The Pleasure of Being Robbed

A year or two ago, there were some large protests at the university here. It was mostly anarchists protesting against a discussion group led by a 96-year-old retired professor. The professor had been a conscientious objector in World War Two. The discussion group started as a pacifist group, but some new people had joined and became dominant and the group became increasingly racist.

The protests went on for weeks. They had no real effect and people were losing interest. So some anarchists set off stink bombs in the meeting room. Campus security was there and knocked them down as they tried to run out of the building. All but one was cited and released. One, a young woman, had an outstanding warrant on a theft charge and went to jail. It was after five p.m. on a Friday. She spent the weekend in jail.

I googled her name. She was from a small town, had won statewide science awards in high school. She seemed to have had a bright future.But now, if anyone did an internet search for her, the first thing they'd see is her arrest for theft.

Her anarchist friends didn't help. The posted her full name, first middle and last, and called on people to call the jail and demand that she be released, as if it were up to the deputies working on the weekend to decide.

What went wrong for this poor girl? One of her old friends posted a comment on the news site saying that she had known her since she they were in school and whatever she did, she loves her.
 

I watched the 2008 movie, The Pleasure of Being Robbed, about a young woman in her 20s who goes around stealing from people in New York City. The movie offered no explanation or insight. She was a horrible person. I was sorry nobody shot her. It was worse when she was being charming.

Filmed in 16mm. I don't know what it cost. 

I posted a blog recently complaining about young aspiring filmmakers who have no interest in extreme low budget movies. Then I watch movies like this and wonder if they're the reason.

I thought The Pleasure of Being Robbed was fine technically. It just needed a story and some sort of character development, maybe an explanation or at least a hint of how the girl ended up the way she did. And if someone had shot her it sure wouldn't have hurt anything either.