I'm annoyed. Dating in this day and age is no longer the typical you meet, there's a spark, you get to know each other, and slowly something grows. Everything is part of this gimmie, gimmie, gimmie, fast-paced, let's-have-sex-before-we-even-say-hello mentality. I won't deny that I've been caught up in it before. Social networking and dating websites, cell phones, and online chat have made communication so accessible yet people have never felt more alone in their lives.
It's no wonder women have mental issues and men act like predatory jerks.
There is no movie (or book) better suited to explain this dysfunctional phenomenon than He's Just Not That Into You. I watched it. I saw myself in every single one of the womens' situations. I got angry. I laughed. I cried.
And then I simply realized that this is reality.
People do stupid things. Men don't call back when they say they will. Women obsess to the point of being idiots. We're all scared. We all want to take that chance. We're just not as confident as we'd like to be. But we all want the same thing though. To find that one person who completes us, who will love us even with our stupid mistakes.
One major point in this movie that wasn't a mistake however, was the soundtrack. It's beautifully balanced between great nostalgic 80's favorites like The Human League's Don't You Want Me, The Talking Heads' This Must Be the Place, and The Cure's Friday I'm in Love along with newer tracks from Corinne Bailey Rae, The Ting Tings, and Lily Allen. Scarlett Johansson even sings one track herself (wonderful voice in my humble opinion). The small gem of the soundtrack however, comes from a singer-songwriter named Erin McCarley. Her voice has a purity that is not easily found in the pop world today, and her stunning beauty makes her one to watch out for. Her single Love, Save the Empty, actually has two different videos.
The original:
And the re-release for the movie:
While I love the original with its quaint simple charm (and cute girl carrying a fish around town), the re-released version actual had me paying more attention to what the lyrics were saying. There were many more close-ups of Erin's gorgeous face where we can see her singing full phrases rather than the choppy, quick cuts of the first video, and the movie clips are interjected perfectly adding emphasis to lyrics that connect us all in the journey to find the one.
It all just goes to show that sometimes being still is much better than the fast paced that we're all used to taking.
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While I haven't seen the movie as of yet, and I do plan to see it, I couldn't agree with you more. But consider this:
ReplyDeleteWe all want something or someone to complete us--be it a man/woman via a relationship, the job, the house, sex, drugs, alcohol, and whathaveyou. Maybe we should be complete before we go after said things. Maybe we will never be complete but it reminds me of that toy we all had when we were little. You know the one; it was an octogon that had different shapes (triangles, squares, circles and the like) and you would fit the corresponding pieces to their respective holes. And all would fall into place, but only when the piece matched the jigsaw. So many times were taught as children to complete the pictures...and as adults we still fail.
Someday we'll get it right--someday we'll find all the pieces. Until then, we'll keep writing blogs. :)
xox
ha! yes, but even then blogs still serve as a great distraction from, say, responsibility in general!
ReplyDeleteToo true Mr. Flickinger. Too true. Which reminds me...have you written a blog lately?
ReplyDeleteHe did! lol
ReplyDelete3 in the last few weeks! and yes, they were ALL procrastinatory in nature.
ReplyDelete