(My pal Vicki is starting on a quest in the fabulous world of manuscript submissions — head on over and wish her luck! Sailor Boy and I are heading on our own adventure this weekend. It’s entirely possible that we’re nuts, but here goes.)
I’ve been meaning to post about this for a while (in the sense that I’ve had this jpg on my desktop forever), but I keep forgetting. Who here has read the Shopaholic series? I had a really tough time with the first one, in that is scared the daylights out of me. I didn’t go to Starbucks for a month.
Now, I’ve never been in credit card debt. School loan debt? Yes, ridiculous amounts. Credit cards: not so much. I use my card in place of cash and pay off the balance every month. In fact, the year I graduated from college, this was a major problem, since my $500 limit wasn’t quite covering my monthly needs in Manhattan, and the company was refusing to up my limit, as I was “not a good credit customer.” I had no idea what they meant, since, according to what my parents had always taught me — I had great credit. Turns out, having great credit does not make you a good customer of the credit card company. So my friend convinced me (and it took a lot of convincing) to leave a small balance on my card for one month. Lo and behold, they upped my limit several thousand dollars.
Yes, it’s a ridiculous world we live in. Which brings us back to Becky Bloomwood.
Unlike a lot of chick lit heroines, I couldn’t get behind what I viewed as her extremely self-destructive behavior. I couldn’t identify with her, which I believed was the kiss of death for a book in this genre. However, I found her adventures hilarious, and I kept reading. And that’s when all that fancy lit analysis that had put me in school loan debt came flitting to the surface and I realized that though the Shopaholic series was packaged as chick lit, it was actually social satire. Becky Bloomwood was not an “everywoman” heroine like Bridget Jones or Amy Haskel. She was, in the literary sense, a clown. Not Helena, but Bottom.
Once I realized these things, I enjoyed the series much more. In fact, I loved it. Kinsella’s writing is brisk and amusing, and her take on the credit crisis is funny because it’s so spot on. My favorite was Shopaholic and Sister, where we got the fabulous foil of the frugal sister, Jessica. Though not quite as unkind to frugality as she is to shopaholism, Kinsella does have a few barbs toward those who make it a religion.
So now they are making Shopaholic a movie, starring Isla Fisher, who I think is a great choice, as she played such a fabulous clown in Wedding Crashers. (No, I haven’t seen her in anything else.) I’ve heard that they are relocating the film to New York, which is a wee bit appalling, since I think that of the two, Shopaholic is way more relentlessly British than Bridget Jones’s Diary was. All the stores she shopped in and the upper-class git she dates named Tarquin of all things, and etc. But I guess they can just change Liberty’s to Barney’s or whatever.
No, what really gets to me is the clothes. Listen to a description of a standard Becky Bloomwood outfit:
I’m wearing all black — but expensive black. The kind you fall into. A simple sleeveless dress from Whistles, the highest of Jimmy Choos, a pair of uncut amethyst earrings. And please don’t ask how much it all cost, since that’s irrelevant.
In this scene, she also states that she’s spritzed with Chanel.
The point is, Becky’s wardrobe is classic. She’s all about brand-print scarves and cashmere sweaters and designer black dresses and Armani suits.
And then this is what they put her in for the movie:
Well, they got the clown part right, at least.
Seriously, what’s with that? I heard the costume designer is the same chick who did Carrie on Sex and the City, which is pretty obvious, but Becky is not Carrie. She doesn’t dress like Carrie. She’s not a Carrie knock-off. I don’t think Becky Bloomwood would ever wear this outfit. I’m hoping it’s some sort of elaborate dream sequence.
Keeping my fingers crossed.
May 29th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Good post Diana. I’m a big fan of the series and Becky. I wish they would have stayed more true to the book though and stayed in London. I also hope they stay true to the voice of the character. I totally got her crazy descriptions. The character has an addiction and Kinsella does a great job of turning it into a satire and creating a character we can get behind and laugh with. I hope the movie doesn’t make her into a big joke.
