Paper Moon
Recently, I have been getting back into one of those phases where I wonder about the meaning of life, or what kind of person we actually want to be. Just like you feel like every song on the radio is about broken hearts when you went through a break-up (not that anyone actually listens to the radio anymore in the ages of Youtube), you feel like every simple story is somehow about the meaning of life when you are in this phase I am in. Whether it is an episode of White Collar in which Neal wonders whether he truly can stop being a con man, an episode of Star Trek DS9 in which Kira has a change of mind of what she previously thought about Cardassians, or Paper Moon, a beautiful example of humanity despite its unrealistic sugar-candy-wrapped Hollywood storyline. Even that overly dramatic episode of Downton Abbey we saw today has these overtones of how one must accept changes in the world. Indeed we must do so. I’m not going to be shocked if my 10-year-old kid asks me about porn (though honestly, from my own experience I think a 10-year-old kid is actually disgusted by the full-blown, perverse stuff floating around the internet), but I won’t like the fact that they will be playing with electronics instead of frolicking around in the woods or reading books.
Now I am truly digressing. Maybe Paper Moon is not actually that deep after all, but underneath the sugar coating, it actually shows a rather cruel world in which Moze and Addie encounter only people who try to rip them off (ironically, since they are the con artists) or catch them. It is definitely a story in which the protagonists must fight for their survival in a harsh environment, and it is pure serendipity that allowed them to escape and get back on their feet again and again.
Like most movies with a young child (The Kid immediately comes to mind, especially with Addie’s first outfit!) Paper Moon is another example in which Addie’s character is the one who really lets the film shine. She is the reasonable one between the two and almost the more mature, since she has no other desires than making money. She is the perfect Ferengi. But at the same time, she is powerless and needs someone else to fulfill her dreams of ‘thriving business’, and that is where Moze comes in. They had absolutely awesome chemistry, especially when they disagree (“Give me my 200 dollars!” Wahaha, good job, Addie.)
In the end, Paper Moon was this inexplicable mix of fun and seriousness. Maybe that is the reason why Shii never recommended it to us? Even I am not sure who would be the right audience for this film, and I am only glad it found one.