CLIP The clip begins at 26 minutes and 50 seconds and lasts until 34 minutes and 53 seconds.
Fashion, wealth, glamour, narcissism and celebrity culture are just some of the themes raised in The Bling Ring, a true story from director Sofia Coppola. The film tells the story of a collection of Los Angeles high school students who broke into the houses of celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom and Lindsay Lohan between 2008 and 2009, stealing more than $3 million worth of clothes, cash, art and jewellery - seemingly without too much effort or planning.
Coined as ‘The Bling Ring’ by the very media that they were obsessed with, the five teenagers used well known gossip websites such as TMZ to predict when their A-list victims would be out of town, and after a few clicks on Google were able to get the celebrities’ home addresses. Some of the victims such as Paris Hilton (who left the keys to her house under her welcome mat!) didn’t even realise that she was missing anything, and in a nice twist, the film was shot on location in her real walk-in wardrobe.
In an interview, star of the film Emma Watson (while claiming that she only owns eight pairs of shoes) said this about filming in Hilton’s wardrobe: ‘She could never wear all of those clothes and half of them were brand new and still had the price tag on, but I suppose she just bought them to have them. We’ve all bought things on impulse, but that’s an entirely different thing.’ The Bling Ring asks many questions and will leave you wondering whether it is possible to have loving, empathetic, moral young people in a world that places such a high value on material wealth. In that sense it’s probably the scariest film of 2013.
In the clip for this session we see the crew on their first outing together in Paris Hilton’s house. We see them browse her wardrobe, obsess over her various items and select what they want to steal. Be warned though that this clip does contain some bad language as the group gets excited. Show the clip to your youth group, and afterwards break into small groups and discuss the following questions:
• In what ways have you been affected by consumerism?
• Is wanting new things a bad thing?
• How can being a Christian affect our interaction with a celebrity obsessed culture?
• Do you think that what the people in The Bling Ring did was wrong?
Read 1 Timothy 6:6-10 together. Once you’ve explained the passage and context, return to your groups and discuss the following questions:
• Is money in itself a bad thing?
• What is it about money that causes problems? Why?
• If money is the root of all evil, what should we be aiming for?
• What makes you happy?
