Isn't This Romantic Guys?

Alright, everyone. As we know, it's February and whats in February? That's right, Valentines Day folks. I have a boyfriend now so I guess it makes Valentines Day a little bit better. However last year, I had an experience with one of my exes that has turned Valentines Day into one of my least favorite holidays. Long story short, his birthday was literally on Valentines Day and he wasn't exactly the sweetest guy when it came to holidays in general. But the question most of you are probably asking is how did I get through it? When stuff like this happens to you, do you binge watch dramas, romance movies, romance TV shows, tragedies? Do you spend hours watching The Notebook, The Fault in Our Stars, Titanic, or those really cheap and cheesy "modern" versions of Cinderella? Do you sit there and binge on chocolates and carb load while crying. Nope. Nope. And Nope. That is simply not for me. I have a much different approach on how to get over it and basically get it together.

Yes, I will be a little sad... at first. But then I watch my a genre that ultimately makes me feel better: romantic comedies. They are so awesome because of the overall comedy. In situations like this, I need to be able to laugh it off. Since we are in the comedy unit of the year, I looked at the different theories of how it makes me feel better. After going over the incongruity theory, superiority theory, and relief theory; it hit me why I like these films so much and why it makes me feel so much better in these situations. I hated admitting it to myself, but at the same time, it kind of made me laugh at myself. For those of you who have read my other blogs, you all probably know I like to watch guilty pleasure movies. This genre is basically the answer I will say to you when you ask how I like so many guilty pleasure movies. Cameron Diaz said it best in The Other Woman to "cry on the inside like a winner",(Diaz).  These words are what has kept me going and going strong at all times. I admit I thought by Valentines Day this year, I thought I would still be single considering that I am going to college soon, some boys are just plain gross and immature, and single life sometimes absolutely rocks. That's what ultimately caught my interest in the newest movie: Isn't It Romantic?. I first heard about this movie right after New Years through an ad on Instagram and I thought, I SHOULD TOTALLY SEE THAT. As the date got closer to when the movie was coming out, I saw more and more ads with more and more clips and it made me so much more anxious to see the film. I know the majority of this class would have no interest in this movie because of

a. A lot of you don't like romance period
b. Have way different taste than I do (which is totally fine).
c. It screams chick flick at a lot of you boys who probably would be humiliated if you ever saw it in public.

But here is what I say: to hell with that. I would never recommend this film to a lot of people. But there are some people that simply would love this movie if they hate romantic comedies. This is no ordinary romantic comedy. What makes this romantic comedy so amazing is that it throws the typical "how to make a romantic comedy" manual away and makes fun of romantic comedies as a whole. It is almost like the same type of movie that you think that is like The Starving Games or the Scary Movie series. If you're into movies like those, this is something that I totally would recommend. What I love most about this movie is that it strays away from the three-act structure in so many ways. It keeps it original, fresh, and pleasing to the audience. The film itself stars Rebel Wilson as Natalie. Natalie is a New York architect who works hard to get noticed at her job but is more likely to deliver coffee and bagels than design the city's next skyscraper. Things go from bad to weird when she gets knocked unconscious during a subway mugging and magically wakes up to find herself in an alternate universe. Always cynical about love, Natalie's worst nightmare soon comes true when she suddenly discovers that she's playing the leading lady in a real-life romantic comedy.

What's great about this movie is that it has that constant theme of image versus reality but mainly stays in touch with true reality rather than a censored version of reality. It first starts out with a great allusion to the film Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts. Natalie is maybe 12 and in complete awe by the film. She loves romance, clothes, and a utopian city. Then her mother ruins the fantasy in 12-year-old Natalie's fantasy of romance and humor and tells her that movies like Pretty Woman do not simply exist in real life. That experience is what leads us into the Natalie we see in 25 years. She is always negative. She believes that a woman like her will never have a chance with a great, good looking guy. She believes that she will never get that happy ending. What I found most comic in the film was when she sleeps with her gorgeous Hemsworth boyfriend but the audience just skips ahead to the next morning. She then realizes she has no memory of it and try again and again to remember the scene but it just skips ahead to her waking up in his bed the next morning to the Hemsworth walking out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel saying "Good morning beautiful". She tried and failed this several times to a point where she started cursing but every time she cursed, something would play loudly over it like an alarm clock. What the film is trying to say is that romantic comedies are too censored and it keeps us out of touch with reality. Little censored moments like this is whats brainwashing our society to think that a certain type of clusmy, pretty, vulnerable women can have a dream man with a dream happy ending. That is why I give this movie a GOOD GOOD rating.

It was original, raw, and emotional and those are the marks of a true masterpiece. It was provoking and yet interesting. And my most favorite part was how the comedy played a huge role in this parody. That's all now for my novel, if you think that they are right, go see for yourself with a friend, boyfriend, family or even by yourself. If you think my information isn't that credible, ask my boyfriend. I made him go see it. I know, I know, I am the dragon lady who makes her boyfriend see a movie. Funny thing is I got sick during the movie and left the middle for about 20 minutes and came back in to see my boyfriend on the edge of his seat at laughing harder than I have ever seen him laugh. Believe me this is something you don't want to miss.