Despite being incredibly delusional having watched one of the worst movies I've ever seen- I must stay awake to relay this message to the twelve people who read this blog. Disclaimer:
The following is one man's opinion worded strongly on society and films and in no way reflects anything other than reality and Biblical Christianity.
That being said- If you pay money to watch the movie He's Just Not That Into You, I will take you into an alley and stab you as many times as possible before leaving the scene of the crime. Holy Cow what a monumental brainwashing, waste of time and money, and ridiculous plot. I went to go see it tonight with Lauren (Date night- woot woot), and figured it would be a decent little love story. Unfortunately, we were all horribly misled. Now keep in mind I am not the most critical movie watcher, nor do I generally hate movies for "implying" something I don't personally agree with. But this movie blatantly states over and over that
1) One does not need to be married in order to
a. Have sex
b. Live with another person
c. Be in love
d. Be happy spending the rest of life with a person.
Marriage is embodied as the cornering of an unstable man by a demanding woman usually resulting in ultimate unhappiness of both. So why be married when you can wander around and have casual emotionless passionate sex with whoever right? Yeah...spread that message Hollywood. Thanks!
2) When you are married you may still be able to find the person you were "really meant to be with." If that is the case, then one should immediately
a. Get divorced and remarry the "real one" and live happily ever after
b. Get naked with the person and have a passionate affair
c. Become best friends with that person and spend lots of time together tip toeing carefully around actually having sex so it's not a real affair.
So again- Marriage is a hollow cop out for women to control men. And the way men should react is to begin searching constantly for the woman who will really make us happy and leave the lady we promised to love forever. That'll teach her.
3) Girls should continue throwing themselves at guys over and over again until the right one doesn't sleep with them and not call them back. Then you'll know you're really in love.
I am so angry at the world right now. Most especially because there were roughly 14 students from Northwest Christian High School present at this movie (my place of employment), 7 of which were young girls being convinced of this garbage. Why do we continue to spread this message and then wonder why kids are sleeping with each other at 13 years old and thinking they are in love? Either stop letting them watch this crap or get used to it. I hate this, I really genuinely do.
If I could say one thing to the young girls of the world it would be this: You are a beautiful young girl who deserves to be treated honorably by a righteous young man who loves God. You do not need anyone other than Jesus to make you happy, and when you have reached that point it may just so happen that a boy comes into your life and says and does all the right things. If he loves God, and you two continue to walk with Christ daily- you will be given one of the greatest gifts on the entire earth- marriage. Not Hollywood warm fuzzies marriage, but the kind of marriage we read about in Scripture where husbands love their wives and lay down their lives for them. They provide for them and care for them and love them deeply- more and more each day. You will feel beautiful and be beautiful in the eyes of God and your husband. This is marriage- the earthly example of the relationship between Christ and the Church. Marriage DOES NOT END IN THIS LIFE TIME! And it is gratifying for that life time when done right.
"Eve was not taken out of Adam's head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him." Matthew Henry
Proberbs 31:10-12 A wife of noble character who can find?She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm,all the days of her life.
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9 comments:
NICE! I can tell you were really mad when you wrote this because of the lack of punctauation throughout. But I agree with you wholeheartedly, and rest assured, you will not have to stab me repeatedly in a dark alley. Great quotes, too.
Dang it! I knew there was something weird about the way I spelled 'Punctuation.'
I LOVED THE FILM AND FOUND IT REFRESHING!
Mr. Gamble, I suppose I should now be concerned that I am about to be dragged into an alley and brutally killed by you?! I recently saw He's Just Not That Into You, and found it to be a very accurate, believable and entertaining film. This is an insightfully written script that can only be referred to as the perfect anti-chick flick. Real characters, believable situations, thoughtful and insightful... Obviously, as a Christian I have a different world view from those promoted by Hollywood, but I have lived 32 years in this world and know a little something about the nature of relationships, and I too, am opinionated.
Let's start with the brainwashing charge. You are just wrong about this. This film asks the fundamental question, "Are you the exception or are you the rule?" The main plot exposes the issue of men who say one thing and do another, self-centeredness, and girls who trust these men too much. These girls are romantically believing in the shining prince ideal that is unfortunately lacking in western society. From time immemorial boys and girls simply do not understand each other and this is the root of so much confusion. We are all selfish to some degree as human beings and unfortunately it has become far too common and hip for a male to manifest this tendency in his dealings with girls who are unwilling to see this fault in our character.
Gigi is one of these girls. Sweet, trusting, looking for, and deserving a good man. But she looks for this man at happy-hour and through blind dates. Not very good sources of honorable men. Gigi's story changes when she meets Alex. Alex is a good guy, but he hasn't quite realized it yet. He coaches Gigi in how to understand the confusing signals she is getting from men. By the end of the film she has made him realize that he is not happy or fulfilled in his approach to relationships and they fall in love. She raises his level of expectation in a relationship and inevitably, he is unable to lower her expectations in men. Fantastic! I don't see brainwashing here unless you were referring to Alex's character being brainwashed by our culture before he met Gigi's contagious enthusiasm and optimism...
