My good friend and I still refer to “the worst night we ever had” as a relic of the melodrama of our first semester at Bowdoin. At the time we salvaged our post-socialhouse party depression (he doesn’t liiiiiiike me, why doesn’t he liiiike me) with a James McAvoy movie, a jar of Nutella, and a sleeve of saltines.
Ever since Meg Ryan read aloud “Brinkley is my dog. He loves the streets of New York as much as I do…” the romantic comedy has been a constant fixture in my life. Not a means of escapism necessarily, but an affirmation that all in the world of love is well. Not perfect, but well.
Every so often I stumble upon a “bad” chick flick. (Like that clementine that you think is going to be AWESOME and actual tastes like the smell of nail polish remover.)
For example, The Break Up with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn has all of the elements to be the perfect rom com. The audience laughs gamely as Jen and Vince attempt to one-up each other…then the movie ends. Um, what? The writers forgot to put in the part where they get back together. Cool Hollywood, you just took a rom com and made it a “com”– and no, it wasn’t even that funny.
Deviation from the standard happily ever after is an obvious deal breaker. It’s easy to understand why The Break Up failed my “ all is well” test. Not only are the characters still broken up at the end of the film, but they’re both alone. BAD chick flick.
Of course there is credence to a film that portrays an individual’s ability to move on from a relationship–but my singlehood is greatly enhanced by a movie that takes quite the opposite trajectory, The Notebook.
It’s the ultimate satisfying narrative: girl meets boy, girl and boy fall madly in love, girl and boy separate, girl and boy are passionately reunited, girl and boy live happily ever after into adorable old age.
As a viewer, we never feel bad for Allie’s fiancé–or at least no lasting moral discomfort once the movie’s done. We walk away feeling that all loose threads have been tied, and that the means bringing Noah and Allie together were justified by the (happy) end.
Bad chick flicks, on the other hand, leave threads dangling. For example, Something Borrowed (2011) starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, Colin Egglesfield, and John Krasinski.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qlMqqc7YdE
The set-up of the movie is not so different from The Notebook at first glance. Goodwin’s character, Rachel, has been in love with Egglesfield’s Dex—a close guy friend–ever since law school. We find out early on that the feeling is mutual. OMG YES!
Sound like a recipe for sweet romance, right?
Wrong. Dex is engaged to Rachel’s childhood best friend Darcy (Kate Hudson.) All of the satisfaction that the viewer could possibly feel in Dex and Rachel admitting their feelings and um sleeping together is cancelled out. Not because they are conducting an illicit affair, that happened in The Notebook and nobody cared, but because the affair constitutes a betrayal of friendship.
Although Rachel and Dex end up together, it is at the entire expense of Rachel and Darcy’s friendship. A bond that in modern society we clearly privilege over the principle of monogamy even where true love is concerned. Two strong beliefs of the modern woman: that we are entitled to true love, and that we should stay true to our best friends are in conflict in Something Borrowed. One or the other has to give, leaving us with no warm fuzzy feeling upon Rachel and Dex’s union at the end of the film.
Halfway through watching this “rom com” later deemed bad chick flick, my roommate and I exchanged glances. “This is terrible,” one of us complained. However, we stayed glued to the screen hoping with all of our Jane Austen loving hearts that it would get better. It didn’t.
We sat in silence as the credits rolled.
“Maybe it’s supposed to be a comment on modern love…” I volunteered.
“I really hope not,” my roommate responded.
Neither of us are willing to give up The Notebook dream. Can’t we have it all without the moral scruples? Maybe, but sometimes not. Sometimes reality steps in to say “hey, you have to make tough choices.”
As far as movies go, however, I think I’ll stick to the feel-goods.