movie review, sort of…
So I tried to watch Bride Wars last night. I only got half way through which could be attributed to the late hour but also because the movie hadn’t made me angry yet and I wanted to quit while I was ahead. (high five?) You know what my forte is? What I reeeaaaally excel at? Overthinking. Yeah. Is this a bad thing? I’m not sure yet (I haven’t overthought my tendency to overthink yet (its on the list of things to do this weekend)). So, I think a “normal” person could watch this movie and just enjoy the minimal amount of humor it has and be done with it. But I have to analyze its quality and its impact on our society and wonder what kinds of messages is it really sending to all the women out there and is it harmful or not harmful, and then it just starts making me angry. Like, who are these women?? I don’t know any women who have been saving and planning for their wedding since they were 16. Do you? I know I haven’t been dreaming of a wedding for any length of time. But I know they exist or else why would all these movies and tv shows about them exist? Is it an outdated idea thats left over from the 50′s? Or is it a healthy characteristic that I was not taught about? Am I weird? Or are they weird? Honestly, it doesn’t really matter. What concerns me is if young ladies (like teenagers) watch these millions of movies made about weddings and believe that that is the way to behave. Because if that happens we’re all fucked and irrational bridezillas will take over the planet! (Yeah, I’d watch that movie!) Hopefully these teenagers will just appreciate it for the half-way comedy that it is and just forget about it. Which is exactly what I am going to attempt to do tonight as I finish watching it. I can do it!
On a somewhat separate note, I already know exactly whats going to happen all the way through this movie. As I have said before, these writers have no imagination and the whole story follows a very narrow and predictable line of reasoning. But I’ll let you know if they surprise me.
Atom Ant, and 
Emilily are discussing.
Emilily 6:55 pm on November 30, 2009 Permalink
Well, I am not sure about all that. Probably because I need to improve my over-thinking skills.
I have not spent any time planning for my wedding, aside form the random comment about how insanely expensive they are and that I am never going to be duped into spending $300 for a floral centerpiece or some nonsense. I do know a few girls who fall prey to the bridal fever, and I know of even more mothers who have spent considerable time and money in planning for this event. I think it is something left over from more traditional family roles, and yes, probably some 50′s values. I am willing to be that those silly women who came up with National Men Make Dinner Day had been picking out bridesmaid dresses since Junior High!
Okay, now that I think about it, the wedding planning goes waaaay back. Have you ever heard of a hope chest? (Also called, disturbingly, a glory box.) It is for a woman’s family to save all kinds of valuable things in that she will be given when she weds. Like one big Christmas for matrimony. And what about a dowry? Parents had to plan the wedding ahead of time, how else would they land a suitable husband? No wonder a girl was encouraged to get excited about her big day – for her, it might have been the only silver lining in the whole sold-into-domestic-slavery transaction. Families have been planning how to unload their female offspring for ages, and I bet women have been plotting on how to escape watchful eyes of parents for just as long. Only today when marriage seems so impermanent, when women are free to leave the house and pursue their own desires, husband or no, when aspiring to be a housewife shows a lack of personal ambition rather than good wholesome values, does all the wedding planning become optional, superfluous. I don’t think we are weird to not sit around thinking about seating charts and color schemes, I think we are evolved, and the entertainment and media industries are simply lagging a few decades behind.
Atom Ant 5:37 am on December 1, 2009 Permalink
It’s sick … really. I always wonder what kind of person would think movies like that are funny. Bride Wars, Runaway Bride, My best friends wedding, The Wedding Planner, the list goes on and on. Stupid, predictable, marginally funny at best. This is true with 98% of romantic comedies. So my conclusion is that these movies were made for 98% of the (female?) population. So, with a few simple calculations… 304,059,724 / 2 = 152,029,862 X 0.98 = a butt load of people out there who are just plain idiots. And to further my point, lets just ask Jerry Springer how much money he’s made off of this country’s toxic, brainwashed, obese by choice, drugged, alcoholic population?
I’m sure that everybody reading this is in the 2% of the population who actually have a functional brain.
Right?