“Confessions of a Shopaholic” is light-hearted entertainment dealing with addiction
Posted By Hilath
“Confessions of a Shopaholic” is a good starting point for those who want to understand the psychology of addiction -– whether you are addicted to sex, sports, Kasauti, God or even drugs and alcohol. And the moral of the story is that, any obsession, whatever it is you are obsessed with, is not a healthy thing, either for your emotional stability, or your credit card.
The emotional state behind addiction is the same everywhere – an intense and unhealthy obsession for something that gives you a temporary ‘kick’ or ‘high’ and sends you into a state of extreme euphoria, which of course is momentary and short-lived and you have a need to feel that same experience again -– however much you have to spend on it and consequently become bankrupt in the process.
Director P. J. Hogan’s one-and-half-hour movie, based on the book by Sophie Kinsella, works more as feel-good entertainment, and while the first half of the film could be trying for its superficiality, it nevertheless builds up to a satisfying psychologically provoking film. However, my favorite film of Hogan is still his Australian movie Muriel’s Wedding, with My Best Friend’s Wedding coming a close second.
“Confessions” is also a social criticism of the all-invasive consumerist culture — blame it on extreme capitalism — this need to define one’s identity in the form of brand names. In the end, what really works is not glamorous brand names but what makes you actually feel good about yourself: as the protagonist Rebecca Bloomwood (played by the cute Isla Fisher) tells the winning bidder of her famous green scarf: “Promise me that you will never wear it with yellow.”
