When Uniqlo teamed up with Sofia Coppola early in 2023 to release a capsule collection based around her filmography
There was one clear omission from the line-up: a shirt featuring the immortal line “I’m a firm believer in karma”, as uttered in a pitch-perfect Valley Girl drawl by Emma Watson in 2013’s The Bling Ring.
This disrespect aside, in the decade since the film’s release, her bratty, believable performance as the teenage terror Nicki Moore — based on teen thief Alexis Haines
Nee Neiers — has aged like a fine wine, a perfect encapsulation of the late 00s, in all its celebrity-obsessed, hedonistic infamy.
In the space of six months, from October 2008 until August 2009, a group of five teenagers burglarised a handful of rich and famous residents of Beverly Hills
Pocketing a suspected $3 million in cash and belongings from the likes of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Audrina Patridge and Rachel Bilson.
Paris was the group’s most frequent target — they robbed her at least five times — with clothes, jewellery, shoes, cash and, allegedly, the best coke in Hollywood Hills. But the most shocking part of the robberies wasn’t the amount taken; it was the simplicity of their execution. In the case of Paris, the teenagers found her house key under the doormat.
After Nancy Jo Sales wrote about the robberies and subsequent trial for the March 2010 issue of Vanity Fair, two notable things happened. Firstly, Alexis Neiers left Jo a furious voicemail, taking issue with her portrayal in the article, particularly the idea she was wearing Louboutins to court (“I wasn’t wearing Louboutins, I was wearing little brown kitten heels, fucking bitch!”). Second, Sofia Coppola read the article while on a flight, and found herself equal parts repulsed and intrigued by the story of the teenage burglars, social media flexing and the media circus that surrounded their eventual apprehension. Three years after the Vanity Fair article, The Bling Ring premiered at the European heart of opulence and conspicuous consumption: The Cannes Film Festival.
Back in 2013, Emma Watson was fresh off the back of playing preternaturally talented witch Hermione Granger for a decade. The year prior, she had supporting roles in My Week With Marilyn and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (the latter of which provided her first opportunity to bust out an American accent, something British actors have been doing for years with results ranging from the sublime to the unforgivable), but it was The Bling Ring which provided Emma with the biggest opportunity to finally break away from Harry Potter.
When we first meet Nicki Moore (Sofia chose to create characters ‘based’ on the real-life Bling Ring members rather than involving them directly), she’s standing outside a Los Angeles courtroom, giving an impromptu press conference. “I’m a firm believer in karma,” she tells the assembled reporters with the annunciation of someone who’s practiced their speech. “And I think this situation was attracted into my life as a huge learning lesson for me, to grow and expand as a spiritual human being. I wanna lead a huge charity organisation. I wanna lead a country one day for all I know.” In less than a minute of screentime, Emma sets up Nicki as a performer — someone who has a keen understanding of the media, and how to play a part. Her courtroom attire echoes outfits worn by Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan (who really did wear Louboutins to her trial for parole violation 2010) and the cadence of her voice indicates her little speech is well rehearsed. Every media appearance is an opportunity to control the narrative, and Nicki, while deflecting blame and showing no remorse, opts to make herself out to be a victim too.
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Source: USA Today
