zwolf.neun
Dec. 9th, 2003 10:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cosmolinguistA friend of mine was telling me recently that it's a shame that sex isn't more like sex in the movies. Real life seems to be less like being romantic and saying "I love you" and slowly removing each other's clothes, and more like "should I find a condom?" Another friend said that watching romantic comedies seems to be giving her the wrong idea about expecting crazy, romantic things to happen to her.
Yeah, we know that life isn't a movie. But still.
Such a train of thought reminded me of the time, more than a year ago now, when I was convinced my own life was a chick flick ... and I didn't like it one little bit! This isn't just because I don't like such movies ... well, actually, maybe it is because I don't like such movies. My own life seemed surreal and fake to me (as romantic comedies do), and that annoyed me because it's my life and I don't want it to seem so artificial and removed. Besides, the plot sucked.
I was the girl in the stable, steady long-term relationship. I was the girl who was, if not the envy of my friends, at least a subject of good-natured ridicule at times. She was happy and nothing ever seemed to go wrong between her and her boyfriend. But then she realized that she didn't want a nice but lukewarm relationship that she was beginning to feel just a little trapped in. To make matters worse, she was also realizing that the guy who'd been one of her closest friends for years, the guy everyone said she should date, the guy she didn't want to date and who didn't want to date her ... you know, that guy? She wanted to date him. (See, this all sounds so obvious and boring, but it felt like anything but obvious and boring to me at the time.) She broke up with her boyfriend, she awkwardly told the other guy that she liked him, and to her surprise (though everyone watching the movie is unsurprised), he responded positively and they started dating.
I don't like me and the people I care about reduced to stereotypes ... but it's not like someone else thrust this idea upon me; I thought of it myself. And I'm well aware that my story is not exactly romantic or funny (by most people's standards), but still, the similarities were enough to actually irritate me.
I'm all for romantic sex and crazy declarations of love. But mostly, I'm glad my life is not like a movie.
Yeah, we know that life isn't a movie. But still.
Such a train of thought reminded me of the time, more than a year ago now, when I was convinced my own life was a chick flick ... and I didn't like it one little bit! This isn't just because I don't like such movies ... well, actually, maybe it is because I don't like such movies. My own life seemed surreal and fake to me (as romantic comedies do), and that annoyed me because it's my life and I don't want it to seem so artificial and removed. Besides, the plot sucked.
I was the girl in the stable, steady long-term relationship. I was the girl who was, if not the envy of my friends, at least a subject of good-natured ridicule at times. She was happy and nothing ever seemed to go wrong between her and her boyfriend. But then she realized that she didn't want a nice but lukewarm relationship that she was beginning to feel just a little trapped in. To make matters worse, she was also realizing that the guy who'd been one of her closest friends for years, the guy everyone said she should date, the guy she didn't want to date and who didn't want to date her ... you know, that guy? She wanted to date him. (See, this all sounds so obvious and boring, but it felt like anything but obvious and boring to me at the time.) She broke up with her boyfriend, she awkwardly told the other guy that she liked him, and to her surprise (though everyone watching the movie is unsurprised), he responded positively and they started dating.
I don't like me and the people I care about reduced to stereotypes ... but it's not like someone else thrust this idea upon me; I thought of it myself. And I'm well aware that my story is not exactly romantic or funny (by most people's standards), but still, the similarities were enough to actually irritate me.
I'm all for romantic sex and crazy declarations of love. But mostly, I'm glad my life is not like a movie.
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(no subject)
Date: 2003-12-09 09:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-12-09 09:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-12-10 01:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2003-12-12 05:09 am (UTC)Over the course of my life I have been quite perplexed that my life hasn't been at all like a romantic film. Unrequited crushes have remained unrequited, chance encounters and spooky coincidences have not spiralled into love stories, and I didn't evven get round to going out with someone till the grand old age of 26. Perhaps that should be turned into a film, so as not to give impressionable people like me false expectations? After all, I've been quite happy with my romantic lot most of the time.
On the other hand, I see more and more of Bridget Jones in myself every day. And you're right, these things are irritating. Irksome, anyway.
(no subject)
Date: 2003-12-12 03:45 pm (UTC)Really, if I'm going to be a movie, why can't I be something less dramatic. I want a Monty-Python movie life, where people can sing songs about the galaxy or win arguments just by saying "Ni!"