Tuesday, October 17, 2023

White Lie: faking cancer for cash


Greetings, commies! 

A cautionary tale to those inclined to kneejerk acts of generosity. Every day we get bombarded with GoFundMe requests. How do you know the money goes to a worthy cause? As you are about to get assaulted with more holiday nudges for donations, check out this flick White Lie

It's really scary how easy it is to fake a deadly disease, while harvesting sympathy and money from the gullible public. Katie does not come across as a crook. She is a coy, articulate tomboy who projects an image of vulnerability and courage at the same time, which endears her to her fellow students, school administration and donors. People around her, including her naive girlfriend, are eating up that narrative with a spoon. I guess, none of them had family members who had been through cancer treatments. I am not a medical professional by any means, but even I could pick up inconsistencies in the main character's appearance. Not sure if it was a flippant oversight on behalf of the writers, or the telltale signs were left there on purpose. People going through chemo do NOT grow a 5 o'clock shadow on their heads. Nor do they keep their eyebrows and eyelashes. That should have raised some questions.

The ending if the movie is a little sloppy. I got the impression that the writers ran out of ideas on how to wrap the plot up, so they left it open-ended. Will Katie's lies be uncovered? Will she pay for them? Who will be by her side when she is cornered?