Paper Moon describes an era that is filled with rich and easily conned people, but not so much of the poor, impoverished or even the down-right intelligent. While the film doesn’t explicitly say it’s set during the 1930s, the con-artist, ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ trope of the thirties does. Another clue to the inconsistencies of time and place is the role money plays within the film; as money is easily scammed, and a lot of money is being swindled from businesses and widows that is inconsistent with the actual period. While Moses drives a Jalopy and Addie listened to radio shows, the actual time period itself is barely represented throughout the film. Unless a nine year old Addie smoking cigarettes is what truly represents the harsh realities of the time; even then Moses didn’t approve of that either. However, Paper Moon is not a representation of reality, nor is it meant to be, but rather it’s supposed to be a light-hearted comedy and sometimes that is all a movie is meant to be. If an audience expects Paper Moon to be a historically accurate film, then they will definitely be very surprised if they see Elizabeth (1998) or Everest (2015) both based on actual events. Emphasis on
Paper Moon describes an era that is filled with rich and easily conned people, but not so much of the poor, impoverished or even the down-right intelligent. While the film doesn’t explicitly say it’s set during the 1930s, the con-artist, ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ trope of the thirties does. Another clue to the inconsistencies of time and place is the role money plays within the film; as money is easily scammed, and a lot of money is being swindled from businesses and widows that is inconsistent with the actual period. While Moses drives a Jalopy and Addie listened to radio shows, the actual time period itself is barely represented throughout the film. Unless a nine year old Addie smoking cigarettes is what truly represents the harsh realities of the time; even then Moses didn’t approve of that either. However, Paper Moon is not a representation of reality, nor is it meant to be, but rather it’s supposed to be a light-hearted comedy and sometimes that is all a movie is meant to be. If an audience expects Paper Moon to be a historically accurate film, then they will definitely be very surprised if they see Elizabeth (1998) or Everest (2015) both based on actual events. Emphasis on