I enjoyed the movie but was thrown off by her willingness to go into his house when she was suspicious of him. I'm single now, but even when I wasn't I would never go into a man's house alone. Maybe I have trust issues. Lol.
shareI agree, that is the first question I asked myself. I also asked why would the cop, knowing what he knew about Simon, why would he turn his back on the guy?
shareI like the movie, but these two things do bug me.
1.) It makes no sense for Jessica to go into the man's house alone when she suspects him.
2.) It makes no sense for the cop to turn his back on Simon when the cop suspects him.
Exactly! I enjoyed the movie but didn't particularly sympathize with Jessica. Her dumb azz got too caught up being a citizen cop that she got herself kidnapped and raped on the regular. You don't go into a man's (or woman) house when you think something is wrong.
As far as the cop, he was a bigger dummy but we all know cops are either overly paranoid or incredibly arrogant. His arrogance got him killed.
You could even ask why Evan would go into Simon's house in the end. He should've at least waited until he knew Simon was gone.
shareI think the fact that Evan was just able to walk in is hard to believe. It seemed Simon was very careful about locking up. But I actually see this in a lot of suspense movies.
shareMaybe she did so, because he was a neighbor.
shareSo even if you felt that something was off about a person you would feel safe because it's your neighbor? I hope not. Every crazy person is a neighbor to someone.
shareSo even if you felt that something was off about a person you would feel safe because it's your neighbor? I hope not. Every crazy person is a neighbor to someone.
I see your point but it's still crazy dumb. I guess people have developed more tendencies to be polite than self preservation. The hell with his feelings, nothing would have made me go into that house.
I'm also a little old fashioned so a man who knows I'm with someone shouldn't be inviting me to his house without my SO. They're neighbors not friends so in my mind it's inappropiate.
she throught he was a neighbor, respected school teacher. she had invited him to a meal. he had been to her house, ate and drank wine...he was not really a stranger, just wierd.
she did not suspect him of anything but being wierd....she tried to look in the windows. she was curious. she did not get afraid til she saw that she was filmed and that he was aware.....she wanted to get out but too late.
i would have gone in, i think...
Well she knew he was her neighbor so I'm not sure what you mean. Are you saying she thought he was a 'normal' neighbor? It was the dinner which made her suspect he was weird then caught him lying. She wasn't just curious, she thought he was hiding something and like a naive crime fighter she wanted to know what was going on and got caught. Why and what would possess you to go into someone's house that you have reservations about and have only spent time with once? Sorry, but you may be a little 'too nice'. One dinner? He's still a stranger because she knows nothing about him or even if he's really a teacher.
share[deleted]
WTF are you talking about?
shareShe was dumb to go in his house alone she already thought the was weird. The cop was dumb also he should of had back up lol
shareEh, all women are different. It was a stupid mistake, sure, but it's not beyond believability.
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That's putting it mildly, OO7
Agreed. People do dumb things that put their safety in jeopardy all the time. So yeah it's not unbelievable, just very stupid. I just wondered who else would do it or thought it was ok.
shareWatched it again this evening. The first time it came on I'd already missed at least the first 30-45 mins of it.
I think she was:
1. Overconfident
2. Acting out of feelings of guilt for slamming his 'profession' when they first met. She kept trying to make up for that leading up to the point where she was finally led into his trap.
P.S. No, there's no amount of guilt feelings that would make me enter into a strange man's house alone! Lol.
Even though Jessica was suspicious of Simon, he wasn't some "strange man." She knew him. She also loved mysteries and thought she'd find something. Also, while she knew something was off with Simon, I don't think she knew just how big/bad it was.
Plus women are trained to be polite. There was a great line in the first episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, where one of the characters said she went to her kidnappers car because she "didn't want to be rude." Matt Lauer, who was interviewing her replied; "I'm always amazed at what women will do because they're afraid of being rude."
Sorry, she didn't know him. They were new to the neighborhood and he was a neighbor they had dinner with once. For me, that doesn't constitute knowing a person.
So your theory is that she wasn't really suspicious of him, just nosey? Ok, I interpreted it differently.
I was raised to have manners but also to listen to my instincts. I don't get people who are so worried about hurting someone's feelings that they put themselves in harms way.
I barely know the names of any of my neighbors, but I still consider them people I "know," not random strangers.
