Random Movie Characters Way Too Poor To Realistically Afford Their Lifestyles (15 items)

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  (#1) Mia – La La Land

  One of the main talking points viewers came away with from La La Land was how Emma Stone’s character, Mia, could afford to drive around in a Toyota Prius. The cars retail at between $25,000 and $30,000 at a minimum and the aspiring actress works as a barista at the start of the movie. The average salary for café workers is just $19,450, meaning Mia would face financial difficulties to pay for the car. That’s not to mention the huge LA apartment she lives in with her friends that definitely runs on the more expensive side. 
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  (#2) Laura Burney

  • Sleeping with the Enemy

  The movie adaptation of Sleeping with the Enemy made some notable deviations from the novel, most notably with the financial situation of the protagonist Laura. After escaping from her abusive husband with just a small amount of money, she manages to rent a rather large house and carry out renovations despite the fact she previously worked only part-time as a librarian. Furthermore, she also shells out for her mother’s care at a nursing home on what little salary she gets from her new job. Even in Iowa during the '90s, it still seems farfetched to believe she can afford her expenses with the tiny income she apparently has.
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  (#3) Lois Lane

  • Man of Steel, Justice League: Doom, Superman: Doomsday, Superman: Brainiac Attacks, The Batman Superman Movie: World's Finest, Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, Justice League: New Frontier, Movie 43, Superman II, Superman Returns, Superman, Superman III, Hot Shots!

  Lois Lane’s penthouse apartment in Superman is not only a large, lavishly decorated home, it also sports a balcony terrace for the hero to fly through. But one doesn't require X-ray vision to see through the fact that Lane should never have been able to afford the apartment. Working as a reporter for the local newspaper probably earned Lane a lower wage, certainly no larger than the equivalent salary of today’s journalists. Although the movie takes place in Metropolis, mere studio apartments in the building where it was actually filmed rent for several thousand dollars a month, putting them easily out of her price range.
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  (#4) Ben Stone

  • The Family Stone

  Seth Rogan’s character in Knocked Up is Ben Stone, a weed-smoking low baller with low self-esteem. He doesn’t work and spends most of his time hanging out with his friends smoking pot. Though he works no job and boasts few skills, he lives in relative comfort, in a large home where he consumes plenty of drugs

  This is apparently all possible due to a lawsuit settlement he won years before the film takes place. With that knowledge in hand, you'd think it must be a massive settlement. But that too fails to make sense considering Stone cannot even afford a wedding ring later in the movie, suggesting his finances are not in good shape.
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  (#5) Dana Barrett

  • Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, Ghostbusters III

  Dana Barrett, the first customer of the crew in Ghostbusters, lived in a rather exclusive Manhattan penthouse during the events of the film. The movie also makes clear that she worked as a professional cellist at the time. Even accounting for the disparity in pay between orchestras in the United States and the rest of the world, she likely only earned around $80,000-a-year at the time the film was set. That’s nowhere near enough to afford an apartment that was likely to cost several million dollars, especially when you consider that she lives alone. Of course, an apartment with a portal to the World of the Dead may sport other features that keep it at supernaturally low prices.
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  (#6) Sonny Koufax

  • Big Daddy

  It is made clear in Big Daddy that main character Sonny Koufax won an accident lawsuit before the events of the film and now uses the proceeds to pay for his lifestyle. This is supplemented only by a tollbooth job that he works one day a week. Despite a modest income, he lives in relative comfort and stay in a gigantic apartment in central New York.

  Estimates for the type of home and its locations suggest it would cost around $6,000 a month to rent or almost $3 million to buy. So his $200,000 settlement would only keep him in that apartment for just under three years, and that's if he doesn't spend it on anything else like food, clothing, and other general expenses. 
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  (#7) Theodore Twombly

  • Her

  The premise of Her sees protagonist Theodore Twombly working a rather menial job writing lover letters for those who aren’t creative or romantic enough to do it themselves. While touching, this is unlikely to be a high paying gig. It isn’t exactly the most arduous job for a writer, and work of this nature is increasingly being outsourced to places like India, where companies pay people a few cents for hundreds of words.

  Yet Twombly lives in a swanky downtown apartment filled to the brim with the latest gadgets and technology. He’s even able to take vacations whenever he wants in addition to keeping up payments of his spacious home. When you think about it, Twombly falling for a machine hardly feels like the most outrageous aspect of the film.
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  (#8) Jane Adler

  • It's Complicated

  In the 2009 flick It's Complicated, Jane Adler (Meryl Streep) plays a divorced owner of a bakery in Santa Barbara, CA. The job pays an estimated $33,500 salary - but Jane is somehow able to swing living in a neighborhood where homes cost more than $1,000,000.

