MovieChat Forums > The Paper (1994) Discussion > Was Robin actually 14?

Was Robin actually 14?


Alicia gets mad at Henry because he sent Robin
to take the photo and says something like...

"How did you send Robin she's only 14?!"
and he just answers
"Robin happens to be a professional photographer..."

She did seem pretty young, but I never thought 14,
maybe 18, 19, 20... was Alicia trying to say simply
that she was too young and had no experience and
tried to exaggerate by saying that she was only 14
or was she really 14...

What do you think/know... thanks...

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Of coarse she was not 14. It's just an expression. It means that someone is too young to do something. But Actually - they usually say "12 years old". It is funnier. Like Michael Douglas in Wonder Boys talks about "a 12 years old policeman"

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FWIW, I've just rewatched this movie dubbed in Italian. That line was translated to "She has the brains of a 14 year old".

Who knows. A memo might have been included with the script, in order to update the translators on the line's actual meaning.

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She's probably 22-23 -- straight out of college.

Conceivably she could be a college intern, 19-21 or so, but no major paper in the 1990s in NYC would send a college intern out on major assignments all by themselves. In most cases like that the college intern would tag alongside a more experienced photog who would be mainly responsible for shooting the art.




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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.

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I also think this it's a dig at newspapers that were (and still) laying off seasoned personnel and replacing then with inexperienced workers, especially at the big market newspapers.

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This was a part that was a tad unrealistic. A major metro daily in New York would have had multiple photographers on staff and chances are most of their reporters would have photography experience as well. A line in the movie says their main guy is off sick, leaving Robin as the only available photographer. In reality, they would have had other people available and probably would have sent multiple people to the "perp walk". Especially when you consider the importance of the story that day.

It was also silly to depict Henry sending Robin in an attempt to sabotage the picture. After all, he needed the picture for his: "they didn't do it" story as much as Alicia needed if for "gotcha!"

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Remember. This was filmed in 93/94. These was before all the layoffs and upheaval in newspapers. A paper like The Sun would have had photographers and reporters out all day cruising the streets looking for pictures/interesting stories. Staff with those kinds of assignments would likely have shown up at the "perp walk" anyway, because it was a big deal that day and just in case they could gather additional information about the story. Example: they might meet a relative or friend of the kids that could become a background source.

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