MovieChat Forums > Shopgirl (2005) Discussion > Was she meant to be with Ray or Jeremy?

Was she meant to be with Ray or Jeremy?

posted 18 years ago by louidaangel
11 replies | jump to latest

This is just my opinion, so don't get personal.

I did not understand the point of this movie. Was I supposed to feel sorry for Ray? Was I supposed to want Ray and Mirabelle to get together? Cause I didn't.

It seemed as though they were trying to say, "They love each other and they should be together, but too much has happened and they just can't" Because that wasn't the impression I got.

I didn't believe for a second that Ray actually loved Mirabelle. And i felt that Mirabelle only thought she loved him cause he did stuff for her, but he only did them cause he could. He never really made much of a sacrifice for her.

Jeremy was the only character in this movie that I really liked. He knew Mirabelle was too good for him. He didn't try and impress her with stupid stuff. He was 100% what I would look for in a guy.

Maybe that's the reason I didn't like Ray, cause I just loved Jeremy. Oh well. Tell me what you guys think. Maybe someone that's read it can give me a better idea on the characters.

And another thing, Steve Martin was the worst out of the three leads. I don't think he was good at playing this kind of character.

And I only forgot to mention, I really liked this film! It was good. I guess I just had trouble sympathizingly with the Ray character.

ElLiE_tOm_ToM

[–] shway 18 years ago

Yeah. I liked Jeremy as well.

Personally I think the love lives of these 3 characters (an anyone else, really) never really played around the rules of 'should' or 'shouldn't have'. It's all about possibilities, there was a possibility that Mirabelle would have stayed with Ray, or the possibility that Mirabelle would have gone with another person, in this case, Jeremy.

In a way it goes back to what Ray wanted in the first place, open to possibilities.

I enjoyed the movie as well, and I too didn't sympathize Ray's character. Maybe it was the acting, or perhaps he was meant to be portrayed that way. Sorry for spelling errors!

[–] onehundredmovies 18 years ago

"They love each other and they should be together, but too much has happened and they just can't"
wrong, in my opinion. very wrong. the following is all my own opinion
and i tend to speak very matter-of-factly sometimes :)
i got from this, the old lesson "you don't know what you've got till it's gone"
they were not meant for each other, you realize that when he hugs
her and she gets nothing out of it. it's not a protective hug.
it's a goodbye hug. then she turns and walks to jeremy who gives
her a giant bear hug and that's when you know they're meant to be.

but yeah, you're not really supposed to like ray.
i wanted to throw my remote at the television when he cheated on her
but i thought he was very good at his role. you're right, maybe not
as good as the other two leads, but i thought he did exceptionally
well anyways. he was great at being distant the entire time. he was
great at the end of the movie when he meets Mirabelle for the last
time, i almost got choked up actually. and i really liked the
narration as well

Take what you can from your dreams, make them as real as anything...

[–] famousactrss 18 years ago

I started crying when Ray said "I did love you". For crying out loud, man! You have to wait until she is with someone and you're with someone and there's no outcome from it to tell her that you actually did love her. When all she wanted was to hear that when you were together.

I liked Ray's character. Alas, he frustrated me a lot.

Jeremy was a cute character and I found him to be endearing in the end.

[–] gothinchainz 18 years ago

I believe the point was not that Ray just wanted a temporary fling. Nor that he didn't realize that Mirabelle was a great catch. He in fact summed it up in the narration, in which he said that he kept her at a distance so that it wouldn't hurt when she was gone. He simply had problems expressing his feelings for fear of opening himself to disappointment and pain. In fact, Mirabelle said to him at one point that she understood that he had difficult expressing his feelings. At the end, he said "I did love you" - something he couldn't tell her while the relationship was still underway.

The great irony here was that Jeremy was a relatively unsuccessful and somewhat inarticulate guy who started out as sort of the only thing Mirabelle could scrape from the bottom of the barrel to avoid being completely dateless. However, he was able to express himself and he was sensitive to her feelings. Additionally, he was trying to improve himself in areas that he felt were deficient. Ray was immensely successful, educated and suave, but he just couldn't say "I love you" for fear of exposing himself. Furthermore, he denied that this fear was an issue that he might do well to deal with.

The end scene contrasted the quiet, monotonic "I did love you" that Ray uttered with the wide-open jump-in-my-arms hug that Jeremy offered. In the end, Ray's inability to express himself cost him the girl. I think it is a tradgedy that happens every day.

[–] aggro_veggie 18 years ago

He in fact summed it up in the narration, in which he said that he kept her at a distance so that it wouldn't hurt when she was gone.

That's what bothered me about this. I thought the film was great, but I disagreed with this one line. Ray didn't keep Mirabelle at a distance. If it's true that all he wanted was a sexual relationship with her why did he buy her such intimate gifts? Why did he invite her to New York? Why did he wake up in the morning and make her breakfast? He wasn't keeping her a distance, he was leading her on.

[–] synpax 17 years ago

"why did he buy her such intimate gifts? Why did he invite her to New York? Why did he wake up in the morning and make her breakfast? "

And why did he dote over her when she was sick?

Because he couldn't help it. He couldn't say he loved her, but his actions betrayed his true emotions.

He did keep her at a distance. He never talked about their future. He never said he loved her. He declined to stay with her at her place (a commitment sign). And he pushed her away by treating her badly at times.

But still, he couldn't help but act in a loving way towards her.

[–] littlekaren 18 years ago

In the end, though I did love that Jeremy opened up his arms wide to envelop Mirabelle (ohhhh, for those hugs with no strings)...I did indeed feel sorry for Ray -- who seemed incapable of real warmth until it was too late.

[–] riojasjudy 18 years ago

i think that jeremy and mirabelle were meant to be together in the end.
they were the two free spirits who put themselves completely out there while ray was just introverted.

jeremy was willing to CHANGE himself while ray couldn't even tell mirabelle that he loved her. jeremy said it on the freakin first date! well in a joking way...

"woodstock"

[–] SamJane723 17 years ago

I agree I loved Jeremy too!

Love + Peace
Sam x
This Road Will Never End...
http://www.myspace.com/iloveriverrip

[–] bobnlee1313 17 years ago

You could definitley tell that Mirabelle was the kind of girl that was so special there isn't words to explain it, and that shallow people like Ray cannot pick up on that vibe. But, Jeremy saw it....and right away. I agree that Ray was just using her for sex and liked her because she was a younger woman and good for his ego. She was a status symbol for him. I think he didn't mean to break her heart. Men just can't seem to think like a women and women just can't seem to think like a man. That's the one big problem we have in life.

Fine, put me on hold. I love listening to the "Music to Kill Yourself By" collection.

[–] 17 years ago

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