If you’ve never seen the movie Love Actually, stop whatever you’re doing right now and go watch it. Comprised of eight love stories that illustrate love’s power, diversity, and versatility, it is the ultimate love movie. The film includes the stories of a two-timed man who falls for his Portuguese housekeeper; a young man who is in love with his best friend’s wife; a husband who is on the path to having an affair with his secretary; a British prime minister who finds himself attracted to one of his staff-members; and a recently widowed man who works through his grief via his young son’s crush for a girl at school.
A classic in its own way, the movie is an amazing one, and was the movie I watched with my boyfriend on our first date. In honor of this upcoming Valentine’s Day, and to help my fellow collegiettes in your romantic endeavors, I have compiled love lessons from Love Actually:
Lesson #1: Grand gestures often mean more than expensive presents.
In the movie, the characters express their love for one another mainly through large, memorable gestures rather than gift-giving. Colin Firth’s character learns Portuguese, hops on a plane, and flies to Portugal to propose to the woman he loves. Another character stands in front of the house of the woman he loves telling her “To me, you are perfect” with hand-written poster boards and a boombox, in one of the most romantic scenes of all-time. (This part gets me every time!) These characters demonstrate the notion often the “little things” mean much more in the end. So instead of empty your pockets this Valentine’s Day, think of something more creative: ice-skating, a movie marathon… anything that will speak more volume than simply a gift!
Lesson #2: It’s never too early to know what you want or too early to fall in love.
The youngest of the characters, Sam, allows himself to openly love a fellow classmate. He even decides to learn to play the drums, so that he can accompany her in the big finale for their school’s Christmas pageant. Following the performance, Sam rushes to the airport to see Joanna, before she flies home, escapes airport security, and is able to tell her how he truly feels. Sam and Joanna’s budding romance, even at such a young age, reminds us that we feel love from the very beginning and that age should never prohibit genuine love. So don’t hold back!
Lesson #3: Never let love discourage you.
Every character in the movie has their ups and downs with love. Whether they are being cheated on, dumped, broken-hearted, or disheartened due to their aloneness, each character deals with their own personal love struggle. However, they all persevere and allow fate to take its course. The main message here is: if you get back up after falling, you will find love. Take risks, embrace both the ups and downs, and remain optimistic about love always.
Lesson #4: At the end of the day, who you love may have been there all along.
For at least three of the couples in the movie, the one they truly love has been all there all along. In many of these cases, each of them became so habituated to who was around them that they forgot to truly open their eyes. So before you choose to disregard your guy best friend or the boy who you’ve known for the last few years, give it a chance. You may find that the person who was right under your nose the whole time is exactly the person you’ve spent all this time looking for. You never know until you try, right?
The movie Love Actually, other than being an amazing, romantic, brilliant tearjerker, is full of love lessons that truly speak to the heart. The movie demonstrates that love doesn’t fit a rigid format, so you have to enjoy your own version of it. Everyone’s love is different and you cannot, and really shouldn’t, compare it to anyone else’s. There are different levels of love: everything from friendship to soulmates and each one is unique and beautiful in its own way. So this Valentine’s Day season, take some time-out and watch Love Actually. Whether it be alongside your boyfriend, your bestfriends, or even by yourself with your main men, Ben & Jerry, I promise you it will be worth every second of its 136 minute run-time.
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