by Bennett Campbell Ferguson
Left: Israel Broussard (and not Emma Watson!) stars in "The Bling Ring"
When interviewed about her
film “The Bling Ring,” there is one thing that writer-director Sofia Coppola has
repeated constantly—that the film is a reflection of contemporary pop culture
and its noxious effect on kids. And
there’s certainly truth to that; after all, the story is about a group of tabloid-crazed teenagers stealing designer
clothes from celebrities.
Yet there is something else that needs to be emphasized—the
fact that, like all of Ms. Coppola’s movies, “The Bling Ring” is ultimately
about someone longing to be free of loneliness and stagnation. Because even though much of the film is
focused on the media menagerie surrounding the kids’ glamorous misdeeds, inner
turmoil burns beneath the glitz, even after the film’s coldly disaffected
conclusion.
That
uneasiness is never clearer than when we meet Marc (Israel Broussard), Ms.
Coppola’s version of the young thief Nick Prugo. Because though this young antihero is fairly
quiet, his silent yearnings are the most clearly felt sensations in the film,
especially when we see him look in the mirror and carefully arrange his
clothes. It doesn’t take a genius to see
that he’s nervous and dissatisfied with his appearance.
Thus, Marc seems doomed to be a self-loathing outcast,
something that’s confirmed when he seems mercilessly out of place in his new
school (“Watch it,” a girl snaps when she
bumps into him). And yet for some
reason, the stylish Rebecca (Katie Chang) takes Marc under her fashionable wing. “Hey, new kid,” she says coquettishly, before
inviting him to come to the beach after school.
Of course, he says yes.
The next scene is where it all comes together. Marc is in a car with Rebecca and her
friends, sitting in the backseat while brash pop music blares and the Sun
shines. And the look on his face is one
of absolute innocent excitement. Cars,
in Ms. Coppola’s movies, often seem to beckon the way to emotionally
exhilarating adventures, and here it’s true again. The music, the company, and the ride have all
relieved Marc from the anguish of insecure boredom.
It’s because
of that moment that when Marc joins the Bling Ring’s stealing spree, you never
forget that though he’s partly doing it for the rush, he’s also doing it so he
won’t be alone. “We had so many
beautiful and gorgeous things,” he says ruefully later on. Yet in the end, we are made to understand
that the thing Marc treasured most was his friendship with Rebecca and her
posse, however insubstantial it may have been.
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