Romance movies, chick flicks, love stories…whatever you want
to call them, I enjoy watching them. In fact, I love watching movies about
love. Yes, I know you just cringed at how cliché and redundant that sounded. I
also know that most of the cheesy scenarios screen writers come up with are
hopelessly unrealistic. But I am still willing to spend my time and
money to see the same story shoved into innumerable contexts and time periods over
and over again. The guy always gets the girl and the girl always gets the
ruggedly handsome guy who nine times out of ten practically falls from the sky
only to land on her front porch nicely gift wrapped while sporting a killer smile
that probably cost his parents a fortune in orthodontist bills---I digress.
They all have the same happy endings; I am aware of this detail and, in all
honesty, it’s kind-of the point.
As a disclaimer, I also enjoy movies with unhappy endings.
In fact, I am relatively certain that I am the only person on the face of the
planet who actually liked Thomas
Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. But that's just one example. In addition, I also liked The Stoning of Soraya M., The
Diary of Anne Frank, The Boy in
Striped the Pajamas, The New World, Bright Star…I could go on, but you get
the point. Along with unhappy movies, I also like action movies, foreign films,
cartoons, documentaries, and sci-fi/fantasy.
But romance movies are special. They give you that warm,
fuzzy feeling that makes you believe that happiness still exists somewhere in
the world. Let’s face it, life is full of misery, victimization, and death. In
short, sometimes life just stinks. Even though I willingly see movies that
portray the darker side of reality, there are times that I simply prefer crying
over a happy love story than weeping over the inevitability of the human fate.
On a deeper level, for me romance itself has become a larger
analogy of humanity’s relationship with God. Admit it; don’t you hate
those stories in which the girl is constantly running from the guy even though
they are perfect for each other? In the back of your mind you are wondering,
“Ok, when is this going wrap up and have them finally get together.” That’s the
story of human history. We run from God even though He is our perfect fit. We
run because we refuse to believe that God will actually give us everything He
is offering or because we have finally given in to the idea that reality means
a life without God.
If this concept of romance, divine or otherwise, makes me a
love obsessed girly-girl then fine, you may dole out your labels as you see
fit. But, as a final word, I must interject that wanting to see a little
happiness sometimes makes me more of a realist than all the cynics in the world
combined. Why? Because in reality, what is life without hope? The hope of
peace, the hope of happiness, the hope of eternity; without it every day
becomes a meaningless repetition of time until life itself fades into oblivion…What’s
the point of that? I have hope for the future and, even though I have no
expectations of my future looking like a Hollywood movie production, sometimes
watching love stories reminds me that happiness is still possible in a world
filled with suffering.
