I Can Be A Friend To You, I Won't Pretend, I'm Not Interested In Breaking A Heart, It's Not Love, No, It's Nothing Like That
--"Suspended From Class", Camera Obscura
I was having a debate with Epcot earlier this morning about how all Romantic Comedies are the same. They all involve people pretending they aren't helplessly in love with one another, trying to remain friends, and eventually giving into the inevitable in the end. She said that's not always true. Her theory is that most Romantic Comedies are about people who don't know that they're in love and only discover this fact during the time they spend with one another. It's a subtle distinction, but an important one to me. I'm a big lover of this particular genre and that's mostly due to the fact that I like seeing people who are meant for one another finally end up with one another. It would kind of ruin the whole experience for me if their fate as intended for one another is in jeopardy and isn't 100% clear-cut from the onset. Granted, it will never happen in the course of any of these films, but I like going in knowing that the main couple is, I guess, fated for one another. That's what sells the movie for me.
What follows is the exact conversation I had what perfect romantic movie would be:
ms: It would have to start out with the couple already married reminiscing about the wacky journey it took to get there.
e: No hesitation? First shot of the film they're married?
ms: With like six kids and a dog--maybe inside their three-story house. I want to establish that they're doing great. They're happy, rich, and loving every minute of it.
e: I can see where this is going.
ms: Then when they get into the story, they would have to meet very cute. I mean--very cute. She would have to be like walking her dog, when it gets away and jumps into his convertible that he's just stopped at a stop light. Maybe he could drive off with the dog, not knowing that it's in the backseat at the time. She chases him down in full Run Lola Run mode and they end up talking to one another.
e: I could buy that. She would have to run through some obstacles.
ms: Yeah. Like she could have to hurdle some bicycles or something.
e: So far this is sounding like a typical romantic comedy. I don't see the difference.
ms: The difference would be that they know they're right from each other from word one. I think the comedy would be how everyone else in their life would be trying to talk them out of getting married so fast or maybe from just moving in together. Then to ratchet it up a couple of notches, you could have one of their wacky cousins actively sabotaging their plans as a way of watching out for their relative. You know what I'd want to see?
e: What?
ms: I'd want to see the cousin maybe try to bump off the boyfriend. That's the idea. Oh man, that's good. The cousin is a professional hitman and he's putting to use his skills to keep his female cousin from making what he thinks is a mistake. You could call it Marked for Love.
e: (laughing) That's utterly ludicrous.
ms: That's the beauty of it. The couple the entire time could be adamant about their love for one another. Neither one of them would have to pretend that they just want to be friends. All the comedy could just originate who she's desperately trying to convince her cousin to call off the hit and how the boyfriend could bungle through not getting dead. I could totally see that.
e: I'd love to see you try to make that work.
ms: The best part would be it would have a built-in ending. The cousin could catch up to them both. He would tell the girl to move out of the way. She would refuse. The cousin would see she means business. But then he would shoot anyway! At the last second the boyfriend would step in front of the girl. That's when you would find out that the cousin aimed for the toe as a test to see how much the boyfriend loved the girl.
"You shot me in the toe, goddamn it!"
"You are welcome, sir."
e: Oh my lordy. That's an insane ending.
ms: It would work. It would definitely work. That's how you would do it, a romantic comedy from credits to credits where the couple stays at the same high level of enthrallment with one another and still have it funny.
e: I imagine that this would only be the bare bones of the story.
ms: Just you wait, I've got hijinx galore in store for this couple...
Yours Swimmingly,
mojo shivers
I was having a debate with Epcot earlier this morning about how all Romantic Comedies are the same. They all involve people pretending they aren't helplessly in love with one another, trying to remain friends, and eventually giving into the inevitable in the end. She said that's not always true. Her theory is that most Romantic Comedies are about people who don't know that they're in love and only discover this fact during the time they spend with one another. It's a subtle distinction, but an important one to me. I'm a big lover of this particular genre and that's mostly due to the fact that I like seeing people who are meant for one another finally end up with one another. It would kind of ruin the whole experience for me if their fate as intended for one another is in jeopardy and isn't 100% clear-cut from the onset. Granted, it will never happen in the course of any of these films, but I like going in knowing that the main couple is, I guess, fated for one another. That's what sells the movie for me.What follows is the exact conversation I had what perfect romantic movie would be:
ms: It would have to start out with the couple already married reminiscing about the wacky journey it took to get there.
e: No hesitation? First shot of the film they're married?
ms: With like six kids and a dog--maybe inside their three-story house. I want to establish that they're doing great. They're happy, rich, and loving every minute of it.
e: I can see where this is going.
ms: Then when they get into the story, they would have to meet very cute. I mean--very cute. She would have to be like walking her dog, when it gets away and jumps into his convertible that he's just stopped at a stop light. Maybe he could drive off with the dog, not knowing that it's in the backseat at the time. She chases him down in full Run Lola Run mode and they end up talking to one another.
e: I could buy that. She would have to run through some obstacles.
ms: Yeah. Like she could have to hurdle some bicycles or something.
e: So far this is sounding like a typical romantic comedy. I don't see the difference.
ms: The difference would be that they know they're right from each other from word one. I think the comedy would be how everyone else in their life would be trying to talk them out of getting married so fast or maybe from just moving in together. Then to ratchet it up a couple of notches, you could have one of their wacky cousins actively sabotaging their plans as a way of watching out for their relative. You know what I'd want to see?
e: What?
ms: I'd want to see the cousin maybe try to bump off the boyfriend. That's the idea. Oh man, that's good. The cousin is a professional hitman and he's putting to use his skills to keep his female cousin from making what he thinks is a mistake. You could call it Marked for Love.
e: (laughing) That's utterly ludicrous.
ms: That's the beauty of it. The couple the entire time could be adamant about their love for one another. Neither one of them would have to pretend that they just want to be friends. All the comedy could just originate who she's desperately trying to convince her cousin to call off the hit and how the boyfriend could bungle through not getting dead. I could totally see that.
e: I'd love to see you try to make that work.
ms: The best part would be it would have a built-in ending. The cousin could catch up to them both. He would tell the girl to move out of the way. She would refuse. The cousin would see she means business. But then he would shoot anyway! At the last second the boyfriend would step in front of the girl. That's when you would find out that the cousin aimed for the toe as a test to see how much the boyfriend loved the girl.
"You shot me in the toe, goddamn it!"
"You are welcome, sir."
e: Oh my lordy. That's an insane ending.
ms: It would work. It would definitely work. That's how you would do it, a romantic comedy from credits to credits where the couple stays at the same high level of enthrallment with one another and still have it funny.
e: I imagine that this would only be the bare bones of the story.
ms: Just you wait, I've got hijinx galore in store for this couple...
Yours Swimmingly,
mojo shivers
Labels: Brandy, Camera Obscura, honesty, intentions, Marked for Love, Romantic Comedies
posted by mojo shivers @ 7:26 PM
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