Bridget Jones's Diary w/ Renee Zellweger
If I ever breach this brand of singleness before I’m thirty, please slap the silly out of me.
Daniel Cleaver: Come on Bridget, we belong together – you, me, poor little skirt. If I can’t make it with you then I can’t make it with anyone.
Bridget: That’s not a good enough offer for me.
Ira & Abby w/ Chris Messina & Jennifer Westfeldt
Psychology major studying to be a psychologist, albeit he has major issues and so does the woman he spontaneously decides to marry. Let’s not forget his parents are therapists as well. They rationalized their whim of a marriage because they figured everyone else who’s done it the right way ends in divorce anyways. Throughout the movie, we see different perspectives of the ultimate marriage. We see Ira’s parents, a marriage blossomed because of an unexpected pregnancy. His parents ultimately agreed that “you learn to love because you’re hinged together.” They married for Ira. Which to some extent seems to be the reason for the many marriages we see today. We this marriage and its juxtaposition to Abby’s parents’ marriage, a seemingly happy marriage. But of course, there’s a catch.
The idea and convention of marriage seems to continue to tarnish over time for me. I’m not doubting the belief that two people can stay in love for years on end, but I doubt the belief that marriage is going to keep that. We’re all groomed to think that the next logical step in our lives is to marry someone we love. But being married doesn’t solidify anything aside from having a great party. Can we start blaming ourselves that we’ve fallen into some hypocrisy of how things are supposed to be. Because the reality is nothing is what it’s supposed to be. Not then and not now. I often wonder about happily married couples. I’m sure there are some, but none that I can instantly look up to. I would venture even to say my parents’ marriage isn’t exactly what I interpret happiness to look like. Continue reading
An Ode to the Recovering Hopeless Romantics 