Friday, August 13, 2010

Op-Ed Columnist - Tragedy of Comedy

"Me: “How did we get from ‘Two for the Road’ to ‘The Bounty Hunter’ and ‘He’s Just Not That Into You?’ ”

Sam: “This is the question I ask myself every morning and keep asking all day, and annoy all my friends and lovers with. Every time I see Jennifer Aniston’s or Jennifer Garner’s face I wince. Basically, every time I see someone named Jennifer. They say the problem is teenage boys and girls, that they drive the marketplace. But I say they only drive the marketplace because there’s nothing out there for grown-ups to see. Apropos, I can’t remember the last time I saw two people really falling in love in a movie. Now all we get is the meet cute, a montage, a kiss, then acoustic song into fade out. Nothing experiential, only movies manufactured from movies. Apparently, there was once a time when Jill Clayburgh danced around in her underwear. She laughed, she cried, she hurt, but it seems like a legend that never happened. Now we have ‘The Bounty Hunter’ and I don’t know what to do on Friday nights. Are you sorry you asked?”"
The best column Maureen Dowd has ever done. In it, she and a writer, Sam Wasson, engage the question of why rom-coms have deteriorated so precipitously. The writer's outraged despair is perfect and he's right on everything. Absolutely. I will be buying his book, and like him, I will be asking why we can't have something better. It's something I already do. At least now I know I'm not alone.

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