"When I grow up...", an phrase used in song lyrics as well as every child waiting to become a teenager, adult; simply older. There are both positives and negatives to growing up, older means more freedom but a lot more responsibilities (yay for paying for your own stuff). Being younger is having your parents constantly support you and the world doesn't seem so big and scary. The film 13 Going on 30 is a great example of what happens when you try to hard to fit in and want to grow up way to fast.
The movie starts off showing Jenna at 13, awkward, uncomfortable, and just wants to fit in with the popular crowd. Jenna dreams of what every 13 year old girl wants, a boyfriend, to be cool, and to be considered beautiful. She has her best friend Matt and both are considered dorks. While at her birthday party Jenna gets embarrassed by the popular girls and wishes to be 30 years old because she believes she will be successful, have a boyfriend, and be happier. When she wakes up she in fact thirty with a career, boyfriend, and full life she did not remember. While Jenna discovers what her adult life has been like she sees that growing up isn't all its cracked up to be.
Throughout the movie Jenna starts to figure out some of the life choices she made and who she grew up to be. The person Jenna is as an adult is not who she wanted to become in the slightest. The first lesson the movie gives is stay true to yourself. Changing to try to fit into a "social norm" or just to be considered cool for a few minutes is not worth losing yourself in the process. Jenna lost herself with trying to mold herself into the "perfect girl" which does not exist. An individuals personality changes somewhat as they begin to mature but not drastically that they become a whole new person.
The second lesson the film teaches is that the best relationships can blossom from the simplest of friendships. A friend knows you well at first, you have trust with them and an obvious connection to have some sort of relationship. If the friendship turn into something more then its great because you already know the person but then develop a deeper connection. Jenna falls in love with her best friend. someone she trusts, cares for, and has a strong foundation with. Basically keep an open mind about relationships, your perfect person can be right in front of you.
Crazy, how I feel about studying at all hours of the night for my exams. Stupid, how I feel after taking said exams. Love, what I may feel if they went well so we shall see. Enough of my small tangents and moving on to the important things. The movie Crazy, Stupid, Love filmed with an all star cast and a fantastic plot. It has comedy, drama, romance, and everything in between (even a pretty good fight scene). It also has real life depictions of love and the inner workings of relationships. Not everything is perfect nor should it be.
Some of the notable cast members are Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Kevin Bacon, Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, and many more notable actors. The film is written in a way where multiple story lines are introduced but end up connecting in one way or another, think of the movie Valentine's Day; only this is way better. The story follows the relationship of a divorcing husband and wife, their kids, the babysitter who has a crush on the father, and the friend who helps divorced father pick up women. All confusing yes but the movie explains in greater detail than I will go into.
The lessons, both positive and negative, are everywhere in the film. The first giving an inside look into divorce. Divorce is a scary thing, nobody wants to go through it, its sad, exhausting, but sometimes necessary. My parents went through a divorce when I was in sixth grade, while I did not understand at the time, it was for the best and our lives have vastly improved. This movie does not show the kids perspective on the divorce, it shows the parents. The wife wants a divorce because the relationship has grown stale, they stopped showing love for one another, got into a routine, and were just stuck. Throughout the film the husband goes through the stages of depression, to getting back out in the dating world, but all the while continuing to love his wife. The wife had an affair but in a certain scene shows how much she truly loves her husband. The scene is in the backyard of the family home where the wife and kids live, the husband has snuck into the backyard to take care of the plants and groundskeeping. The audience sees the wife call the husband from a window in the house, she says she needs help fixing the water heater which she obviously does not. He sees all of this from the backyard, her pretending to be in basement following directions, but in reality she is calling because she misses him. They still share a love between each other which is crucial to show, no matter what you go through with someone you can still always love them. It is sad, heartbreaking, but at the same time incredibly moving.
