Movie quote...can't get it out of my mind

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[OzArrian]

Earlier this evening I saw a preview for the film, Vicky Cristina Barcelona. In this preview the male lead says: "Only unfulfilled love can be romantic." I was stunned upon hearing this and have been thinking on it for the past hour or so. Is romance all in the wanting?

While I'm desperate to think this line is false, some part of it rings true. Great romantic novels end with the death of a beautiful woman. Unrequited love or love never consumated is the ultimate romanctic story. Modern romantic films end when the characters are finally together.

Is this line true??

Don't know about true but it certainly encapsulates the tradition of chivalric love which in turn inspired the romantic notions of love found in the late 18th/early 19th century. From Abelard and Eloise through to Casablanca the most romantic constructs of love involve those who never got to do the deed (or did and were then separated).

 

[silverwhisper]

j, i think the line is awfully cynical, and honestly, i think it's crap. while i think ozarrian makes some great points, i think that there's something important being overlooked here in the analysis.

we usually assume in a story that when the couple gets together (finally), they live happily ever after. we know what happily ever after is supposed to look like, so the director and writer don't feel it necessary to show us what it looks like.

to me, romance is about both parties striving towards one another. that's why IMHO they revolve around overcoming the challenges to getting together. when they can't, we call it a tragedy, in addition to a romance, no?

just a thought. :>

ed

 

[sunandshadow]

Even if a couple has been together for 20 years their love isn't necessarily going to be 'fulfilled' in the sense of being satiated. If one dies, the other isn't going to be like, "Well we were together long enough, I was satisfied." They could be like, "Nooo I can't live without you!!!" Plus what about all those typical married couple romantic moments, like when the first baby is born, and some people do romantic things for their spouse every valentines day, birthday, new years, whatever. The other week I saw two grandparent-age people holding hands and strolling through the park giving each other sappy looks.

 

[bailadora]

when they can't, we call it a tragedy, in addition to a romance, no?

I for one, would call it a tragedy: I hate sad endings (guess it's the Pollyanna in me ). Personally J - I call bull on this quote and lump it in the same category with other equally stupid movie "love" quotes, such as the one Ali McGraw spews in Love Story (Love means never having to say you are sorry. )

Plus what about all those typical married couple romantic moments, like when the first baby is born, and some people do romantic things for their spouse every valentines day, birthday, new years, whatever. The other week I saw two grandparent-age people holding hands and strolling through the park giving each other sappy looks.

Yeah, this! I was incredibly blessed to have this modeled for me in the relationships of my parents and maternal and paternal grandparents. I also think romance can be found in the simple and sometimes seemingly mundane moments of our lives, if you just stop for a second to acknowledge and appreciate it.

 

[subgirl2]

I think those soppy romantic movies have a lot to answer for. The man walks up to her and against all the odds, sweeps her off her feet and they live happily ever after. It always seems to be the sad lonely, plain girl who doesn't stand a chance against the hot sophisticated women who have all the class, who eventually gets the man of her dreams. It is all bullshit!! Life is not like that at all.

I allowed myself to dream for a while that it was going to happen to me and guess what happened.....that's right, absolutely nothing which just led to disppointment and heartbreak as I watched the man of my dreams sail off into the sunset with someone else. Real life is nothing like those movies. The hard part is that I have to keep smiling and pretend that my heart isn't broken and that I don't cry myself to sleep and wake up in tears every morning.

My love life is more like a Stephen King movie. LOL

 

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[shiny5437]

Don't know about true but it certainly encapsulates the tradition of chivalric love which in turn inspired the romantic notions of love found in the late 18th/early 19th century. From Abelard and Eloise through to Casablanca the most romantic constructs of love involve those who never got to do the deed (or did and were then separated).

Abelard and Eloise - randy medieval nuns rock!

 

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[Mac98]

If you love someone, knowing that it will never be acted on, that you can never express it openly or that it might never be returned, then you can be assured that you truly love them. Or at least that you’re dangerously infatuated, fixated or possibly obsessive about them.

If this is true, it would sure explain the numerous unhappily married couples out there (married or not, that is...). However, just because 2 people can express love for each other doesn't mean it isn't true love... or did I miss the point of your comment?

 

[MisterSir]

Bullshit. Unfulfilled love ain't romantic, it's fucking depressing

 

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