MovieChat Forums > The Company Men (2011) Discussion > The X-Box scene made no sense

The X-Box scene made no sense

posted 14 years ago by jays212
35 replies | jump to latest

I get that the kid was giving up a possession to try and help the family out.

But then the wife says "He knew we couldn't afford it. He's right."

Uh...it's an X-box.

[–] Synetech 13 years ago

That part really "stuck in my craw" as well. Like others, I assumed they were talking about a XBL subscription, but even then, so what?! You don't have to get rid of it just because you can't play online; you can still play the single-player modes and play mutliplayer with your father (he specifically mentioned Halo which the two of them definitely could have played together).

What's even worse however is that she said that the son gave it back. What the heck does that mean? He game the XBL subscription back? He gave the console back? (Was it brand-new that he was able to return it? It certainly didn't look brand-new at the beginning.) Did he sell it? If so, did he keep the Wii and Guitar Hero and other stuff (I didn't see one, but I would be surprised if he didn't also have a PS3).

I understand what the writers were trying to accomplish with that scene, but they executed it very poorly. They showed Phil's daughter mentioning a class trip to Italy but never followed up on that (or even showed the daughter again, even after he—lazily, stupidly, and selfishly—killed himself. They could have just cut the daughter out altogether and had the son be the one with a trip that he cancels. At least that way, it would have been less silly.

[–] bluekarma06 13 years ago

the games that you play with X-box cost like 60$ a piece! THAT is what the kid knew they couldn't afford!

[–] scott-1441 13 years ago

I agree and was just going to post this.

Think of an Xbox the same way as an ink jet printer - they're actually sold at a loss to get them in the door, knowing that they'll make back much more on monthly expendables (ink jet cartridges/games and online subscriptions).

Average console games cost $60 and take 10, 15, maybe 20 hours to complete. Your normal kid will tear through one in a weekend. Some games are designed for online play in competition with other players - those can last until the player gets bored, which is usually when the next game is released and all his friends switch to it.

You spend much more money on games for a Xbox or Playstation than you spend on the console itself.

BTW, I know many players, including myself, will happily buy a 2 year old game out of a $10 Walmart bin and entertain themselves with it for weeks. But that would be rare for a teenage boy from an upper class background, who has to keep the same status with his peers that his dad does with the country club membership.