Janice Beard is an unusual, rather gawky young woman who does not easily fit into contemporary society. With an impoverished, agoraphobic mother, severe financial problems of her own - and no particularly marketable skills - Janice takes on the daunting but noble task of finding a "cure" for her mother's disease. At first she tries office work as a temp, but unfortunately does not last long enough in any given situation to amass much capital. She does, however, manage, for entirely unselfish motives, to videotape many facets of her personal and professional life in order to entertain her house-bound mother, bringing the outside world to her.