Apparently there was a backstory written for Alan Arkin to use in his interpretation of George: he was a former schoolteacher.
THATS interesting! Where did you learn that?
It certainly makes sense. Basically I, like some of the previous posters, always felt that Aaranow's heart wasn't in his job, unlike the other three guys. As for my argument that he was crooked but just not
as crooked as the others, he may even have felt bad about being a swindler and would rather be in some other profession.
Levine, Roma and Moss on the other hand
enjoy being salesmen so they view their customers as means to ends rather than human beings.
Perhaps the most revealing thing that backs this up is the fact that, unlike the other three, Aaranow(at least to me) doesn't actually seem to care about winning the sales contest. It's almost as if he's subconsciously hoping he might get fired, as though being unemployed is better than being a corrupt real estate agent. But he's
so spineless and weak-willed--kind of like James Lingk--that he doesn't even have the guts to do what probably most of us think we would do in a similar predicament and that is to quit.
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dyahrmarkt
8 years ago
That bit is in the IMDB trivia. And, upon rereading it I misspoke - it wasn't written for him - Arkin conceived of the backstory on his own.
And I think we are underestimating George here...there may be a lot more to him than meets the eye. After all, he gets the set of steak knives at the end of the day. Notice the film's final scene - the quick zoom on George as he seizes the window of opportunity left open to him. And one wonders how the transition from George to Shelley took place when it came to the robbery - when we left off with Dave and George, Dave was essentially blackmailing George because he "listened" to the robbery plot. So at some point George either a) called Dave's bluff on the blackmail *beep* and told him to stick it, or b) got Shelley involved without Dave's knowledge. We can only assume what happened in between hours where Dave had George in a corner and it being Shelley who was weak-willed enough to go through with the robbery. "B" doesn't really hold up, I don't think, due to the fact that Shelley was so scared *beep* by Williamson at the end he blabbed it was Moss who was in on it. Shelley would have no reason to protect George, because he likely had no knowledge of Moss's initial recruitment of George.
Notice how scared of George Dave is at the end of the movie. And vice versa. Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a while wince I've seen the movie, but do Shelley and George share even one bit of dialogue in the entire movie?
Please nest your IMDB page, and respond to the correct person -
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Silent_Bob01
8 years ago
Just before Blake's tirade, George complained about having a lady in White Plains on the hook before telling him she had to speak with her lawyer first.
Shelley asked him incredulously, "You let her speak with her lawyer??" to which George responds, "What could I do?", and Shelley resignedly replies, "I dunno."
That exchange may actually be the only one between the two in the film.
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RaiderDuck
8 years ago
There's one other, right after Shelley comes into the office and tells everyone about the Nyborg sale.
Levene: "That's $82,000, $12,500 in my commission, off deadbeat magazine subscription leads!"
George: "Who?"
Levene: "Bruce and Harriet Nyborg!"
(Crosstalk)
George: "Shelley 'The Machine' Levene! That's great!"
Levene: "Well thank you, George."
Roma then starts talking to Levene and occupies his attention until Moss's freakout.
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MdmBadenov
8 years ago
I took it as a given that George wouldn't agree to the scheme. He stood up to Moss and wouldn't let Moss back him into anything. So Moss preyed on Shelly next. Shelly was desperate enough to do it. There's a scene with him on the phone right before it cuts to Aaronow and Moss talking. Shelly is distressed in the phone call and tells whoever he's talking to he'll "have the money by tomorrow." I guess that maybe gives George one degree more of integrity than the others, which isn't saying much. They are all pretty much scuzz at the bottom of the barrel.
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eelb
8 years ago
Perhaps the most revealing thing that backs this up is the fact that, unlike the other three, Aaranow(at least to me) doesn't actually seem to care about winning the sales contest. It's almost as if he's subconsciously hoping he might get fired, as though being unemployed is better than being a corrupt real estate agent. But he's so spineless and weak-willed--kind of like James Lingk--that he doesn't even have the guts to do what probably most of us think we would do in a similar predicament and that is to quit.
I've always seen Aaronow as a survivalist. He wants a steady job with enough money to eat and pay his bills. This has been obtainable in the past with a sale here and there. But now the last man on the board at the end of the month is going to be fired, and there's one week left until the end of the month. Survival for Aaronow has taken on a new level of urgency.
In Aaronow's case, I don't think quitting is a viable option. Hanging on and hoping for a sale by the end of the month, is the lesser of two evils. If he doesn't make it he'll need a new job anyway.
As far as what most of us would do, I think that depends on our individual skillsets and the job market that exist at the time. These salesmen are not educated or trained men, that are in demand in the workplace. Roma's the only one that could walk out and get another job.
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Silent_Bob01
8 years ago
Also keep in mind that this film came out in '92 and there was a recession going on, so that probably made people watching the film at the time sympathize with desperate people hanging on to whatever job they had.
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