Jezebel 
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New York, 5:58 AM
Sun Nov 29
17 posts in the last 24 hours
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Love.
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But I'll never see this movie or Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. I want a likeable male lead. I'm sure a lot of assholes are that way because someone hurt them, but I don't think the love of a good woman can redeem them (if they can be redeemed at all). People rarely change and when they do, it has to be something within themselves and not someone else. Otherwise, when a rough patch comes along and they get hurt again, they'll just go back to being a jackass.
I'm tired of being fed this fantasy of the man I can redeem. I'm pretty awesome and I deserve someone who is already pretty awesome, not someone I can fix.
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We want to be entertained, which is to say, we don't want to have to think, and everything should come out all right in the end. We want to believe that Hollywood's idea of things holds, even as we know that when we leave the theater, we're going to go right back into the real world, where they don't.
07/27/09
Since there are movies that are not realistic and can at the same time speak intelligently about these things, there becomes less of an excuse for the stereotypical, idiotic, insulting crap like this.
07/27/09
What I'm saying is that Hollywood thrives on "unreality," and it doesn't matter how you slice it, if you're looking for an honest reflection of life and human values, you're not going to find it in 99.9% of what is turned out.
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And a lot of crap books are published, too -- you have to go through a lot of print to get to what I think you're referring to as literature (I read that as meaning something good -- lol).
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Its all about the Tao of Steve, you guys. The girl is SMART and funny and rad, and not desperate. God I love that movie..
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In general, I go into a romantic comedy knowing what I'm going to get, and as a result I come out satisfied. If I want to see something thought-provoking, I go to the Angelika, you know? Sometimes it's nice to just watch pretty people fall in love in completely unrealistic, but romantic ways. It's escapism, and I get that from romance novels too, when I choose to read them. I think it would be great if we had more romantic comedies that explored established relationships - but I don't think that needs to come at the expense of these fantasy movies that already exist.
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HAWT.
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Hah! Well THAT is a gesture I would be cool with. Especially coming from Colin Firth.
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Yeah, exactly. It's all fantasy and escapism. And no one expects it to be original, either - you kind of go for the comfort of knowing exactly what you're going to get.
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Well, and I think that's where you get into the difference between good romantic comedies and romantic comedies where they seem to have just spun a wheel to find their male lead, their female lead, and the contrived situation. It's the difference between "When Harry Met Sally" and "Failure to Launch." And I certainly wish there were more "When Harry Met Sally"s out there.
07/27/09
Yeah, I know you're not saying that. Actually, I guess my comment was more about Meltzer's article, which was complaining that they present completely unrealistic expectations for real relationships. And I think most women are intelligent enough to say, "I like watching this in a movie, but I don't expect my boyfriend to do this, it's ridiculous."
07/27/09
- I love her hair! And dress!
- Did someone say red wine and cats? PARTY
- I've dated two guys named Mike! I can relate!
- Assholes with hearts of gold! That's original, like my eating this tub of ice cream after my last breakup. Because THE BEST GUYS IN MY LIFE ARE BEN AND JERRY AMIRITE LADIES?
- Silly analysis! Men are SIMPLE. Only women are allowed to be COMPLEX in our simplicity. All men like are women who UNDERSTAND THEM. And blowjobs. Why bother getting to know any more?
- I'm getting lost here. Where's my lonely shopping montage?
- Well, der, relationships are boring. The only exciting part is the uncertainty! I find myself immediately bored when a man suggests we watch TV. WHAT ABOUT MEETING CUTE IN THE PARK WHILE WALKING MY DOG?
- I'm happy here in my world. Why must you cause confusing emotions? Oh well. At least I'm wearing cute shoes today.
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Oh my god, this is one of my biggest problems with this genre of films. So many of these gestures have me wanting to call the police, not grab a tissue and say "How beautiful". I mean I know it's not part of this genre technically, but in Twilight, when he climbs through her window and admits to watching her sleep, I went "gee thanks guys, my worst nightmare played out in front of me."
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Which is why Two for the Road is one of my favorite "romantic movies", with its argument that love, most of the time, is riddled with dysfunction, frustration, and a constant struggle for power within the relationship. And the fact that its "happily ever after" message was more about how people have to make a lot of (sometimes agonizing) compromises if they actually want to make things work.
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