A negative part of the film is the portrayal of men. The images given to the audience are men always want to sleep around, that they are players, and do not need relationships. While some men do act in this way a lot don't, the male characters in the movie shift back and forth but still have the negative connotation of being sex driven. While this does not last the entirety of the movie it is still a large factor and something that seems to happen in a majority of movies. The other negative aspect of the movie is the need for the "grand gesture". Honestly the grand gesture is overdone and obnoxious. In real relationships communicating, truly apologizing, and showing the other person you love them can all be done without doing something big and public. The classic romantic comedy gran gesture was put into the film to be a feel good part of the movie, nothing more.
The best thing about this film is the fact that the ending is not wrapped up in a neat little bow. Not everything worked out for everyone, some people were heartbroken, friendships were ruined, love was found, and some relationships were still "iffy". That is exactly how life is as well, if everything were so simple it would be exactly like the movies. Crazy, Stupid, Love does a fantastic job in showing how everything has a way of working out, while it may not be in the way we imagined it, there is still an ending. The ending which can also lead to a new beginning. (I'm sorry Im cheesy I had to do it)
Rain pouring violently from the sky releases two moods in me, cuddly, warm, and fuzzy. The other mood is cranky and annoyed. Unfortunately today the rain has brought out the second mood so I apologize in advance for my somewhat depressing rant. The rant does stem from what is portrayed on television that I, as well as all other people on the planet see. That is "what women do wrong in relationships" and directly after this phrase is uttered there is usually some tips on how not to be "that girl". A movie that perfectly depicts this is How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. While my love for both Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey is strong, this film tries to show what women do wrong in relationships and it is just not fair.
Naturally the female lead is shown in a job that she is not appreciated in, working for a magazine similar to Cosmopolitan writing "How to" articles instead of things like politics. While it is frustrating to not feel fully appreciated for your intelligence that doesn't mean a movie has to bash a female magazine. Not everyone working at female magazines are superficial, somewhat of an "airhead", and concerned about unimportant things. The female lead Andy, played by Kate Hudson, is supposed to be a relatable down to earth girl but is just another character without much depth. While Andy is at work her friend had just gotten dumped, again, for doing ridiculous things that a majority of people would not do in a relationship. The editor thinks it would be a wonderful idea to use the poor woman's relationship issues as an article. Andy takes charge to shield her friend and comes up with the concept to write about everything that women do wrong in relationships and how that drives men away.
The examples of what women do wrong are calling frequently, not understanding personal boundaries, moving to quickly, accusing their significant other of certain things such as flirting with other women, etc. All of these are done by both genders in relationships, some of the examples are more extravagant than others but it is not only women who make these choices. The film lacks showing both sides of the story, instead it is only Andy is who forced to extremes when she has to "lose a guy in 10 days" for her article. That being said the man she chose is very handsome but had his own flaws as a character as well, Ben, played by Matthew McConaughey. Ben uses his relationship with Andy for his own personal gains as well but does not run screaming for the hills either when Andy becomes "crazy". Andy being crazy is in fact crazy, going to the extreme in the situation from moving some of her stuff into his apartment, making friends with his mother, and creating a baby book. All over the top gestures that normal people just do not do.
The film continues into the blossoming relationship of Ben and Andy all the while each continue to use each other until the trust is revealed. A large fight happens and eventually there is reconciliation and all is right with the world. Honestly though the depiction of what women do wrong in a relationship is seen all throughout the film, occasionally touching on what men do wrong as well but the whole scenario is unhealthy. Lying, scamming, and being over the top are thrown in as building blocks to a relationship. While it is true that a relationship can stem from nothing it should not be built on negative attributes and unhealthy behavior. The film, while seemingly entertaining, is actually insulting when looking at the deeper picture. It lost a fan in less that 10 hours after seeing it.
Another day, another dollar. Or in this case another Friday, another blog post. I have watched a good amount of romantic movies this week because the Penn State plague has kept me in a constant state of sick (shoutout to you East Halls). But nonetheless I stumbled upon one of the classic romantic comedies, The Princess Bride. This movie was shown to me when I was very young by my mother, she loved it, so naturally I loved it as well. As I travel back to the great state of Maryland tomorrow I was promised a night of Indian food and watching the Princess Bride while obnoxiously saying the lines at the same time as the characters.