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May 29th, 2008 at 8:44 am
I read the first book months ago and then just started reading the rest of the series. (I had to stop reading because I’m a frugal person and Becky made me pull my hair out!) I’m starting SHOPAHOLIC AND SISTER this week. I’ve seen that pic before and had the same thought–Becky is chic not clowny!
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May 29th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Awww…thanks Diana! I really am excited about this part of the process even with rejections.
The first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the pic was Carrie. And you’re right, she is so not a Carrie. Doesn’t fit the book or the idea behind it. Hopefully you’re also right, as in this is a dream.
Hope you SB have a great weekend.
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May 29th, 2008 at 11:15 am
I love the Shopaholic books — so much so that I don’t think I can stand to see the movie — it’s bound to be a dissapointment. Anyway, I wouldn’t call Becky a clown — her behavior is self-destructive, but Kinsella, IMO, manages to give her endearing qualities that are her saving grace.
My favorite book by Kinsella, though, is The Undomestic Goddess (although I think you have to have worked as a lawyer in a big firm practice to really get how much Kinsella ‘gets’ it, lol.)
Kinsella always has me falling off my chair laughing.
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May 29th, 2008 at 11:46 am
I’ve never read any of the Shopaholic books, but will have to give the series a try.
I really dislike when Hollywood changes a character from a book into someone else for the movie. Leave the characters alone, that’s why the books were so great.
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May 29th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Kwana: that’s true — it’s definitely a portrayal of addiction — a funny one, but addiction nonetheless.
Jessica: me too! I think you’ll like “…and sister” better because it’s a tad more balanced.
Vicki: Apparently, the designer is the same person who dresses Carrie,a dn this is apparently *her* style. But I would have hoped she’d be more true to the character. More like Charlotte, perhaps?
Phyllis: Well, I think Botom is endearing, too. Just not identifiable. There are definitely places Kinsella takes Becky that I don’t find particularly heroine-worthy. Most people I know who haven’t been able to get into the series, when they look at it from the satire perspective have a much easier time.
Liza: It’s tough, huh? (Note how I haven’t posted about Prince Caspian yet).
I just got the booklist review for ROSB. It’s completely spoiler-ific!
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June 1st, 2008 at 6:02 pm
That outfit doesn’t surprise me in the least… Hollywood doesn’t *do* subtle anymore. If it were too relatable we might actually learn something. Like: be careful of letting your one-more-pair-of-shoes mantra strut you right out of house and home. And let’s not forget that it was President Bush himself who instructed Americans to “go shopping” when the country was undergoing its most serious crisis. Becky Bloomwood, the clown? But of course! Becky Bloomwood, 5-maxed-out-credit-card-holding-cutie-pie next door? Heaven forbid!
What I loved most about those books is that, though they are pushed to satirical extremes, Becky’s rationalizations make total sense. They make you believe that a Pucci scarf is in fact an investment… almost. And if you didn’t identify with BB, it’s because you are a fiscally responsible person, and not susceptible to fashion fascism. Most woman, alas, are neither, which would explain the series’ phenomenal success.
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June 1st, 2008 at 6:05 pm
… or at least most young single women with no one to spend on but themselves. I’m sure that once you have kids, or start seeing everyone around you putting down payments on great condos you can only dream about, all those “investments” in your closet don’t look so good anymore : )
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June 3rd, 2008 at 2:54 am
I had exactly the same problems you did with Becky in the beginning. I just found her too far over the top for what I was expecting to get.
Once I got over my own expectations, I actually enjoyed the book more for what it was.
Kinsella has this way of almost-but-not-quite grating on me with her writing voice, but I like the stories, so I keep going with them.
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June 4th, 2008 at 12:31 am
Great analysis of the Becky character. I’ve only read the first one in that series, but loved it. I haven’t studied as much english lit as you, so hadn’t come up with the “clown” theory… but to me, she was just so over the top she was never meant to be taken literally. I love how Kinsella commits to her characters’ foibles.
Eileen Cook’s recent debut Unpredictable was like that for me, too. A different set of foibles, but similarly committed to a character being just a little crazy. (And for me, very funny.)
And you are so right about that costume choice. Crazy. And so not Becky.
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