MovieChat Forums > Deadgirl (2013) Discussion > I felt worse for Rickie than Joann

I felt worse for Rickie than Joann


Please do not mistake this post for a misogynistic screed. I would feel the same way if the gender roles were reversed.

Moving on, the look of heartbreak of Rickie's face when he comes to Joann's rescue and she spurns him moved me almost to tears. I didn't expect her to return his affection, but I really didn't expect her to be so callous in the final moments they shared. I formed my opinion of her earlier in the storyline when she sprung to the defense of her morally depraved boyfriend and her barb to Rickie only cemented it. It would be grandiose to say Joann received her just-desserts, but she was united with the man she deserved at the end.

I wouldn't say I feel particularly sorry for Joann and I can't for the life of me ascertain why anyone else should either.

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I'm not trying to slam you, but I wonder whether you realize the meaning of the words you are typing, and what it says about your moral judgment.

You are moved almost to tears because a guy gets his romantic emotions spurned...

but you are not at all moved by a girl (undead though she be) held captive, naked, for who knows how long, repeatedly physically assaulted, repeated sexually assaulted, stripped of all humanity and dignity.

Nor are you moved that another girl has been murdered, and forced to become the new object of depravity of a sick mind.

Doesn't move you at all, huh?...Nothing...? No sympathy whatsoever?... hmmm...

I mean, couldn't he have just cussed her out while she was dying , and be done with her?
Or maybe talked bad about her mama?
or her sense of fashion?
or better yet, he could have called her fat!

Isn't turning her into deadgirl just a wee bit over the top?

A thinking mind can't seriously equate his emotional rejection and her devastating outcome.

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I missed the part where I said I wasn't moved by the first deadgirl's torment.

Rickie made an earnest attempt to save Joann's life by advising her to stay away from J.T. and Wheeler. She couldn't leave well enough alone. The fact that she seemed more concerned about her boyfriend than the circumstances of his death show her true colors. She was human sewage.

I wouldn't be so crass as to say she got her just-desserts. She's trapped in a hell I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. However, forgive me if I seem apathetic to the plight of someone who wanted a significant other to treat her like *beep* and ultimately got her wish.

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Ricky was a whiny, entitled, deadbeat loser. It's one thing to be a deadbeat, it's another thing to be an entitled one.

He had a crush on the hottest girl in class, but he wasn't the hottest guy in class, yet felt he was entitled to the hottest girl anyway. Why? He won't do any of the WORK required to be on the jock guy's level. And the hot girls are supposed to just love him for who he is? That's a load of crap. These whiny "nice guys" don't love ugly fat girls for who they are, they want the hot girls. So how is it unfair for hot girls to want a successful guy, not a spineless, low-self-esteem slacker? See, he could have just dated the fat girls that were drooling over him, he would have gotten laid left and right.

FIND ANOTHER GIRL. Ideally one who is a much bigger loser than you. Women date up, not down. If you don't like the bracket you're in, then put in the work to raise your wealth, aesthetics, etc. If that's too much work, then stop trying to mine for diamonds. Just pick up the basket of pearls at your feet. Ricky wouldn't do that. Neither will the rest of the "nice guys" complaining how unfair it is.

Deadgirl is the only sympathetic character in the whole movie. Everyone else is either cookie-cutter or an utter embarrassment.

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Girls don't date "down?" I'm not particularly attractive and I've been dating "up" as long as I can remember. With all due respect, sir, you are completely full of *beep* and that nugget of "wisdom" alone proves it.

What you fail to grasp is that, unlike men, women aren't all drawn to the same qualities. And, furthermore, I would argue that Rickie was more conventionally attractive than Johnny anyways. Johnny was quite homely and the only "attractive" qualities he possessed were his muscles. (Let's not kid ourselves; anyone could have Johnny's body with a few hours in the gym each week.)

Rickie wasn't just a "nice guy." Unlike Johnny, he didn't mercilessly beat people within an inch of their lives with nary a reason to do so. He resisted the siren song of peer pressure and didn't use the deadgirl to realize his sexual fantasies. Johnny did both.

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I know your ego is hurt by the truth, but I'd guess that along with being "not particularly attractive", you're also not particularly honest, because I know damn well you aren't bagging hotties. Unless it's by some miracle from god. If I'm wrong, you'd have to be wealthy, refined, charismatic, or extremely motivated. And from your post content and user name, I'm gathering you are none of the above. Don't bother contradicting me unless you are getting LAID on a regular basis. Getting manipulated, then thrown aside when something better comes along doesn't count.