Beth and Neil are a couple that have been living together for some time. Beth wants to get married, but passively accepts Neil's selfish excuses for why they don't need to be married to be committed to each other. By the end of the film, Neil realizes that he cannot accept his justification for rejecting marriage. Their story shows that marriage is important and vital for showing true commitment and value to your mate.
Janine and Ben are an unfortunate couple. Ben has a wandering eye, he hides things from his wife and is a cheat. The film does not glorify this behavior and at the end of the film you can see that Ben's selfish behavior has ruined his and Janine's lives. This film in no way glorified Ben's behavior, in fact it showed quite vividly how disgusting it was and how he had to lie to himself to justify it.
The fact is, Jake, that unfortunately, people do not have to be married to have sex or live with another person. It is destructive, but true, and the film shows this. This film actually shows, contrary to your point, that you DO need to be married to live happily ever after and show respect for one another.
I don't know how you managed it, but you found a way to completely miss out on everything this film was saying. This film was Pro-marriage, it was educational for men and women alike, who are dealing with selfish/lying romantic interests. It showed the darkness of cheating and lying to your spouse. It showed how "nice guys" get trampled when they go after the wrong girl. This film was actually pretty atypical hollywood... My biggest beef with the film is the continual in-your-face homosexuality that hollywood slips into literally everything. Hollywood has such a high population of gays that it disproportionately portrays it in their films and then people start seeing it as more common than it actually is, but please don't get me started.
One more thing. I am totally with your Matthew Henry quote, and Proverbs 31 describes God's ideal. However, I challenge you to show me scripture that states that marriage does not end in the death of a spouse. It is my understanding that we are not married in Heaven and that marriage is ordained by God for our time here on earth so that we might glorify Him more effectively.
I am sorry that this film ruined your date night, but I have the sad feeling that you missed out on an excellent film that actually affirmed our values rather than trampled them.
Daniel
I must say, Daniel Wanless...I find you comment(s?) to be very disappointing. Also, it sounded like a woman wrote it.
Lauren -
It sounded like a woman wrote it because you were reading it out loud... Why the disappointment?
When are you going to get this debate action rolling, Gamble? Or have you changed your mind about knife control?
I'm ready...it is time. Ok, so my response to this charge of missing the point of the film:
While I realize this may be an accurate depiction of what actually happens in today's world- I am allowed to hate that it is the case. I do have Christian ideals, and I have experienced many painful things in life that are contrary to those ideals...but I still grasp firmly to those. I suppose my dissatisfaction with the film is rooted in a few things.
While it does expose the question of whether or not girls are the exception to the rule...I believe that most of the film is saying girls are not the exception, and then in one big swoop that is denied, and girls are back to being the exception to the rule. Here is my beef with that: They aren't. They absolutely are not the exception. The exception means they are not going to be used, that the guy who slept with them with no strings attached really does care, that they are different than all the other women guys are using.
So my problem isn't with women, my problem is with men. The men in this movie are portrayed as dirty dogs who aren't faithful, don't care for marriage, and sleep around. I realize fully that this IS the case- but I wish it wasn't. I'm not denying that this film is "accurate" in it's portrayal of the reality we all live in. But the issue is that no one is trying to change it. We see these movies showing us what reality is rather than what it ought to be. I enjoy older "chick flicks" because they encouraged propriety, sexual morality, faithfulness in marriage, and values. They portrayed a greater view of love than raw sex and sticking together after that. So while my reaction is harsh- the problem isn't with accuracy, it's with accepting this reality and contuing to show that it is more than fine.
Take for example the man cheating on his wife- we do see ultimately that he ruins his marriage and life by having extramarital sex. But the entire movie encourages him to partake in this act, that she could really be the one. Now is she? That's debatable...it left me feeling like had he divorced his wife and married this girl because she's "hotter" all would have been well for him and her. So it doesn't encourage cheating per se, but it certainly doesn't encourage lasting marriage.
And as far as this idea of Gigi and Alex- we get another societal flaw. We keep teaching young girls that if they love a guy enough and hold on through him being an ass, they can change him. It's the "stray cat phenomenon." I can fix it! But the truth is, they won't. Most will end up getting hurt by this guy because he will ultimately prove his "ass-worthy" title and let them down. So rather than encouraging girls to fix the bad ones, why don't we encourage them to wait for the good ones?
And last- I agree that marriage ends when we die. I meant an emphasis on that marriage is through this life, and by no means eternal. We absolutely are not married in heaven because our delight is in Christ. The phrase "till death do us part" holds completely true.
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