MovieChat Forums > The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio (2007) Discussion > Interesting -- It's so true.

Interesting -- It's so true.

posted 19 years ago by GeneR777
3 replies | jump to latest

I'm finding a lot of movies I watch in some way reflect my life -- for some reason a lot from SKG do that for me. Weird.

This one is true because I know someone very close who is pretty darn lucky. (Actually, I'd say, "blessed" but, whatever...) For a year she just kept going for the online sweepstakes and kept winning, winning and winning. If she lost some money somewhere and needed it, she would end up getting it back some other way.

And I just scratched my head dumbfounded. A couple of years ago she needed to raise some money to pay some bills. And lo and behold ended up winning a 52" HD Plasma screen television and BOSE surround speakers. It was just enough to pay the bills.

So, this stuff does happen. It's just amazing when you're able to experience it firsthand.

[–] v_friendly_alien 19 years ago

Wow, thanks for that! Maybe people can be less cynical now? :)

President of the IST*cough* Smarty Love *cough*

[–] humphrey-2 19 years ago

That's an interesting story, but that wasn't what this movie was about. Evelyn Ryan wasn't lucky: she won all those contests because she was very skilled at writing the slogans that were part of the required task. She worked hard on them and was picked as the BEST, not the LUCKIEST.

These creative contests no longer exist in the US, although they are very popular here in the UK.

[–] brittbevis 19 years ago

I can vouch for all that's been said in the last two posts, because I am also a person who enters slogan contests (or competitions, as we call them over here in the UK).
Sadly, the times are a-changing here too, and word-skill competitions - although still around - are no longer the fun way to test one's wit, or the quick way to fame and fortune.
But then Evelyn (like me) was never about either... she was about giving her family the very best she could provide, by using her ability and ingenuity.
Gleaming motor cars and posh holidays were not what Evelyn was after, and she gladly swapped those status symbols for the things her family really needed.
Here in the UK, plagiarism and poor judging methods are killing off the hobby, and winning is more a case of luck, rather than skill. Many of us really hoped that the Prize Winner movie would bring about a new era of skill contests - not much chance of that now - more's the pity!