Confessions of a Shopaholic … Cheap Retail Therapy on Film

Bring it on. I'm astounded by the controversy whipped up in the trade press over the upcoming (February 2009) film release of Confessions of a Shopaholic, an adaptation of Sophie Kinsella's novel about a compulsive and ultimately resourceful retail addict, played by irresistible Isla Fisher. Click through for the trailer.





Wall Street's screenwriter Stanley Weiser carps, "How can you make a comedy about a shopaholic when the economy is in dire straits? I find it kind of obscene, frankly." Obviously, Mr. Weiser and others do not understand the benefits of retail therapy. And at what price? A paltry $8.50 for a movie ticket, I couldn't buy lipstick for that.

I for one am delighted with a parade of beautiful designer clothes and shoes. And Hollywood knows how to please its recessionistas, the new label for stylish girls on a budget. Sure, we can't afford to buy a pair of Manolos or a vintage Birken bag, but we can certainly afford to look at them. Think of Carrie's wedding dress shoot in Sex and the City and Andrea's transformation from dowdy schoolgirl to Chanel fashionplate in The Devil Wears Prada ... we love the modern day Cinderella story.

Shopaholic takes it a step further, showing the ugly lining of fashion addiction: growing credit card debt that can't be paid on the average girl's salary.

Politically incorrect? Painful? Abhorrent in these times of economic crisis?

No, a lesson to be learned for some perhaps, and for those of us who haven't buried themselves in frivolous debt, a much needed escape from our budget conscious reality.

Please, don't change the ending, don't cut the scenes filled with designer goodies, let us have our fun. Lighten up, Hollywood. Think of it as therapy. And I'll do my penance by bringing a sack lunch to balance the $8.50 splurge. Oh, and when can I buy that fuschia MacBook I saw in the trailer?

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