For those of you that have not seen this movie, please take the time this weekend to culture yourselves I am begging you. Great quotes, great characters, and a fantastic story. The story starts off with a grandpa reading to his sick grandson a story that has been passed down in their family. The fairytale is then put on the screen, depicting a time of kings, knights, pirates, and kingdoms. The two lovers are Buttercup and Westley, torn apart by the need for money as well as stability. After he leaves the audience is subjected to the torturous events of Buttercup seemingly "moving on" and the agony of waiting for the lovers to reunite. There are fantastic battles, hilarious encounters, and a great love story that ends with passion and romance.
The film teaches a very important lesson about love which is that there is not love without pain. Pain being the trials in a relationship, the sacrifices needed to be made while in said relationship. There is always going to be compromise and occasionally someone will need to break a habit for the one they love. These sacrifices range in a multitude of ways such as giving up smoking, seeking counseling, or eating healthier. In the Princess Bride, Westley continually sacrifices his livelihood for Buttercup, as well as another character who dedicates his life to finding his fathers killer. Mind you this is extreme conditions but understandable as well.
Another lesson taught is that there are many different ways to show your love. There is a simple phrase, "As you wish", that is used over and over by Westley to show his love. It is sweet, endearing, and still provides all the emotions that come with another three letter phrase. There are also different ways to show ones love through cleaning up around the house without being nagged, after a date texting the person asking if they got home safely, or simply showing some sort of appreciation of your significant partner. Saying "I love you" cane done in so many ways, each way that continues to strengthen and build the relationship was well.
While there are many lessons the film gives, some being more comical than others (always watch out for R.O.U.S), there is such a heartwarming feeling within the whole film. Love conquers all, as it should, and the pure of heart ride off into the sunset, or the sunrise depending on the time of vanquishing evil.
"Marriage, marriage is what brings us together today", a great quote from the movie The Princess Bride (which I will probably post about later). Marriage seems to be the ultimate goal for a majority of people, it is supposed to be a wonderful time in a persons life. Planning the wedding, the ceremony, the honey moon, but what gets the ball rolling is the proposal. And that is the film of this post, starring Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock. The Proposal is another one of my all time favorite movies, first of all it has a great cast. It also has a funny story line, Sandra Bullock who is just overall goals, and the love of my life Ryan Reynolds (Blake Lively you are a very lucky woman).
The Proposal is filled with great actors, one of the greats being THE Betty White. While she is a character the two main roles, Bullock and Reynolds, are coworkers at a book publishing company in New York. Well actually Bullock is a successful editor and Reynolds is sort of her "secretary". Bullock decides to propose to Reynolds so she can stay in the country because she was going to deported back to Canada with an expired visa. While this sounds crazy Bullocks character is a take charge woman, always wants to be in control, and cares about her career more than people. Reynolds is a family man, a caring person, and loves his work, ultimately wanting to be an editor.
While deciding to go along with the rouse Reynolds takes Bullock to meet his family in Alaska and while surrounded by the brisk Alaskan air, they begin to fall in love. While falling for each other, the audience starts to learn secrets of the two characters and how it affects their relationship with others. One secret is Reynolds' rocky relationship with his father, which is the first lesson taught, that supporting the people you love is what helps those relationships. Talking to the person, understanding their points of views, and supporting them in their life decisions is crucial in maintaining a healthy functioning relationship.
The other lesson taught is that love comes from all around us, it happens at the most random of times and can just not make sense. The way to deal with that is accept love, accept the love that is right in front of your eyes because love is vital to humans. We need love from friends, family, and a significant other. It is just the way we function and that is perfectly fine. Sure it makes us crazy, like why does my mom always fuss over whatever I do, well because she loves you. Or why do my friends lecture me about eating and not skipping meals, because they love you and want you healthy. Accepting the love that is surrounding you will lead to a happier life and a better outlook of the world.
There have always been unwritten rules in the attempt to win the love of another. Sometimes you have to do something bold to get yourself noticed, other times it may involve stalking their Instagram to see what you could possibly have in common. Either way, there are a multitude of methods to peak a persons interest.
