The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

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Romantic comedies paint an unrealistic picture

Girls and their chick flicks. Without these obnoxiously corny movies, how else would single women find hope for a potential lover? Will he whisk me off my feet and kiss me like Noah did to Allie in “The Notebook”? Will he stop my taxi on the Brooklyn Bridge, drag me out of the backseat, and kiss me in the middle of traffic like Ben did in “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”?

These are some of the questions women ask themselves when their love lives are stagnant. Heck, we wish things like that would happen! In fact, we’re pretty positive every woman wishes that. Actually, we’re pretty positive most women walk out of these movies thinking it will happen to them. Unfortunately, this is a very unlike scenario.  

From an early age, girls are programmed to find the perfect man.  Disney movies and Lifetime originals portray him as tall, chiseled, and completely romantic. This idea fills the minds of small girls and teens that play with their dolls or paint their nails in front of the television set. Has anyone ever met any man that is actually like this? We haven’t, we can tell you that much. 

Since when has it ever been a good idea to listen to what the movies tell us to do? Just like people should not try and imitate violent movies, it is a completely bad idea to assume your love life will turn out anything like a romantic comedy.

We actually feel sorry for guys these days because girls have such high expectations. Girls, we need to keep high expectations, but we still need to remember that men will be men. They will forget anniversaries and they will say things that will upset you. Half of the appeal of men is that they are spontaneous. 

Take, for example, Valentine’s Day, 2008. One of us was left disappointed on this day of love because her boyfriend decided to order a present online. Although the gift was eventually received, the recipient was still upset.

Why, you ask? At least she got something for Valentine’s Day. Shut up and be happy, right? Wrong! The fact that the gift wasn’t planned to arrive on Valentine’s Day ruined the moment and definitely ticked her off! The boyfriend was proud of himself for even remembering the gift at all, while the recipient’s expectation of a perfect gift on Valentine’s Day was completely destroyed. This is a perfect example of a guy trying to do something good, but not meeting a girl’s high expectations. 

Think about it: would you really want to be with someone who is perfect? We think it would get annoying really fast. So cut the guy a little slack. Not only will he greatly appreciate your sudden loosening of the collar, but it will also give you one less thing to stress over.
We Sams are making a conscious effort this year to accept men for who they are. More importantly, though, we are making an effort to walk out of a movie theatre without any fantastic expectations for our love lives.

Samantha Verrill is a junior journalism major and Samantha Cangelosi is a sophomore journalism major. They can be reached for comment at [email protected] and [email protected], respectively.

 

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