Just Like The Movies

          I recently just finished reading the seriously funny auto-biography, "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)" by Mindy Kaling (some of you may know her as Kelly on The Office). In this book, Kaling writes about a lot of her (often hilarious) problems as a child, anecdotes, and a lot of her opinions on things currently. One thing she wrote about that I really loved was "Types of Women in Romantic Comedies Who Are Not Real".
          The chapter "Types of Women in Romantic Comedies Who Are Not Real" is pretty self-explanatory. It's about multiple female characters that she has seen repeatedly in many romantic comedies, and the fact that they don't exist in real life.
          She mentions a few different types of women: "The Klutz: ... The 100-percent-perfect-looking female is perfect in every way, except she constantly falls down.", there's also "The Ethereal Weirdo: ...She spins a globe, places her finger on a random spot, and decides to move there. This ethereal weirdo abounds in movies, but nowhere else. If she were from real life, people would think she was a homeless woman and would cross the street to avoid her...", then there's also "The Woman Who is Obsessed With Her Career and Is No Fun At All", "The Forty-Two-Year-Old Mother of the Thirty-Year-Old Male Lead", "The Sassy Best Friend", "The Skinny Woman Who Is Beautiful and Toned But Also Gluttonous and Disgusting", and, "The Woman Who Works in an Art Gallery". When I was reading this chapter, I found that not only were all of descriptions hilarious, but also completely true. I can think of countless movies in which they appear.
          After I read the chapter, I thought briefly about all of these characters and realized I hadn't really seen any of them in real life; not 100%, anyway. People don't actually act like that in real life, yet we are constantly entertained by romantic comedies.
          Before she lists all of these unrealistic female characters, she talks a bit about her personal history with romantic comedies. She grew up watching them, and sheepishly admits she still loves watching them today. "I enjoy watching people fall in love on-screen so much that I can suspend my disbelief for the contrived situations that only happen in the heightened world of romantic comedies."
          When I'm watching movies, I never think, "Oh, this isn't real! That would never happen in real life!", I just sit back and enjoy the movie. If I were to really analyze a romantic comedy, I would probably see there are multiple occurrences that probably would not happen in real life. The thing is, I don't want to analyze it, I just want to watch it.
          Many people have said that they aren't very realistic, including myself, but that doesn't stop me from going out and seeing one in the theater, or renting a DVD. Why? Because romantic comedies always have happy endings. There is always a funny, sweet sort of happily-ever-after ending. Romantic comedies are simply happy. Who wouldn't want to watch a funny and happy movie? It plants the idea in your head that that's what life is like, and who wouldn't love to have their life be a romantic comedy? Well, probably many people, but not me! I, do believe that some things can happen like they do in the movies. Sure, my life may not be just like one, but I think that some aspects of movies are very plausible, and even the implausible aspects can happen.
          Would it be better if we all watched not-so-happy movies with more realistic endings? Maybe. I'd rather watch a movie with a happy ending, because they give me hope. Not everyone thinks like that, however, and maybe it's better for us to be more realistic... Or maybe it's better to think positively.What do you think?