Traditional Values

WARNING: MOVIE SPOILER ALERT!
If you are going to see "He's Just Not That into You," and don't want to have the ending ruined, please avoid this post. Although the comments herein will probably still be of high value to you as an individual. Proceed with caution.
Brad took me to see "He's Just Not That into You" a few weeks ago, and I haven't been able to get this off my mind. So--off the mind and into cyberspace.
This isn't a movie review. It's more a social commentary.
Hollywood is so good at manipulating your feelings and emotions through movies. You cheer for the good guy and despise the bad guy. In this movie, a quintessential chick flick, you find yourself duly manipulated. Not that I mind that. I enjoy a good chick flick, just like the next chick. This one is actually quite clever with its "interviews with people on the street." These made me laugh out loud, especially the two ladies talking about Ben and Jerry's and getting dumped. So hilarious.
Don't get me wrong. There were a few parts that were so crude that I visibly cringed. Like the gay newspaper guys. Ewww.
You don't really know what's going to happen with the married couple. But Bradley Cooper is so dang cute in it that it's hard to see past his looks through to his evil intentions. I saw a little of myself in his wife, Jennifer Connelly--a little anal, slightly high strung about building their new house.
But I caught myself a few times actually Cheshire cat smiling at the antics of other couples in the show. You just root for Ginnifer Godwin and Justin Delong, straining for him to see how cute and wonderful she is, and when he finally gets it . . . Cheshire cat moment.
But what I really wanted to address (but felt like I needed all this precursory babbling), is the Jennifer Aniston/Ben Affleck romance. The crux of their issue is that he is not the marrying type. He doesn't need some paper from society to prove that he loves her. They break up over it, but in the end, she decides that she'd rather have him, unmarried, than live the rest of her life without him. In the end, kind of shockingly, he surprises her and proposes marriage because underneath it all, he wants her to be happy. This is where I was surprised. They were already back together, happily going back to their lives. But when she pulls that ring out of his pants pocket and he drops to one knee, there was a very audible titter of "OHHHH." Like a litter of puppies had just been pulled out of a box. Another Cheshire moment.
This shocked me. Aren't we all trained from a young age that traditional marriage isn't important or relevant in today's society? What does it really matter, as long as you love each other? Marriage doesn't last anymore anyway. So why bother?
So . . . if this is really true, why the puppy dog sighs and Cheshire grins?
Because truth is truth, no matter how much society dilutes it or pollutes it or compromises it or redefines it. We are preprogrammed, by our Creator, to want this happiness, this stability in our lives. And no matter how much we are told otherwise . . .
Epiphany #42--Prince Charming and Happily Ever After are still what every little girl dreams of. And deserves.
From this Cinderella who was swept off her feet and eternally bound almost twenty years ago, may you all have that happy ending.