MovieChat Forums > Adaptation. (2003) Discussion > Anyone else thinks the waitress was unne...

Anyone else thinks the waitress was unnecessarily rude?

posted 13 years ago by hesperus59
43 replies | jump to latest

So Charlie asked her out and she said no. Did she have to tell the story to her coworker, pointing at him from a distance like he's some ind of a freak? The way she was acting any guy would have thought she was coming on to him. But even if that was not the case, even if his request came out of the blue, why she did act like he insulted her? He asked her out, and she said no. End of story. She seemed almost bitter about it, which I don't understand.

[–] Drummond39 13 years ago

Probably because Charlie was a headcase.

It's easier to beat a child than it is to raise it

[–] nephihaha 9 years ago

He's not a headcase, he's just shy and awkward...

--
It's not "Sci-Fi", it's SF!

"Calvinism is a very liberal religious ethos." - Truekiwijoker

[–] peteyob 13 years ago

It's probably very awkward for a waitress to be asked out by a customer. I think it is in the category of inappropriate. The waitress seemed to be caught off guard - it would probably be a normal reaction. Charlie probably realized he was in the wrong there.

[–] hesperus59 13 years ago

Perhaps she saw it as inappropriate, although, as far as I know, it happens all the time. I'm thinking also her excessive indignation could be be a reflection of Charlie's oversensitive reaction. I mean may be it's partly in his head.

[–] imdb-3415 13 years ago

Yes, I think it was Charlie's subjective impression of the encounter, illustrating how difficult he finds dealing with women, and how mortifying his failures are. Not a total fantasy (like her removing her shirt in the garden), but seeing the waitress exaggerated from his point of view, as extremely friendly and open to begin with, then highly shocked and offended afterwards. Sometimes a person's tone or manner is hard to read, and this was putting us temporarily in his skin, showing how we can sometimes read them wrong, moment by moment. As a man, I myself was very sympathetic!

I don't quite recall the camera angle, but it might have been more effective if she was looking directly into the camera (full POV).

I was then expecting the other waitress to drop off the pie, as a final blow.

[–] minhal92 12 years ago

I think imdb-3415 explains it well, I agree that its 'Charlie's subjective impression of the encounter'. Stories told from his perspective and so maybe that's what he made of the situation seeing as his character is like that. Still sad that she rejected him :'(

[–] Cocktailsfor2 12 years ago

"I was then expecting the other waitress to drop off the pie, as a final blow."

IMO, there's pretty much a tacit understanding that the other waitress serves the pie.

[–] smoko 11 years ago

@imdb-3415 ...I think it was Charlie's subjective impression of the encounter...
You're one of the few people on this thread who gets it.

It reminded me of a scene in The Lonely Guy where Steve Martin goes to a restaurant and says that he's eating alone. Everyone in the place stares at him and there is literally a spotlight on him. In both scenes it's like a reverse-fantasy where your worst fears come true.

[–] ceaseless-chatter 13 years ago

Yes I do think she was unnecessarily rude. But maybe you gotta think about it like this, if I was awkwardly asked out at work by a stranger who can't even manage small talk I would probably bring it up to a co-worker. Not immediately like we see in the movie, but I would make light of it and shake off the weirdness of it at some point. The movie isn't going to check back in with the waitress a few hours after Charlie has left the restaurant. So it does seem extreme and I had the same reaction as you, but I guess they wanted to show how hard it is for Charlie to talk to women.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jalenxa8 13 years ago

The first time I saw the movie almost 10 years ago now, I was analyzing every seen and being very literal, so I looked at it a different way.

I was thinking the entire time in my head the word "adaptation."

Here we have Kaufman (Cage) seemingly succeeding at landing a date, everything is going good, then BOOM suddenly everything flips on him when the waitress goes cold on him. During my first viewing, I thought of it was a visual display of what a organism must go through on Earth. Everything going good, living, succeeding, and then boom the environment changes on you. You must either adapt to the sudden change or die.

So I thought it was key scene further illustrating Kaufman's early struggles and failures, and his need overall to adapt enough to succeed and become strong enough to complete the screenplay.

Have seen the film probably 50 times since then, so not sure if I still believe that.

Maybe its just scene showing his awkwardness and overall anxiety with women/life in general.

[–] Vilian 13 years ago

I've picked up a waitress from personality alone. We didn't go anywhere as far as relationships go. Still, it's typically a faux paus to ask a woman out when she is on the clock. It interferes with her job from a professional standpoint, no matter how subtle it is. As a guy I find it flattering when a female customer acts interested in me, but it's best to always maintain that professional posture.

I used to work in a paint store. You know how hard it is to resist a beautiful woman who walks up to you and says she needs caulk?

[–] osully67 13 years ago

Charlie was acting like he had Asperger's when he was talking about the orchids. I don't blame her.

[–] nephihaha 9 years ago

"Still, it's typically a faux paus to ask a woman out when she is on the clock. "

Better than hanging around for closing time and then doing it... eek, that would look like stalking!

--
It's not "Sci-Fi", it's SF!

"Calvinism is a very liberal religious ethos." - Truekiwijoker

[–] dahalpert 13 years ago

She seemed more creeped out than bitter. After all, she's only in her twenties and she's being asked out by a fat, balding, middle-aged guy. If she'd been waitressing for any length of time, you'd think she'd be used to it though.