The movie Hitch, starring Will Smith and Eva Mendes, is a movie that in my opinion appeals to both the female and the male audience members. Will Smith plays a man who is known for helping other men find love. He gives advice, creates scenarios that shine a positive light on the man looking for love, and ultimately gets paid for being a "matchmaker" of sorts. He is very successful in helping other men find love but did not find love himself. Of course at this point the gorgeous Eva Mendes enters as the obvious love interest (because it is a romantic comedy after all).
Throughout the course of the movie Will Smith grows to be good friends with one of his clients and begins to realize he has feeling for the Eva Mendes character as well. While the audience watches the cringe worthy attempts of Will Smith to gain affection from Eva Mendes, Smith starts to realize his tricks/plans aren't full proof. A person doesn't have to change who they are, pretend to be interested in a certain topic, but just be themselves. That is one of the most important lessons in the movie, being yourself should be good enough for any person. I think that this isn't just a lesson in live but a lesson in life as well, accepting who you are as a person is so important to just being happy. Nobody's perfect and that is ok.
The other lesson taught in the movie is that we’re just human. We need to love and to be loved. each and every one of us. Even when it seems like we don’t want to. Any form of love, from your family, from your friends, and from your significant other. No one wants to be completely alone and if it seems like they do, love them anyway. There is a difference between wanting attention and wanting to be loved. Attention is great but in the end, love is what is ultimately important. The film Hitch does a great job in portraying both lessons while adding comedic relief and a great love story to top it all off.
Everyone has to have a crazy family, I am shocked if there are never those weird aunts and uncles at family reunions. At least that's how it is with my family, on both my Moms side as well as my Dads. Which is why I am so excited about this post because it is about one of my favorite movies of all time, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. My Moms side is full of Eastern Europeans, specifically Slovaks and Croatians so each year at our family reunion there is folk music, folk dancing, weird smelling food, and one of the most complicated language I have ever heard. All the time I keep getting asked questions in Slovak that I cannot answer (I can basically ask for more food, say I want to dance, and say 'I love you') as well as hear stories about the "old country". On my Dads side is all of the Irish, loud, occasionally someone will become an 'Irish hothead', and of course talk about great the Irish rebellion was. Basically I completely understand the loud, large, and always wanting to know your business families.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a timeless classic in my mind, showing the life of Toula Portokalos, a woman who's Greek family, in her mind is over the top. Always in her business, too loud, too large, and way too concerned with her getting married. Toula is first portrayed as awkward, not as lovely as her sister, but a really hard worker as well as incredibly smart. One day while working at her families Greek restaurant, she meets a handsome man Ian Miller, and make a complete fool of herself of course. Toula begins to make changes in herself, taking college classes, buying new clothes, and starts to look good for her. I think that is one of the most important lessons that My Big Fat Greek Wedding gives, that Toula did not simply change for a man, she changed for herself because she became more confident and wanted to portray that confidence. Her confidence leads to going out secretly with Ian.
While Toula begins to secretly date Ian, she falls in love, becomes engaged, but needs to tell her family. Another lesson is provided during this time of the film, that you will do anything for the person you love. This is shown purely in Ian dealing with Toula's family, their disapproval of him but because he loves her, he makes his best effort in everything. He also tries to understand how Windex can cure everything (if you don't understand that, see the movie it is a huge pop culture reference); basically this entire movie is filled with pop culture references. After many many hilarious stories, the combining of Ian's family and Toula's family, the wedding actually happens and the audience sees Toula appreciate how insane her family is.
The film depicts a love that is extremely strong, the love within a family, but it also shows how strong the bond is between two people who fall in love and are meant to be together. While yes family can be embarrassing, sometimes overbearing, but in the end there is so much love that everything else doesn't seem to matter. True love is also something that will overcome most everything, both important lessons that the movie teaches. This film is a fantastic movie for how to deal with a crazy family, portray confidence for oneself, and is honestly just a feel good movie.