  What's more, Jane begins remodeling the house over the course of the movie. Never mind the fact that the kitchen is already worthy of any five-star restaurant. Jane wants a bigger one, even though she would never be able to afford it in the real world.
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  (#9) Paul Kersey

  • Death Wish

  Before the events of the Death Wish series, Paul Kersey worked as a middle class architect. By the time Death Wish 3 rolled around, the vigilante seemingly had no job as he carried out his vendetta. Kersey himself acknowledges he has very limited wealth, but this doesn’t stop him from traveling the country and getting hold of an entire arsenal of weapons. This page reveals how he used enough guns to supply a small army, yet the film never explains how he managed to pay for or acquire them – especially with no job.
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  (#10) Indiana Jones

  • Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Disaster Movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

  How Indiana Jones is able to afford to travel around the world constantly is never explained in the series. While he does hold a reliable job as a professor, this would only pay the equivalent of $82,000 today – not enough to cover the expense of his traveling.

  It’s clear he uses none of the treasures he finds to fund himself, as the honest archeologist donates everything to museums and the university where he works. His employers would also be unlikely to pay for the expeditions because of all the violence and controversy surrounding Jones’s adventures. Realistically, would probably have to peddle a ware-or-two to jetset like he does.
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  (#11) Annie Walker

  • Bridesmaids

  The opening scenes of Bridesmaids reveal that Annie Walker is broke. Her bakery has failed, all of her savings are gone, and she must work a low-paying job as a sales clerk in a jewelry store. In spite of this financial hardship, she still finds the time and money to shop with impunity. Throughout the film, Walker goes through a constantly changing wardrobe of outfits, always dressed to impress. Like the colonial woman on the wing of the plane, there is something they're not telling us about Walker's finances.
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  (#12) James Bond

  • GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale, The Spy Who Loved Me, The Living Daylights, Diamonds Are Forever, Quantum of Solace, Live and Let Die, Goldfinger, Bonds Are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun, Casino Royale, Moonraker, A View to a Kill, Casino Royale, From Russia with Love, For Your Eyes Only, Never Say Never Again, Thunderball, Skyfall, James Bond Supports International Women's Day, Licence to Kill, Dr. No, Octopussy, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Welcome to Japan, Mr. Bond

  James Bond is certainly used to the finer things in life. He lives in an exclusive Chelsea apartment in an expensive part of West London, wears designers suits that would cost thousands of dollars, drives limited edition cars, and his signature drink is that of a rich man. If you appraised his home alone, it would likely go for at least a million. Yet, the spy's wage falls in the region of $100,000, a figure nowhere near enough to cover all those shaken martinis. And given Bond's proclivity for ruining expensive equipment, it's doubtful MI6 would be in the mind to constantly reimburse him.
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  (#13) Jay Gatsby

  • The Great Gatsby, The Great Gatsby, The Great Gatsby, The Great Gatsby

  The Great Gatsby protagonist Jay Gatsby at first glance appears to be one of the few fictional characters who genuinely capable of affording his lavish lifestyle. All the extravagant parties he throws definitely suggest he is a millionaire, albeit a secretive one. But if an analysis of his finances can be believed, the bootlegger might well have been spending more money than he was making.

  According to this report, Gatsby’s low margin business of bootlegging, along with a few other sources of income, fails to meet all his spending habits. The excessive parties, huge mansion, and other expenses far outstretched any earnings, meaning he was likely to face bankruptcy sooner rather than later.
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  (#14) Iron Man

  • Ultimate Avengers, Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, The Invincible Iron Man, Iron Man, Ultimate Avengers 2, The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3

  Tony Stark, much like Batman, supports his superhero habits with his own personal fortune. Forbes estimates the businessman accumulated a wealth around $12 billion in total. However, in reality even his immense riches would fail to meet the costs of his heroic efforts.

  According to analysis by MoneySupermarket.com, the various powered suits and technology Stark created would cost in the region of $7 billion. This doesn’t even take into account the fact that he foot the bill for the entire Avengers program. Stark would also likely have to contribute to the $160 billion worth of damage done to Manhattan in The Avengers as insurance companies might weasel out of paying out due to clauses against acts of god – after all, Loki and Thor took part in the battle.
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  (#15) Peter Parker – Spider-Man: Homecoming

  • Spider-Man: Homecoming

  In Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peter Parker is gifted his AI-enhanced suit by Tony Stark, Iron Man himself. It's a good thing, too - some sites estimate that the suit would run a whopping $1,067,523.

  But there are more costs to being a friendly neighborhood crime fighter. Namely, the neighborhood itself. Peter lives in Queens, NY, one of the cheaper areas in the greater New York City area. But even here, apartments cost an estimated $2,100 a month ($25,200 per year). Sure, that might be covered by Aunt May, but she's never seen working.

  Finally, there's the issue of Peter's age. He's 15, meaning he has to pony up about $1,086 per year. How's a high school student supposed to find that cash?

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