine called “Successful Saving,” in her effort to ultimately land a fashion writing gig. Consequently, she ends up giving (wink-wink) financial advice in a column that sets the city a-talking – apparently a fantasy of screen-writers, who frequently create characters with oh-so-chic literary careers and fame that spreads like news of the latest bank collapse.  Using shopping-talk, she’s supposed to make complex financial issues accessible, and she apparently pulls this off, even though we never get to hear any of these spectacular columns that immediately result in television appearances. While most viewers can identify with Rebecca’s debt-incurring, the debt-eradication is an easy and relatively painless “movie fix.”  Many critics bemoan the relative ease from which she extricates herself, but let’s face it.  As cute and talented as she is, who wants to see Isla Fisher delivering pizzas on the weekend to pay off her debts one at a time?

While the plot differentiates pretty substantially from the book, it does so in an updated way that retains the book’s charm and wit.  Kinsella, for example, wrote the novel so long ago that Rebecca didn’t even have a cell phone. Nowadays, all characters have iPhones or Blackberries, which make it harder for writers to build plot tension. No longer can characters frantically try to find a phone booth and tap their feet as someone rudely drones on and on, no longer does the guy miss the girl who’s on her way to the airport and have to speed to breathlessly profess love at terminal gate, no longer can the antagonist simply cut the phone lines as a house full of girls paint their nails at a slumber party. Modern characters always have the option of just using their cell phones, which is precisely why you have so many dead cell phone batteries in movies.  The adapters of Shopaholic, however, give Rebecca a cell phone and cleverly use the new technology -- specifically creating unique ringtones for individual callers -- to actually advance the plot in a cringe-inducing and wonderfully entertaining ways.

The movie is chocked full of stars.  English heartthrob Hugh Dancy plays the romantic lead, Lynn Redgrave is a drunk socialite, John Lithgow is a media CEO, Kristin Scott Thomas is a fashion editor, and Wendie Malick is a addiction recovery counselor.  John Goodman and Joan Cusack play Rebecca’s parents who had good financial inclinations they didn’t pass onto their daughter. Sadly, the sum total of their financial instruction seemed to be when her dad made quarters magically appear from behind her ears. In fact, at one point, the mom holds up a book about teaching kids about money and asks, “Do you think it’s too late?”

Most people, in polite society, don’t talk about matters of personal finance. The beauty of Shopaholic is that it hilariously brings up issues that frankly it’s time bring out of the closet – credit cards, selfish indulgence, and walking away from items you don’t need…whether it’s designer jeans or the newest Ford F-250.  In a time where the nation’s finances seem astoundingly hopeless, it’s time for we as individuals to start acting responsibly… at least, we’ll have some moral authority when we vote the stimulus advocates out of office, and we might even be able to afford college for our kids.

The wonderful message of “Confessions of a Shopaholic” is simply that, no, it’s not too late.

So, this Black Friday, go rent it instead of fighting the crowds at the mall.

But for goodness sake, pay for the DVD rental in cash.

by NANCY FRENCH, who wants to do all her Christmas shopping online, from the comfort of her own laptop.

A version of this article appeared on National Review here.