They say “life imitates art.” Boy, can I confirm that. A lot of times when production teams work on movies, films, songs, and television shows, the story lines are loosely based on the life of one of the team members or someone they know. A few movies in particular that I have seen over the years hit a little too close to home and suggest that the term “based on a true story” is not just a ploy to get the audience to watch the movie. Here is a list of five films that are quite realistic, at least if you ask me. Shout out to my friends on film twitter for suggesting movies.
- The Kissing Booth (2018)
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The common factor between each following films is the whole “childhood friends fall in love” or “girl falls for the best friend’s brother” trope, because some of us actually do fall for that one person we never looked at in that way until we got older. The Kissing Booth is scarily accurate as it tells the story of Elle, who has a crush on her childhood friend’s older brother who she has known since they were babies since their moms were longtime friends. The first time I watched this movie I got chills and could not believe it was real. It even touches on the heartbreaking fact that college separates two people who may share feelings for one another, as Elle’s crush Noah goes to school hours away from her when she still has a year left of high school. This movie is very cheesy at its core, but it depicts a situation that occurs in real life.
- Like Crazy (2011)
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Like Crazy is a film starring the late legend Anton Yelchin. This film tackles many relationship battles that couples face, such as long distance and changing lives. The main characters, Jacob and Anna, struggle with the difficulties of maintaining a long-distance relationship. Jacob is an American and Anna is from London, and the film centers around their journey of being madly in love but being forced apart after Anna violates the terms of her visa and has to return to England. The film conveys that no matter how often circumstances pull two lovers apart, what is meant to be will find its way back. It is painful when a piece of your heart is in another state, let alone another country. I applaud anyone in the real world who successfully maintains a long-distance relationship.
- Clueless (1995)
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This classic 90s film is loveable, iconic, and memorable. It accurately displays a situation where a girl falls for someone close to her family and all of its awkwardness. The scene where Cher realizes her feelings for Josh is something I really resonated with. It must be something about boys with four-letter J names.
- (500) Days of Summer (2009)
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I absolutely love and adore Joseph Gordon-Levitt. His portrayal of hopeless romantic Tom is one many can relate to, myself included. What this movie discusses so well is the fact that just because someone has the same taste in music, movies, television shows, actors, or singers like you, does not mean they are your soulmate. I was glad to see a film that accurately portrayed the delusional feelings many of us have. We fall for the unrealistic idea of someone rather than see them for who they really are. Sometimes, two people are meant to fall in love, but not to be together. Also, this movie would be way worse if Tom and Summer lived in two different countries.
- Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
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This film feels like a dream. For personal reasons, this film in particular hit me like a ton of bricks. The story revolves around Melanie, a girl who works in New York City and is engaged to the mayor’s son Andrew, but Melanie has to return home to Alabama, to divorce her husband Jake, who met when they were kids. I’m a huge fan of Andy Samberg, so I like to pretend this movie was made about me and Jake Peralta from “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”.
Honorable Mentions:
He’s Just Not That Into You (2009) – Justin Long is one of my favorite actors; while his character in this film makes me feel attacked, he speaks the truth. All of us have been Ginny Goodwin’s character Gigi at least once in our lives.
The Edge of Seventeen (2016) – Not exactly a romance film. I one-hundred percent relate to the protagonist – we are the same in a few oddly specific ways – but I also resonate with the protagonist’s best friend. Que “Best Friend’s Brother” from Victorious!
The DUFF (2015) – I almost forgot about this one. The “DUFF” character, Bianca and her childhood friend Wesley end up together after denying their feelings for most of the film. This does happen in real life.
Little Italy (2018) – Emma Roberts yet again portrays a character I can relate to, besides 2014’s Palo Alto. To explain the plot would be repetitive, but I know I’m not the only one who has experienced a life situation like this, because Taylor Swift wrote a song called Mary’s Song about her now married neighbors who met when they were seven and nine.
The list could go on for ages. It is bone-chilling to witness a film so accurate that it freaks you out. I haven’t watched some of the films on this list for a while for that reason. It is just a very strange coincidence. The main message to be taken from all of this is the power of film. It is so comforting to know that someone out there knows how you feel. Even though most of these films are fictional, the plot ideas had to come from somewhere. I could talk about films for hours on end, and some of the ones I mentioned make me feel so exposed.