The entertainment industry has done a great job of warping the minds of impressionable young (and sometimes older) people. Ever since the “business transaction” relationships of the 1950s faded, new ideas of love and fulfillment began to become popular. That’s what we all want, right? The monotony of real life has driven these motion picture companies to create this idealism that seems untouchable. The mixture of an unsuspecting admirer, quirky humor and an overflow of “the right place at the right time” sequences was the birth of the ever-popular romantic comedy.
I understand that movies are meant to be entertainment. Even if they are based on true events, there still lies an air of fiction and exaggeration. That’s what entertainment is. We go to the movies or close our eyes and listen to a selection of music to get away and escape reality. But what about the connections that these films claim to make? Can anyone connect with something so far fetched?
If you grew up in the 1990s, you know that the teen romantic comedy was on the rise at that time. There were endless movies and made-for-television specials that concentrated on high school life and the innocence of young love.
One movie that I love to hate is “She’s All That,” a 1999 film that revolved around a socially disabled, cynical, wannabe artist girl named Laney Boggs. Her pursuer is Zack Siler, a star soccer player who is also president of the honor society. Even though winning her heart starts off as a bet, he actually begins to like her for who she is. That is where my buzzer went off. What high school, testosterone-driven young male actually likes a girl for who she is? Then they decide to give her a makeover for the prom. After a few locks are cut off of her hair and her glasses are removed she looks like Miss America!
The average teenage girl does not look as though she belongs on the cover of Cosmopolitan by just snipping a few split ends and throwing on some foundation. Real girls have curves, acne, lopsided boobs and sometimes braces. It’s movies like these that leave the heart yearning for something that is completely fabricated. “She’s All That” was not the only one. Other popular romantic comedies such as “Can’t Hardly Wait,” “Get Over It” and “Ten Things I Hate About You” pushed the want of everlasting young love. To be honest, some of these films are a few of my favorites, but in a way they tell the same story. Girl meets boy (or vice versa); things don’t work out at first because of certain circumstances; a light bulb goes off and the girl or boy goes to great lengths to get the person he or she is meant to be with; sappy confession of love, the end.
Even though these movies go against all the beliefs I have about love and relationships, I continue to torture myself by watching them. Why? They give hope. Hope that one day this wonderful person will come into your life and blow away all the hatred and cynicism. I can say that the romantic comedies such as “Knocked Up,” “Paper Heart” and “She’s Out of My League” are more realistic and can be taken a bit more seriously. Even If you don’t believe in happily ever after, these flicks will give you a good laugh and give you an excuse to eat junk food for two hours.
