Identity Thief

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28.09.12, 11:25
yoco

Identity Thief

Release Date: February 8, 2013
Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Seth Gordon
Screenwriter: Steve Conrad, Craig Mazin
Starring: Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, Jon Favreau, Amanda Peet, Tip "T.I." Harris, Genesis Rodriguez, Morris Chestnut, John Cho, Robert Patrick, Eric Stonestreet
Genre: Comedy

Quote:

Unlimited funds have allowed Diana (McCarthy) to live it up on the outskirts of Miami, where the queen of retail buys whatever strikes her fancy. There's only one glitch: The ID she's using to finance these sprees reads "Sandy Bigelow Patterson"... and it belongs to an accounts rep (Bateman) who lives halfway across the U.S.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqQg6Rlt6W4
29.09.12, 09:27
SealLion

Aside from my opinion that this movie probably (and I don't say that lightly), not going to be a very big hit at the box office over some casual or 'lucky' meeting between the guy who's gotten ripped off by the same woman whom he meets that stole his ID at some point in time, this film does make a point of the fact that identity theft is a real threat to many, many people world wide. Mostly for people living in the developed worlds, IMHO, b/c of a myriad of reasons. Dumpster diving, spyware, card skimming, internet phishing, etc. We have credit cards don't we? Online banking when you've mistakenly downloaded and installed some spyware unbeknownst to the computer user, for example. I know that the movie makes a comedy of this sort of thing but the fact of the matter is that ID theft is no laughing matter. You stop laughing when it happens to you. I'm not suggesting that it did happen ever to me but believe me, it's no laughing matter at all. I've read some pretty bad stories of people who've had their lives ruined b/c of some moron who stole another person's ID and used it for malicious and selfish reasons. My personal and opined rating of this film---1.5/10. I guess maybe it's b/c in my opinion I just can't see Melissa McCarthy having any kind of acting abilities. Regardless if she's got some nominee for something or not.
30.09.12, 00:43
slikrapid

looks like a not well-thought-through movie, i mean, what person doesn't check his bank accounts regularly, what kind of a relatively wealthy person doesn't use lawyers/pi's/police or some hired personnel to find/prosecute the imposter, since when do they rely only on one account/bank to hold their funds, what kind of a professional truck driver just drives through a car left in the middle of the road/highway, etc. - the answer to all these 'questions' is: the one who fits in a low-level script for a likewise lowly movie

there is another thing that can be noticed - this movie works towards strengthening the perception of personal identity importance (as in: bad things happen if you don't keep your so-called identity intact or don't take good care of it or fortify your belief in it), when in fact this 'identity' is merely a label used to differentiate people, its just another description of a player who engages in role-playing activities - this 'identity' won't and cannot describe who you (really) are, it was almost randomly selected around the time of your birth by your parents since it is customary to create an identifying name/surname for every newborn - such a label obviously has (very) little to do with what will become of that individual later on and even less with who that individual essentially is, which means that its proper usage remains limited to the 'material' realm of existence (ordinary/common/usual human interaction/activity) and has no higher purpose (ie. is of no/low essential importance)
30.09.12, 01:38
SealLion

I'm having some trouble figuring out what you mean by the term 'identity', slik. You'll have to correct me if I'm wrong on my identification with what your talking about but I do disagree with you on a couple of notes. Firstly, one's name is part and parcel of one's identity. And so if your referring to one's name within the context of one's "identity" and are suggesting that one's name has less significance with who that individual essentially is. That's actually wrong. Your name, or to put it in a general sense, one's name is an identification of who that person is. If a person didn't have a name, it is as if they didn't exist. In real life (let's use that scenario for the purpose of this discussion), you have an actual name. If you didn't have a name, it would seem as if you didn't exist. Do you consider yourself to be existing??

A name also has a quality that has some utility to it. Because it's what we call a quality, it is an identification of who you are. People would have real trouble trying to figure who you are. People would also have real trouble with complex communication with you. Hence it's being essential to one's identity. For example, if you wanted a cup of coffee, how are you going to identify that fact. How are you going to refer to the idea that you want a cup of coffee to the server behind the counter??

The other utility that a name has as being part of one's identity is the fact that you use it to sign things. For example, you give a cheque to your mortgage broker, your landlord, etc. If you are a tradesman like myself, you use it to identify your tools, your personal belongings, etc. A school girl might identify her books with her name on it. This way, her school books are separately identified from her peers. That is another example of what utility has in a quality. A name is that quality and has utility.

