When Good Cable Goes Bad
March 26, 2005
If you’ve got a gun, get it ready… you’ll be needing it in a few minutes.
My boredom level peaked today (or dipped… depending on how you look at it). I fell asleep early last night and therefore, woke up early today. While it’s one thing to keep myself entertained for an evening after work, it’s becoming quite another to keep myself entertained for an entire day during the weekend. If you need proof… here it is: I watched two… count them two… romantic comedies today. You… with the guns ready… shoot me now, please.
The two movies I watched were “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton” and “The Shape of Things” (which might not technically be considered a romantic comedy… but it’s close enough).
First, “Win a Date with Tad Hamilton”. What can I say? It was the epitome of a romantic comedy. Mildly humorous… unrealistic dialog and plot twists… and a happy ending that would make even brie cheese smell better. What is it about this genre of movie? Why oh why must they be so unrealistic? I know… I know… it’s a movie… it’s not supposed to be ultra realistic. But a little realism never hurt anyone. In the real world, if someone won a contest to meet a famous actor, it would be a one time thing… maybe the fulfillment of some sexual fantasy (see the loophole post)… but a one time thing. The famous actor would not uproot his or her life to pursue a relationship with the contest winner. And… IF (and that’s a big IF) such a thing happened, the contest winner would not leave the attractive, wealthy celebrity for his or her grocery store managing friend. We’d like to think people aren’t drawn to things like appearance and money… but they are (for the most part). UNREALISTIC.
Now we come to “The Shape of Things”, which, I must admit, had me very interested for the last 15 minutes or so. I kind of had the plot figured out before the end but it’s always great to be right about things like that. The idea behind this movie was the best part. Everything else was bad. The people playing the two engaged friends were *horrible* actor/resses. The way the movie jumped around without any transition was probably done to try to be “artsy”… but just ended up making the whole thing feel choppy. And the main character’s appearance in the very beginning was funny… I know he was supposed to be fat so he could loose weight. But he ended up looking like he was having an allergic reaction to something in the beginning (maybe they injected his face with bee venom just before shooting). The ending was waaaay over dramatic… and the entire thing was, like the previous movie… UNREALISTIC. But at least it wasn’t a happy ending (which makes it more real than most romantic comedies).
Why do they make so many movies like these? The unrealism of them astonishes me. Take the Matrix as a example. How realistic is that movie, right? Not very. But, it’s unrealistic enough to be entertaining. Other than a few wack-jobs, most people aren’t going to get the idea into their heads that we’re really part of some machine-driven conspiracy that we need to be freed from. Most people don’t believe they can be plugged into a computer and 30 seconds later “know kung fu”. But romantic comedies aren’t like that. They’re pitched at us in a way that makes them believable to some people and give other people ideas. I bet a lot of people out there have had someone quote a romantic comedy to them, quoted one themselves, or used something that happened in one as an idea for how a situation could turn out (or be handled).
I think these movies portray counter-human nature at it’s best. I know they are made to entertain… to be a break from reality. And who doesn’t love a happy ending, right? But they give people the wrong idea about the way human nature works. I don’t mean to sound negative, but come on… people don’t act that way in real life. They lie, they cheat, they steal, they use, they abuse, and in the end, they don’t always land on their feet. How many romances have you ever had that started with dancing in the street or making out atop the Empire State Building with doves flying in sync to growing symphonic music? Probably not many. You know how young people meet and start relationships these days? Drunken parties… or freaking at a club… or hooking up in a hotel room… you get the idea. And yes, I know not all of them start that way. Maybe it’s the dream of such encounters that make these movies so popular?
But you’re much more likely to your next date passed out on the floor of a frat party than you are by winning a contest or being a chubby dork in need of a physical make-over. Come on… passed out at a frat party? Now that’s romance, baby!
Posted in Human Nature
June 29th, 2006 at 8:40 pm
[...] Earlier in the year, I wrote that I was having a hard time keeping myself entertained over the weekend (I used to have weekends off… pre-promotion). That was March. Now that September is only a few hours away, I’m wondering what’s changed. Because I’m now fully capable of filling a day off with entertaining events. Granted… my forms of entertainment do not involve leaving my apartment. Most of these events can be done from my chair or the bed. And no, you filthy-minded perverts… that’s NOT what I’m talking about. [...]