I know exactly what desirable women are attracted to, and Ricky isn't it. Ricky is a loser who hangs out with other losers, skips school, dresses like a bum, gets bullied by jocks, and has one testicle. Girls don't find that attractive. What you "failed to grasp" is I mentioned aesthetics as part of the package, not the whole package. Donald Trump "dates up" if you are fixated on looks, but he also happens to be rich, which attractive women regard as a desirable trait. Donald Trump is not dating up, he's dating down. He has higher value than his hot wife. That's how this works. Anything less is the rare exception to the rule.

"Anybody can have Johnny's muscles if they put in the work", what does that even mean? Despite the fact it's not true. Not everyone has Johnny's genetics. And of the ones who do, few have the drive or dedication to do 3 hours of heavy lifting every week, over a period of years. You don't just get that overnight, that physique is the result of consistent effort and time investment. If anybody can do it, what's stopping Ricky? And how are you so dismissive of Johnny's accomplishment? You're a f'n hater.

On top of being stronger and better looking(due in part or in full to his physique), Johnny also has more social status, no doubt has more money and better grades than Ricky, better long term prospects, and is a leader of men, and provider and protector of his woman. He is a more desirable guy than Ricky, in spite of assaulting people and of course trying to get a kinky blowjob. Which really is irrelevant, because he was already dating Joanne at that point. It wasn't something for her to evaluate when they hooked up. And none of that makes RICKY attractive. He would be better off dating an ugly girl, regardless of what you think he "deserves".

Even if I were to grant that you are somehow able to "date up", that wouldn't mean Ricky can. And it wouldn't mean he could date an UNAVAILABLE girl, stealing her away from her jock boyfriend whom she is clearly perfectly happy with. The fact you needed all this explained to you, shows you don't know crap about dating top tier women. Your ego is obviously leading you to lie to yourself, so this is what me calling you out looks like.

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Don't be coy. You and I both know bruising egos gives you a great deal of satisfaction. You're not remorseful when you do it and you shouldn't be; it has to be done sometimes.

It took you eight months to respond and all your mind can conjure is Darwinian bombast. You appear to be under the impression that using words with more than two syllables gives you an inkling of credibility on any topic. However, nowhere in your bizarre tangent did you offer a rebuttal. You tried (unsuccessfully) to discredit an anonymous IMDb user because they called you on your *beep* If you can ascertain a person's sex appeal from an online username, congratulations, because you might be the most intuitive person to ever breathe the same oxygen as me. (Doubtful but I'll entertain the possibility.) I'd be curious to know how you define "top-tier." Much like you said, men are a sum of their parts, but any skank who would overlook the remainder of the package because their suitor has Donald Trump's bank account isn't worth the effort it took to bring her into the world. There are, however, attractive women who will happily leave the party with the "average" man because they see something in them they don't see in all the "top-tier" men in the room. They exist in spades. That average man is me every weekend. You're entitled to your own opinion; not your own facts. Of course, morbidly obese men or men who appear grotesque in general won't ordinarily be able to bag hotties but those men exist in relatively small numbers.

As for Ricky, a lot of what you say rings true. He was a deadbeat who could never demonstrate that he deserved to be pined for by desirable women. However, that doesn't absolve Johnny of her treachery. His "accomplishment" (a few hours in the gym each week) doesn't make him a less rotten person than Rickie. I don't feel particularly sorry for someone who can witness what Joanne did and not at least find another jock who didn't share the profile of an irritable date rapist.

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The "average man" doesn't even approach women, much less take them home from a party. And if you can show me a morbidly obese guy with a hot chick in his bed, I'll show you a morbidly obese guy with a lot of money in his bank account. Or a stack of hundreds on the hotel nightstand. And by top tier, I mean the hot ones... you know... Victoria Secret. I don't mean like, Oprah Winfrey. Different standards for men and women. Personally, I'd say Johnny and Joanne are the perfect pair.

Also, it took 7 months, not 8. Can't believe it's been that long. Ok, I still don't believe you, but I might be wrong. What city do you live in?

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So well said. I could not agree more. Tired of boys, they are not men, complaining about not getting the hot girl. Just because a boy thinks he's "nice" he feels entitled to get what ever girl he wants. It's crazy.

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Ordinarily, I would agree with the OP that the way Joanne treated Rickie at the end was a *beep* way to deal with it -- however, you are on point about Rickie.

His unrequited feelings for Joanne and his perceived "nice guy" status does not entitle him to be loved by the hottest girl in school. I agree 100% that to date the hot girl, you have to put in the effort. You're not getting out of the friend zone unless you put in some time to dig yourself out, which Rickie seemed too lazy and juvenile to do. That was precisely why Joanne's last words ("f'ing grow up.") were so poignant.

Self-improvement is a HUGE part of attracting any universally desirable partner. It's genetics: the alpha is always going to get the best partner. The few times when this doesn't happen are the exceptions, not the rule. That doesn't mean that a girl or guy is incapable of loving someone for other aspects besides sheer physical attractiveness. It does, however, play a significant part.

