SUMMARY
Rebecca Bloomwood is a shopping addict who lives with her best friend Suze. She
works as a journalist for a gardening magazine but dreams of joining the fashion
magazine Alette. On the way to an interview with Alette, she buys a green scarf. Her credit
card is declined, so Rebecca goes to a hot dog stand and offers to buy all the hot dogs with a
check, if the seller gives her back change in cash, saying the scarf is to be a gift for her sick
aunt. The hot dog vendor refuses but a man offers her $20.
When Rebecca arrives at the interview, she's said that the position has been filled.
However, the receptionist tells her there is an open position with the magazine Successful
Savings, explaining that getting a job at Successful Savings could eventually lead to a position
at Alette magazine. Rebecca interviews with Luke Brandon, the editor of Successful
Savings and the man who just gave her the $20.
Rebecca gets the job. Rather than completing a work assignment for a new column,
Rebecca goes to a clothing sale. While inspecting a cashmere coat she has just purchased, she
realizes it is not 100% cashmere and she has been duped. This gives her an idea for the
column, which she writes under the name "The Girl in the Green Scarf" and is an instant
success.
There is a debt collector who chases Rebecca, so Suze makes her attend Shopaholics
Anonymous. The leader of Shopaholics Anonymous makes Rebecca to donate all her clothes.
Rebecca can’t afford to buy back the dress for the TV interview and her bridesmaid dress, so
she just buys back the first one. Suze is angry when she finds out that Rebecca lost the
bridesmaid dress. Alette offers Rebecca a position at the magazine, but Rebecca declines.
Meanwhile, Luke starts a new company, Brandon Communications.
The members of Shopaholic Anonymous promote Rebecca's clothes sale. She finally
sells her green scarf when a woman bids on it, making it possible for her to give all the cash to
the debt collector, which she pays in pennies to give it to him in the "most inconvenient way
possible". Rebecca attends Suze's wedding after reclaiming her bridesmaid dress, and Suze
forgives her. Rebecca and Luke reunite, and Luke returns the green scarf after revealing that
the person who bought it at an auction was acting as his agent. Rebecca becomes romantically
involved with Luke and starts working at his new company.
REFLECTION
“Not all things we love doing can help us”. At the first part of the movie, Rebecca
Bloomwood is seen as a person who absolutely loves shopping, to the point where she can't
resist her urge to buy things that made her end up with a $16,000 debt in her credit card. She
keeps on spending for clothes and other stuff that she loves, but doesn't essentially need. Just
like this, we all have our wants that at times, we do everything what it takes just to have them,
without thinking if it is necessary for us to buy or own that thing we are obsessed to. They say
material things define a person who he/she is. Others say that having a limited-edition product
makes us different and unique to others. But it is not just the things we own that define us but
our material-self is only a part of our whole being. We buy things to makes us look cool and
classy. We spend money to own things others doesn’t have so we can say that we are different
from others. We buy things so that they look at us and praise us, we build our image through
things we possessed. That’s why they define us by how we dress or how we look. But our
character must not only be defined by our material-self. Let us remember all of these things we
possess will be left in this world after we die. We can’t bring these things with us in afterlife.
We need to cherish every moment of our life. We must pleasure on these things but we need to
create memories and share our moments with the people around us. We must value
friendships and other relationships more than we value things that we don’t necessarily need.
And also, another thing that this movie taught me is that we need to be firmed about
the decisions we make in our life. We must take every decision seriously. And when we decide
we must possess the kind of character that suits the decision we’ve made. Just like in the
movie, Rebecca decides to work as an editor or writer in a financial magazine. She writes advice
and tips on how people must handle their finance but she’s in debt at the first place. Her
character as a person doesn’t match on her decision on being a financial editor of the magazine
that’s why she has no choice but to cover up herself with lies that brings her troubles in the
end. And she even tried to escape her problems with making more lies and bring her more
trouble. She broke the trust of people around her and worse she broke the trust of the man she
loves.
MORAL LESSON
Lying about our true self is not a good thing. As we lie, we break the trust of people we
lied to. Trust is one of the most precious things that a person can give to us. We must value this
trust at all times. In every decision we make we need to thing about our integrity as a person.
And also, one thing, we must face our problems. We must face the consequences of our actions
even if it means everything to us. Because there’s nothing more fulfilling feeling than being true
to ourselves, having a clear conscience.