I'm gonna come right out and say it: I hate romantic comedies. Hate them. Hate them all, from the cheesiest sorts to the really good ones. I just can't sit through one anymore because I want to run from the theaters screaming my heads off, plotting the Director's untimely deaths and the maiming of the screenwriters and such. What infuriates me is the fact that those movies give girls high hopes in love. And when it doesn't happen, their hearts just sort of break, because when they fall in love, they expected it a certain way they saw in films and don't get it. Oh, trust me-there are exceptions to that rule, but mostly we really are the majority and shouldn't delude oruselves to thinking love is what we see in films. Liars. They fail to tell young girls that love isn't always perfect. Well, God's love is the only perfect kind of love, but that's about it. It's a lot of hard work, a lot of sacrifice and a lot of compromise. We'll get into specifics in a minute.
Love. It's downright a partnership that you don't see in films, but you see in relationships that have lasted what seems to be forever to us, especially if it's longer than we've been alive. But I can say I've seen it. I've seen what love looks like. The good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful, I've seen it. I've been priveleged enough to be let in on one of the most mysterious human feelings ever registered. Why can't a film ever show that? I mean, there has been some pretty interesting films to show how the dynamics of love can seem realistic, and I applaud the directors, screenwriters and such that make a true-to-form film like that.
But let's be real here. Love is cultivated. There really isn't something called happily ever after--there is a partnership. A camaraderie, a loyalty, a faithfulness, a lot of hard work and sacrifice. You can't just possibly expect things to go your way perfectly and your partner accept your way as the best way. What happens of he/she is right? What happens if he/she makes a decision that you don't agree with or has an opinion that you're not in agreement with? Are you just going to give up? Because people seem to be doing a lot of that lately. Giving up on love. And that's just not the right move. People need to see that love isn't always sunshine and roses. In order to make love work, you need to work for love. I don't think I can emphasize that enough. In order to make love work day by day and succeed in your relationship, you need to work on adapting yourself to your partner. You need to MAKE IT WORK. People give up on making it work because they think it can end. And you know what, relationships can end. Marriages should never. You entered into a lifetime agreement and because it isn't working the way you want it to work, you give up and terminate your agreement. Well that doesn't work.
I'm not saying I don't believe in love, because I do. Oh, I very much do. Like I said, I've seen it before: love in its purest forms. But what I want people to understand is that in real life, there are no end film credits that roll when you kiss your significant other. You walk away, and live life another day. And you might argue. Or even end your relationship. What I'm trying to say is don't get pulled in by Hollywood, as much as they try to pull you. Don't let yourself be taken by them. I mean, really? Only a scarce few successful Hollywood marriages last, and that's because they're not warped, and they understand that there's no such thing as real life credits that roll. They love wisely. As we should.
“And they lived happily (aside from a few normal disagreements, misunderstandings, pouts, silent treatments, and unexpected calamities) ever after.”
-Jean Ferris