You can't be a nice guy who is lazy, grungy, overly sensitive and without direction -- not if you expect to get with someone confident and put together like Joanne. She wasn't precisely a bitch -- she was just aware of her status, her looks and obviously didn't think Rickie was a desirable partner as he was in the film. She even let him down as gently as possible while still being straightforward.

If Rickie really wanted to get together with Joanne, he needed to put in more effort than his slacker mentality yielded. He thought being a nice guy was enough and got burned. That's life.

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Oh FFS, you blame the girl for standing up for her dying boyfriend, like she knew what he had done behind her back. Johnny  decided to stick his penis in a deadgirl and somehow Joann is the bad one.
I think we all agree that cheating is never ok, so why is it ok for Ricky to ask out a committed girl? Oh, yeah, because "he deserves her"... Oh, please, wake up. Why, precisely, did he deserve her? Because he'd stare at her like a creep and then go home trash his room and break stuff that his mom bought with hard earned money like a spoiled emo brat? "Oh but Ricky was the good guy". No, he wasn't. He was a feeble little *beep* that changed his morals according to whatever was more convenient. It's not okay to rape a dead girl, but it's okay if the dead girl is your high school crush. He sorta wanted to be the good guy and do the right thing, you know, but only if it required no effort at all. He sorta wanted to call the cops and end that situation, but he didn't want Macauley Culkin to punch him in the face again, you know, so meh, nevermind... Hell is full of good meanings.
Now Joann was the most popular chick in their school, but she was never rude or arrogant like so many girls in her position are. When Ricky told her about his feelings, she was very straightforward and honest with him, instead of giving him false hopes like the "friend-zone" whiners love to whine about.
Still somehow Ricky got mad at Joann when she got in a situation he dragged her into in the first place (that whole "why didn't you listen to me" drama part by the end of the movie). "Oh but he confronted his pals and tried to save her". Well, a little too late, aren't we? I mean, did he really expected to be rewarded by "saving" her (her boyfriend would still be dead and the trauma would damage her for life) from something he dragged her in? Really? REALLY?
The moment she spit in his face was the most satisfying part of the whole movie to me.

And last but not least, can we stop with the date up/date down and all this "game" sillyness? There is no such thing. People will date whoever they feel attracted to, and that varies widely from person to person. I for one could describe myself as into "blond men with strong hands", but I am married to a guy with dark hair, average hands, and I couldn't be happier. Attraction either happens or it doesnt, and we might have a list of things that would initially draw our attention, but we can't really predict what we will be attracted to, let alone what other people would. Trying to measure people's "value" and analyze relationships like that is just ridiculous and pointless.

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I for one could describe myself as into "blond men with strong hands", but I am married to a guy with dark hair, average hands, and I couldn't be happier. Attraction either happens or it doesnt, and we might have a list of things that would initially draw our attention, but we can't really predict what we will be attracted to, let alone what other people would.


Of course. Women have no idea what they want. Would you still be attracted to him if he had no job and lived with his mom?

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Well, it depends. If by that you mean if he was a scumbag leech chronically unemployed with no goals in life but to take advantage of those around him, definitely no. Why would anyone in their right mind want to be with someone that has no character or respect for his own family? Of course, there are woman out there that are attracted by this sort of men, who think that they can somehow change them and save them, so, whatever floats their boat, but lack of character is a big no-no to me. Not my cup of tea, really.

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Then you've measured the value of scumbag leeches.

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Yes, you can say that, but it's not the same because while they have no value to me, they sure do for other people. What I meant is that it's nonsense to try to value every men based on an idea of what women want, because each woman wants something different and how they value a man is not a checklist, but a combination of all his traits. You can try to break it into numbers and I think it would be a very interesting study, but it's ridiculous to think that you could get any woman to like you by being the hypothetical alpha because you can't really know what sort of combination is attractive to that specific woman. You might manage get laid, but if you want to find a wife that mask of perfection just wont last. You know why? Because she was not that much into you from the start, but she thought you were okay enough for a short thing. Women have their carnal needs as weel, they only tend to be more polite when ditching men. Anyway, this is all assuming that you buy the whole "game" crap, please disconsider it if it's not the case.

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Well... depends what kind of "game" it is. Usually when guys talk about game, they mean being "suave" and making ANY chick "fall" for them. That type of passive game is mostly fiction. Someone else's version of game might be aggressive game, scumbag game, just go up and start flirting, take her to the janitor's closet 5 minutes later and bang her. Maybe she's the 10th girl you approached that night, maybe she's the 30th or 50th. Who cares, you still got laid more than that "suave" jackass. Usually the goal is to get laid, not get married.

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