One of the best things about romantic comedies in my opinion is that the male lead usually happens to be a heartthrob. Someone to gawk at and imagine as your next boyfriend all the while realizing that will never happen. Ending in disappointment yes but remembering how much you were entertained by the movie makes it all worth while.
The film 10 Things I Hate About You stars Heath Ledger as the main lead and follows his endeavors and attempts at winning the affection of the female lead Julia Stiles. The film is based off of the story of The Taming of the Shrew written by Shakespeare so the audience already knows it will be a dramatic love story. The film depicts a basic high school with some of the basic high school clique system but also some unconventional ones as well. Popular attractive people, cowboys, coffee snobs etc. Two sisters at the school fit into different groups of the high school life, one is younger but in the pretty/popular group, while another is incredibly smart but very shrewd (ha! get it?). The story follows two boys who are trying to win over the younger sister, the younger sister is not allowed to date until the Julia Stiles character dates, which everyone knows will never happen because she does not date.
While the movie is greatly entertaining and has its sweet parts, the next part of the summary is actually what is disappointing, how individuals are actually paid to take the older sister on a date and win over her affection. First of all, it is totally ok not to date and be single, being single is one of the best times for a person to figure out who they truly are. This film unfortunately shows a different side, the side of I need someone to be totally happy. This notion is false, completely false and is such a disappointment to see in a generally good movie.
The upside to the lessons taught in 10 Things I Hate About You is that not everything is black and white. There are gray areas in life, somethings are hard to distinguish such as feelings and other emotions. While it is hard to understand the gray area, the parts of life that are black and white should be noted. If a person truly loves someone, act on that feeling, sing them a song, write them a poem, or simply tell that person how you feel. Heath Ledger's character probably had one of the best apologies I have ever seen from a man.
This film actually does contain good lessons such as loving yourself and following your heart which outweighs some of the bad lessons. Honestly this is the movie that I started to base love on, at least form a high school girls perspective. With each romantic comedy released as well as my experiences those perspectives constantly shift.
As this is my first blog post I will let everyone know now, I am a hopeless romantic. I love, love. Weddings, stories of how people met, cute couples on Instagram are all things I love to see. Naturally, romantic comedies is one of my favorite movie genres and are filled with important lessons on love. Some of these lessons are great, filled with hope and compassion. Other lessons however are filled with hidden agendas and warning signs of unhealthy relationships.
The critically acclaimed movie Pretty Woman, stars Julia Roberts as a prostitute who is hired by Richard Gere to spend the week with him, accompanying him to parties and social events. The movie is seen as one of the best romantic comedies and is probably up at the top for many women's favorite movie. This movie shows a different side of relationships, starting with simple interest and transforming into love. However there are some concerning moments in the movie that make me question what love is supposed to look like to the director.
There is a transformation scene where Julia Roberts is getting transformed into this classy looking woman and Richard Gere is buying her many expensive clothes to help her in this transformation. During the scene Julia continues to look towards Richard for his approval, constantly wanting a nod or a smile that seems endearing at first but is really just creepy. There is a sense of control that is unhealthy in the relationship, since Richard's character has the wealth he has the power which is actually kind of scary. A lesson portrayed in the movies is, you need to change who you are to please your man, while also letting him make the decisions in changing you.
Money is the main drive in the beginning of the relationship between the two main characters and is a constant factor in the trials and tribulations in the relationship. While money is a factor, affection is a problem. While the relationship grows both people try and show more affection but it's hard. Everyone knows showing someone you care is scary, there is a sense of uncertainty constantly around you as you try and understand what the other person is feeling. This is another lesson the movie provides, do not be afraid to show affection and open yourself up.
The last disappointing lesson I learned from Pretty Woman is that I need rescuing. In reality I need a partner in my life who is going to make me a better person and grow with me as we continue our lives. I do not need a man to come in flashing money and gifts because I am perfectly fine on my own. I wish the movie gave the audience a more uplifting feeling in the film but it simply doesn't. Instead it gives lessons on warning signs of unhealthy relationships and that money is everything. An entertaining movie but not a good guide to love.
