Sometimes girls just need a movie to watch that offers escapism so earlier this weekend, I watched a movie called “The Women”. Apparently it’s a couple of years old but I don’t remember ever hearing about it. It seemed to have all of the ingredients of a light hearted, 120 minute trip into chick flick central which is what I was looking for and I liked the cast; Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Candace Bergen.
Let’s just say the HBO condensed plot desciption was off the mark. About ten minutes into the film, the betrayal begins. First, her best friend learns through a manicurist that Meg Ryan’s husband is having an affair. Later, that same best friend betrays Meg Ryan in order to advance her career. Interestingly, the betrayal by her best friend was the deeper hurt; the one that really left its mark because her husband had already vacated the marriage, in actuality, long before his affair was known.
This was really not my idea of escapism.
If you watch television at all, there is betrayal everywhere. They want us to believe it’s as common as running errands or a trip to the mall. Is it?
Mainly, I wonder why women don’t seem to honor other women. And I wonder why marriages aren’t honored by couples anymore. Did this all happen when I was busy raising my family; the standards changed and no one told me that we don’t live in Kansas anymore?
From everything I see, it’s just accepted depravity. As a society, we have become numb to the sting of betrayal, broken families and broken vows. Commonplace…happens all the time…etc. We’re inundated with celebrity infidelities and it’s not just TMZ ~ it’s CBS, NBC, ESPN. It’s everywhere.
I guess I’m an old fashioned girl. I want to be entertained with movies about commitment, honor, integrity and loyalty. Is it so much to ask that some of that bleed over into our reality and people start believing that those things are commonplace…happens all the time…etc?
Well, I can’t change much but I can change what I watch and what I hear from the news and entertainment industry. Call it burying my head in the sand but I’m just so done with hearing about Jesse James and Tiger Woods and some creepy politician from who knows where. I’m tired of watching women come out of the woodwork to claim a piece of the spotlight that we so graciously offer.
Good bye, secular tv and movies. I’m unplugging. This hiatus from you is going to do me good.
When I am down and emotionly exhausted, i watch "Steel Magnolias", it makes me cry, laugh and believe in good friendships.
>Sigh<I'm with you, Amy. But there's hope! If you look at the trends in film they're starting to crank out more redemptive messages. Across the board? No… but the pendulum is def swinging back the other way.It really bothers me when I hear my teen daughter say "That's life." I tell her, "No… that's a lie. Don't buy it for a minute." That's what irritates me… because it is NOT the norm. There are still more of "us" old-fashioned, level-headed thinkers out there. Only we're busy fighting this tide to get our kids to adulthood free of significant neurosis!I just saw "The Time Traveler's Wife" last week. Even the boys liked it!Have you seen "Princesss and the Frog" yet?AWESOME story, first class filmmaking… and all done by hand. It'll make you pee yourself laughing. <3