Your name, as mentioned earlier, is part of your identity. When the subject is, for example, language, it's pretty important to have it. A person can own all the things they want in life. They can lose all those things. Kind of like in this poorly produced movie of some guy who has a lot of meaningless material things and then loses part of his identity so some poser. Well, actually, he doesn't lose his identity per se, just that he was a victim of ID theft. One of the few things that a person won't lose in his/her life is his/her name. Other than some legal or even illegal change of name procedure, can you lose your name?? I don't think so. Your name can be clean and spotless or soiled with what ever mischief you befell upon yourself. But you have your name for life.

In some cultures a name is an identification of that person's caste. It can also be an indication of one's social standing or class. But we would be discussing things outside, of what we refer to 'Western Culture', if we were to continue that debate into that realm. I do, however, agree with you on the idea that this poorly produced film does strengthen the idea and fact that ID theft is a real and important consideration and that people need to safegaurd it. The rest; however, I don't agree with.
30.09.12, 19:00
slikrapid

@SealLion:

Quote:

One's name is part and parcel of one's identity...If a person didn't have a name, it is as if they didn't exist.

you're talking about the roles human beings play, thats what they usually understand as 'identity' (characteristics that can be determined while acting as a persona, aka personality in a broader sense), which is commonly accompanied with a descriptive character-name - i'm referring to that which lies buried beneath this false (meaning: imagined, played, entertained, accentuated, enforced, identified!) image or facade

Quote:

Originally Posted by online dictionary

persona: an individual's social facade or front that especially in the analytic psychology of C. G. Jung reflects the role in life the individual is playing

obviously, one's existence doesn't require a name (for that particular existing entity), so there are numerous existing 'things' without a name (regardless of whether they were named=labeled by humans or not), thus one also doesn't need a name in order to have an identity (an individual image of one's essential characteristics as a unique existing entity), furthermore what nowadays passes as 'identity' is, depending on usage, a combination of personal physical characteristics (weight, height, race, facial characteristics,...), character specifics (behavior, personality & co.) or like in the example above: 'a name'

those physical characteristics are related to your physical body (not 'you'), the character ones are related to how you behave (learned & chosen patterns more or less aligned with those that are socially acceptable in that particular area, in other words its a role one plays, meaning still not 'you', its an imagined & played persona), the name as said before acts like a tag/marker/label (marking you as just another human unit/entity, still not 'you') - it would be no different if one's name was just a number (if fi. 'john milton' was called 0345 9872) or a different combination of words (like gianluca milton or whathaveyou)

in fact, one's whole human 'voyage' is characterized by trying (some more, others less) to find out who (or what) exactly one 'is' and part of that search is realizing this 'identity' falsehood that so commonly and in an almost self-explicable fashion gets used nowadays for defining/understanding who one 'is'

to put it in a different way, when asked: 'who are you'?:
- 'a tradesman' - no, thats what you do, your job, not you
- 'owner of the hilton hotels' - no, thats what you have/own, not you
- 'male in his late 20's,...' - no, thats a description of your body, not you
- 'john milton' - no, thats your name, not you
- 'a human from the planet earth!' - no, thats your (body) species and the location of your body, still not you!
- 'a conscious being experiencing existence in a human body (and i'm also called 'john milton' by others for some practical reasons common in human societies)' - well, thats just about as close as it gets when using language to describe who you are, but this is still just a description, not you!!!

now, one could say: but wait, all of these make you feel like having an identity - sure, but this is what happens when engaging in such activities (like living a life), if you do something long enough you become used to it & attached to it, up to the point when it takes the place of your identity and you forget about your real/true identity which doesn't depend on what you do or what you own or what your name is or similar irrelevant trivialities - your true identity is essential to your being, its equal to your true self, its the only relevant definition of what/who you are - other definitions are merely pale & 'crooked' reflections residing on the surface (ie. superficial, not essential)

Quote:

A name also has a quality that has some utility to it. Because it's what we call a quality, it is an identification of who you are...you use it to sign things...to identify your tools, your personal belongings, etc.

yes, thats its usage in the 'material' sphere of human activity

Quote:

One of the few things that a person won't lose in his/her life is his/her name. Other than some legal or even illegal change of name procedure, can you lose your name?? I don't think so.

sure you can, if you decide so (though its not necessarily practical or socially acceptable), in fact you can strip-down and throw away any & every label used to describe your identity as they usually provide only a partial picture, a perspective based one, a specifically chosen one, not to mention how they lead away from essential self-awareness, by providing only superficial insight (regarding one's being)

Quote:

I do, however, agree with you on the idea that this poorly produced film does strengthen the idea and fact that ID theft is a real and important consideration and that people need to safegaurd it.

sure, for practical/utilitarian purposes, but it doesn't change the fact that this ID is just a piece of plastic that has little to no info on who you really are (what your true identity is), though it may provide much info on certain characteristics of a role-playing character/persona called or known as 'john milton'