Rom-com reveals love is never easy
I’m often asked relationship advice and because the people asking are my friends I try my best. But the truth is, I suck at relationships which is why I write about sex.
That’s not to say that I’m good at sex though. It’s just that sex is a part of a relationship, a relatively simple and enjoyable part. But whether I like it or not, any interaction between two people is a relationship. And every relationship has its own levels of commitment and love attached to it so it’s never that simple.
I’ve lambasted romantic comedies before, dismissing them as silly fluff, fantastical representations of relationships, but I’ll grudgingly admit that the real reason I dislike them is steeped in jealousy. While there may be comedic elements to the relationships I’ve had, they never have a happy resolution. I’ve imagined myself to be the awkward girl who somehow ends up with an unattainable attractive man, a la My Big Fat Greek Wedding, or the girl who doesn’t do anything right, throws away a good thing but ends up with Matthew McConaughey like Kate Hudson did in How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. Or I dream that I’m Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You and I end up with the bad-ass late Heath Ledger who likes me because I’m smart and cute and is willing to break down the wall I had put up because I was burned before.
But life never works like a romantic comedy yet we can still love them because we relate to them.
While speaking with Jessica Dollard of the Fairy Tales Film Festival, she informed me of this great short film they will be screening at the upcoming Shorts for all Sorts: Queer Film Quickies on Nov. 10 at the Uptown Stage & Screen. Falling For Caroline is a 20-minute short about a girl who can’t control her klutzy-ness around the girl of her dreams.
I spoke with first-time filmmaker, Christine Chew, also a photojournalist, and asked what challenges are unique to girls dating girls.
“Well you know how women are, we tend to over analyze things,” Chew explains. “For lesbians, we actually have a term for it — over-processing. This is a very common thing. When you get two women together we tend to over-process a situation.”
No shit. That’s definitely a girl thing that I’m guilty of. While Chew’s intentions were to make a fun comedy about lesbians for lesbians because there’s a lack of non-dramatic lesbian films, the film is connecting with everyone, recently winning the Audience Award for Best Short at ImageOut in Rochester, N.Y.
It makes sense that romantic comedies are popular with everyone, not just the intended audience because at some point we all suck at relationships. We do stupid, silly things, like showing up at your romantic interest’s house drunk and passing out in their bed when they’re not there or completely misunderstanding a message they sent. As regrettable as these actions are, the romantic in us will keep trying, hoping for that happy ending.
