Unfortunately this will be the last post on this blog. I cannot find the discipline to continually update it and therefore I shall give it back. Before I leave however, I would like to share one last film that I recently watched, and enjoyed immensely.
We are all painfully aware of the cookie cutter formula that applies to every Romantic comedy that has ever existed. Misunderstood average young man meets beautiful young woman, with a heart of gold. They get together and are perfect for one another and really really happy until something bad happens. When it looks as though they will surely lose one another, the man finds the courage to track the woman down and tell her that he loves her in simple, honest language. She is swept off her feet and they ride off into the sunset knowing that all will be well. After all, they have met adversity and triumphed over it.
But what happens if adversity resurfaces and lingers and no matter what, it cannot be overcome? The movies never tell us how to deal with that. They promise us romance and beauty and passion, they assure us that things will be ok, as long as we find our true love. They lie; the world does not work like this. Romantic comedies know that the world does not work like this yet they prey on our insecurities. They smile at us as they take our money and give us emptiness in return.
I recently saw a picture that tried so hard to be honest. Unlike conventional films, it showcases the consequences of promiscuity and excess. It displays the complications of long term relationships and shows us how an argument that seems so trite can indicate so much more beneath the surface. How sometimes neither party is wrong in an argument and occasionally the best solution is to simply walk away.
Unfortunately it too ends up lying to us. As the movie ends, everything is wrapped into a neat little package. There is no heartache, there are no broken families. No sadness no fear no doubt. All is well. Unfortunately, as I have learned in these last 24 years, more often than not, all is not well. To build ourselves as a society who assumes all will be well is simply setting ourselves up to be so, so disappointed.
Before I make my clean escape, I would like to share with you the following video clip and song. The clip is my friend Howard Beale, and his ingenious explanation of how and why movies and other media lie to us. The second is a song which served as the inspiration for this post. Thank you for reading, God bless.
Song: inspiration
July 5, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Interesting post, quite a few truths in there
Shame its your last post.
Have a good life then, I guess