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Noah's avatar

The mark of an interesting review is that you don't need to watch the movie to appreciate it. Well done.

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Jamie's avatar

Oh, this made me think of a Twilight Zone episode, "Uncle Simon," where I came to a similar conclusion about the main character, Barbara. She's lived for decades with her cruel, verbally abusive uncle (played by Cedric Hardwicke, best remembered as Pharaoh Seti in the Ten Commandments). Why does she live with him? Because he's rich and she wants to inherit his money. So she takes care of him, year after year. She goes nowhere and does nothing else.

I thought the question he snarkily asks her at one point was telling. Something along the lines of, "Did you build anything today? Create anything? Make anything?"

Of course not. She has no ambition, no drive, no dreams. She wants only one thing: her rich uncle's money. When he dies, she triumphantly shouts,

"I have sowed! And now I intend to *reap*!"

But Uncle Simon has a nasty surprise for her: upon his death, his lawyer reveals the robot Uncle Simon built in his secret laboratory. The robot is imbued with Simon's personality. It, too, insults Barbara. And mistreats her. But she is obligated by the terms of the will to take care of the robot, and is not allowed to redecorate the house. This is enforced by weekly visits from a university official -- the university will receive all of Simon's money if Barbara violates the terms of his will.

She is not the victim, although she sees herself as one. She could have lived her own life, built something for herself. Barbara could have created her own works, if she had it in her. But instead she chose passivity and greed and entitlement. The narrator makes it quite clear she's not "good" in the closing lines: "... [Barbara] discovered belatedly that all bad things don't come to an end, and that once a bed is made, it's quite necessary that you sleep in it ..."

Shelby, as described in your post, reminds me of a mentality I've tried to steer certain friends away from. If her story were a cautionary tale, like "Uncle Simon," I would love to recommend it. But I gather that's not the direction the movie went in. Which is too bad, because it sounds like the movie *could* have gone there, but lacked the conviction (or insight) to do so. Thanks for the review!

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