Lessons learned from watching chick flicks
9 comments so far
Chick flick/romantic comedy spoiler alert: An unlikely couple end up falling for each other after a series of comedic events. Add a big misunderstanding that puts their relationship on the rocks to add a little drama and then wait for them to figure out where it all went wrong and get back together again. Roll credits.
Sorry if that sounds a bit cynical, but it’s the (general) plot outline for a good number of chick flicks out there: Hitch, Pride & Prejudice, While You Were Sleeping, The Wedding Planner, How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days, etc., etc., etc..
I honestly never thought I’d say this, but romantic comedies may have actually taught me a couple of things:
1. It’s unrealistic to expect your life’s problems to be resolved in 90 minutes. I knew this already, but it’s a nice reminder.
2. By asking a simple question or two before making rash decisions, you can avoid a lot of headache and heartach. As I watch these movies I think, “That’s ridiculous. They could just ask about the situation and there wouldn’t be any problem.”
Take Hitch as an example:
Sara Meles: “I’ve discovered your secret identity as the Date Doctor! I’m breaking up with you because you told a guy to sleep with my friend then treat her like dirt.”
Hitch: “Wait a sec. Are you talking about that slimy guy with the power tie?”
Sarah: “Of course that’s who I’m talking about!”
Hitch: “Oh! Ha, ha, ha! Now I understand why you’re acting like a lunatic. You’re mistaken. I wouldn’t help the guy in question because he was a jerk.”
Sara: “Really? Oh. OK. Whew! I’m glad we cleared that up because I was about to ruin your career.”
Hitch: “I’m so glad we talked about this before you did something rash.”
Cut to scene of them getting married on Ellis Island. The park ranger who showed them around earlier is performing the ceremony. They ride off into the sunset on jet skis. (P.S. I should really write screenplays.)
Of course, removing conflict makes for an uneventful movie. But when dealing with reality (which I try to do on a regular basis) keeping life free of this kind of drama is preferable.
As I was asking a co-worker for applicable movie titles I could use here, I told her the idea for this post. She said, “My friend and I were in a fight for seven months and I didn’t know why until I asked him and it turned out it was something stupid.” Which is exactly my point.
Why are you upset?
Do you know anything about __________?
I found out that _________. Is that right?
Do you have a secret identity?
Are you really in love with my comatose brother?
Did you really screw over Mr. Wickham?
These are all questions that can, and in some cases should, be asked before taking rash actions about a presumed situation. If it turns out that your initial assumption was correct, that’s one thing. But often our assumptions are wrong and taking a little time to get to the bottom of things before carrying through with a knee-jerk reaction will greatly simplify life.
BONUS QUESTION: What are some romantic comedies/chick flicks that don’t follow the aforementioned plot line? I know they’re out there… leave word in the comments.
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Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Family, Home, Work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Ha! This is so true.
In Sleepless in Seattle, do they have a misunderstanding or are they just shy and freaked out to take a chance on soemone they hardly know?
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it, so…
I’m going to ask Kevin today if he has a secret identity.
I can’t say, because it’s secret.
The Break-Up.
They were in love, then they’re not, they try to get back together, end up not.
End: They stay friends. The first I remembered.
And, it was a little more realistic. Not everyone who breaks up, gets back together.
This is priceless! And it’s absolutely true. You sit there yelling, “Just ask him/her! Doesn’t it seem odd to you at all?” during these movies.
If we think that someone acted wildly out of character and/or screwed us over for no good reason, it’s *always* a good idea to do a little digging before having a wildly emotional scene. And you should always have Journey or Celine Dion songs on your phone to play for times when you’re reunited after a long, completely unnecessary misunderstanding.
Fantastic way to pull sincere meaning out of questionable scripts!
[...] has a fantastically funny piece on Lessons Learned from Chick Flicks. I loved the approach, and the underlying point was pretty valuable as [...]
Popular chick flicks have taught me that… formulas work. :P (Sports movies even more so)
There are plenty that don’t follow the traditional plot lines, and they make less money and go straight to DVD!
I actually had a dream during college where I went around telling everyone at General Hospital what to do and all the secrets. Decided after that night that I should give up soaps… I have never, ever regretted that decision.
I wrote a romantic comedy which got rejected. They said it was too linear and failed to hold the readers attention. Linear means I didn’t have conflict. Lol, I tried to make it tooo realistic perhaps?