Romantic movies often paint such an improbable picture of life and love that they can leave you feeling short-changed. Because of this, many women have all but given up on dating, convinced that within every handsome prince there lurks a concealed frog.
I have to confess, I do like to watch the occasional love story and I also possess the odd romantic novel in my library. I can’t really accredit this penchant for “Chick-flicks” to research because frankly I’d be fibbing. The question is; are women getting an unrealistic portrayal of men and moreover do they have fanciful expectations of relationships from the movies?
In my defence, the majority of soppy films that I’ve enjoyed have included a love story as the sub-plot, with the main storyline revolving around time travel, aliens or super heroes. I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I’m too sensitive and no, I never cry at the end!
The point is, there are movies and books that purport to “…change your life forever!”
I can attest to the fact that my interest in and decision to practice martial arts was fuelled solely by sneaking out of my college biology class to watch Bruce Lee on the big screen.
Women who watch love stories tend to enjoy a familiar formula; boy meets girl, they fall in love, something unthikable happens, they overcome it and then live happily ever after.
However, women who seek real life equivalents of fictional characters such as Titanic’s Leonardo Dicaprio’s portrayal of the romantic, passionate, artist, Jack, usually see their love life sink faster than the ill-fated eponymous ship.
None of us in reality would actually accept the clichés that Hollywood dishes out in droves, but we just keep lapping them up for entertainment’s sake. The happy ever after fairytales should never be used as a relationship benchmark as it will make for an inadequate partnership, nor should the on-screen two timing philanderer arouse suspicions in a wife who’s husband is merely having an off day.
Etymologically speaking, movies have more of an effect than we might realise. No self-respecting man would dare spurn a woman without at least considering repercussions of the “Bunny Boiler” variety; a term derived from a scene in the 1987 film “Fatal Attraction,” where a scorned woman seeking a grisly revenge on her ex-lover (played by Michael Douglas) places his daughter’s beloved pet rabbit in a pot of boiling water while he was away from home.
Another phrase originating from a 1955 Hollywood movie, starring Marylin Monroe concerns the declining interest in a monogamous relationship after seven years of marriage. It is of course “The seven year itch,” and has become a regularly used phenomenon discussed by psychologists.
Some disturbing facts have emerged following a recent study. Research suggests that complacency within a relationship can start to set in after as little as seven months. At which time couples start revealing the bad habits that have until then remained hidden. This “seven month slouch” is the point when couples are most likely to think it acceptable to let themselves go. Men, it seems are more readily willing to relax their standards.
Sex in the media often comes under fire. From a puritanical perspective there’s too much of it, it’s too blatant and it encourages young adults to be promiscuous. I believe it has far more to do with the trivialization of sex than with its promotion. The emphasis therefore is on the synthetic and cynical rather than the sinful. The pseudo-sexual imagery on offer eliminates the line between fact and fiction on the journey of unique and authentic sexual discovery.
This is of course largely academic, as most married women would rather go to sleep, watch a movie or read a book than have sex with their husbands. This is blamed on laziness and the increasing number of distractions that are available to the 21st century woman.
Public opinion is what matters when deciding whether a romantic movie will stand the test of time, and according to an Internet Movie Database (IMDB) survey, the film hitting the number one spot is the 1942 production “Casablanca” starring Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart. Bogart’s character Rick Blaine is best known for his famous line “Play it again Sam,” which incidentally, he never actually said!
Just to illustrate how attitudes can change, the only 21st century movie made in the English language to even reach the top 10 is the animated love story about a futuristic waste disposal robot WALL-E and his love interest EVE, a plasma cannon toting, vegetation evaluator.
Who said romance was dead?
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