No, I don't think Jessica was "just nosey." Did you even read what I wrote? I specifically said; "while she knew something was off with Simon, I don't think she knew just how big/bad it was." She seemed to think he was having some kind of clandestine relationship with a woman, which was true in a way, but I think Jessica believed she'd uncover something like a woman cheating on her husband with Simon. And like I also said, she loves mysteries so she wanted to uncover/be part of one.
Are you a woman? Women are taught to be polite, even when it goes against their/our (I'm a woman) instincts. There's an excellent book called The Gift of Fear (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gift_of_Fear) by security expect Gavin de Becker where he talks about this heavily. One great quote from it; 'When a man says no, it's the end of a conversation, when a woman says no, it's the start of a negotiation."
Oprah used to talk about this issue a lot on her show (she has or at least had it) and referred to it as "the disease to please." http://www.oprah.com/oprahs-lifeclass/Webisode-Bishop-TD-Jakes-on-the-Disease-to-Please-Video
Please don't take offense because none is meant but you sound like a woman who may be too polite. If you're a woman that is. I know the names of my neighbors and if someone asked I would say I don't know them personally, but they're my neighbor. So for me it takes more to be considered someone I know and vice versa.
I did read your post and I think we are on the same page with your observation of her motives. If someone thinks their neighbor is involved with a married woman, yes that's just nosey to dig into it. Still doesn't justify her going into his house but to your point she didn't think he was dangerous. While I thought she was suspicious of him and being an unofficial crime investigator her thinking he was 'off' made it just that much more stupid of her to go in.
To answer your other question, yes I'm a woman and while I appreciate you taking the time to post excerpts, I was simply not raised that way and neither was anyone I consider a friend. I will go back and read it because I find it amazing that women are raised that way and wonder if it has anything to do with the environment one grows up in.
It's literally offensive to me when someone tries to convince me to do something I don't want to. So if my 'no thank you' begins a negotiation I feel free to be rude. That being said, I understand your point about how women are raised and don't disagree with you on that I just can't relate and find it stupid and irresponsible of the parents.
I too am a suffer of "the disease to please." I've done a lot of stupid things because of it. A lot of people, particularly women are. If we weren't so many women wouldn't be kidnapped/raped/murdered. Read the link I posted with the stories from The Gift of Fear.
I think it's entirely the fault of parents (though in my case it's mostly the fault of mine because my mom is an even bigger pushover than I am), but society as a whole. Recently I read some quotes of famous women about how they have to be easygoing and cheerful onset or else they'll get labelled "difficult," while this isn't an issue for famous men.
I'm a naturally curious person and I love true crime, though personally I've never wanted to find my own mystery, so maybe I'm a bit more understanding of wanting to see someone's house. I recently had a temporary job delivering phone books in a rural area and the rest part was discovering houses I didn't know were there. I didn't go in any of them though.
Yeah, some women at work are like that. Not wanting to be labeled a b*tch when a man wouldn't. So I do get that there's a double standard for sure.
It would be sooo cool to discover homes you didn't know existed. Thank god you didn't go in any. Who knows when you would have been rescued. ?
I'm on my phone so I apologize, you did acknowledge that you're a woman.
I'm curious, if you don't even know the names of some of your neighbors why do you consider them people you know?
I don't consider a person someone I know unless I've spent a good amount of time in their company and feel confident about their character. Likes, dislikes, what they do, how they feel about social issues, their political beliefs, family. Yes it's a lot but ultimately I won't claim to know a person without knowing those basic things.
"Know" means to be aware of, they're not unknown to know. It means they're not a stranger. I can't name some of my neighbors, but they're not strangers either.
There are degrees to things. You can "know" someone casually and "know" someone well. Coworkers, classmates, doctors, etc. are typically people you "know" without knowing how they feel about social issues, their political beliefs, etc.
Got cha. I take 'know' very literally lol. When I see neighbors of criminals on the news say 'I would have never thought he/she would do XYZ'. I always wonder why, cause they said good morning everyday and seemed pleasant? I'm naturally suspicious of most people so that's prob also where that stems from. I'm always wondering what a person's motive is. I prob should have been a psychologist. :-)
shareHere are some condensed stories from The Gift of Fear and de Becker explains why people reacted like they did:
http://oprah.about.com/od/oprahshowrecaps/p/gavindebecker.htm