Feb 13
Life Should Be Like Music (and Lyrics)
I have a confession to make: In spite of the fact that I’m a hard-ass (Yes, I am a hard-ass!), I’m a sucker for romantic comedies.
Today we went to the video store, something I haven’t done in a long time, and while Caspar played on the slide with Big Sis (Yes, my video store has play equipment!), I wandered around and selected a couple of $2.95 overnighters. I like watching brainless movies on lazy days and this afternoon, while Cas slept for 2 hours (That’s right, 2 hours!), I curled up on my living room bed and watched Music and Lyrics.
I know. It’s fluff.
It’s entirely ridiculous and the storyline is thin to say the least. And I loathe pop music. And I loathe pop culture. In fact, I loathe everything formulaic so it could easily be described as 84 minutes of my life that I will never get back. But I enjoyed every one of those minutes and they left me gooey and smiling, blissfully immune to the realities of the world.
Of course, it helps that Drew Barrymore is, well… Drew Barrymore and that Hugh Grant, although sometimes a twat, occasionally displays the self-deprecating charm the English do so well.
(Which, incidentally, is another thing I’m a sucker for. Witness Exhibit A.)
I’m not sure why I like Rom Coms so much. It’s out of character. I’m not a sappy type and I don’t understand fussing over Valentine’s Day or anniversaries. I don’t understand candlelight dinners or flowers or chocolate. In fact, I don’t even like chocolate, especially when it’s heart-shaped. Basically, all the behaviours stereotypically associated with “romance” make me want to heave.
Even when I’m in love.
Of course, this one suckered me with a little nostalgia, having stayed up nights writing lyrics with more than one boyfriend myself, spent time standing in the sidelines while friends or lovers played, even having once dated a has-been. (I’ll stress again here, before you follow that link: That post is fictional. It might contain some biographical elements, but you’ll never know which parts.)
But in the film when Sophie (Drew Barrymore) asks her sister how you know when someone is passionate, her sister says, “When they do something extraordinary.” Perhaps that is the appeal these movies have for me.
Life is large. Life should be large. I feel largely.
And expect the extraordinary.
February 13th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
I have to say, I didn’t hate ‘Music and Lyrics’. Maybe it was Drew Barrymore? I dunno, but I didn’t fall asleep, which is a glowing recommendation from me for any romantic comedy.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:26 am
Awww…I liked Music and Lyrics as well - top-quality fluff. Great song, too!