This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Syracuse chapter.
Hollywood continues to make sweeping generalizations about young women and men in America’s most recent romantic comedy, Something Borrowed. The movie premieres on Friday, May 6th and tells the tale of two girlfriends who share a love for the same guy, only one of them secretly harbors her feelings while simultaneously remaining said guy’s friend. This chick flick falls into the same category as other romantic comedies that preach an inaccurate and disheartening message: guys and girls can’t just be friends. According to films like Something Borrowed, there are always romantic intentions behind every platonic friendship. This pattern specifically pertains to heterosexual pairs; gay guys are perfectly capable of remaining friends with their gal pals in Hollywood tales of fiction, unlike guys who play for the other team.
A star-studded cast helps convince easily influenced viewers of this flawed dynamic: Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin, and John Krazinski should know better than to perpetuate this untrue theme. I’m tired of bearing witness to this worn-out plot in modern day rom coms: girl meets boy, girl cultivates friendship with boy for years on end, girl falls in love with boy and usually ends up walking down the aisle in a white, puffy dress. Something Borrowed joins the ranks of J. Timb’s Friends With Benefits, Jennifer Aniston’s The Switch (along with every single movie and television role Aniston has ever played), and even Goodwin’s own He’s Just Not That Into You.
Au contraire to what is shown in modern Hollywood, college buds are capable of purely platonic friendships. It’s unfair to constantly depict these friends as either sex buddies or secretly in love; there’s no in between that involves no romance at all. Guy friends are essential to a complete understanding of the male experience — they provide a different kind of thinking and perspective than girlfriends do, which can be refreshing and insightful. I’m proud to state that I, in fact, have an entire support system of guy friends who I’ve never secretly doted over, or gasp, had a crush on! Just like same-sex friendships, boys and girls are sometimes naturally drawn to each other for reasons aside from attraction.
The film’s advertising slogan conveys this falsity before movie-goers even hit the box office: “It’s a thin line between love and friendship.” Without discrediting those who have managed to turn friendship into love, or love into friendship, the two don’t always have to collide. Popular culture drives individuals to assume there is no such thing as a platonic relationship between a male and a female. Meanwhile, my guy friends and I make platonic, opposite-sex relationships work on a daily basis without force. We even conquer hanging out without making out!
The bottom line is that romantic comedies are not portraying accurate stories that speak to their viewers on a personal level, especially college-age students. While everyone’s experiences are unique to the individual, male friendships are commonly functioning entities within a girl’s life. This alleged line between love and friendship isn’t always thin, and sometimes it wouldn’t even be described as “thick.” Despite the conclusions that derive from Hollywood’s exploration of the boundaries between guys and girls, it sometimes isn’t even necessary to identify these boundaries within platonic friendships. Much like a friendship between two girls, sometimes the line simply doesn’t exist.
Beware of the underlying message in Something Borrowed. The fact is, a guy and a girl can be friends, best friends even, without swapping spit or desiring one another. Campuses are filled with multifaceted relationships between dudes and chicks; colleges are almost a breeding ground for platonic relationships. Whether it’s in a classroom or dorm room setting, there are many ways for students to socially interact with member of the opposite sex and still remain friends. Just friends. It’s important for young people to understand the truth about platonic friendships, even if Hollywood doesn’t.
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