(1) Alpha Game Plan
(2) Rozann Carter's contribution to Word on Fire: Crazy, Stupid (Movies about) Love.
Wherein does the problem lie? In the same problem-wandering wasteland of most of Catholic spirituality and our interior lives: between what we perceive to be the impossible ideal and what we indiscriminately accept to be reality. Both of these poles often go unexamined, unquestioned, and either untried or unchallenged. In terms of the view of love provided by the romantic comedy genre, the ideal falls short insofar as it is wrapped up in the expectation of romantic gestures and emotional love feelings separate from the after-the-credits, stark daily beauty of the “will” to sacrifice when feelings fade. It leaves the viewer with the perception of love that stops short at the flutter of butterflies, and it incites some serious re-thinking of commitments when the concept of soulmates loses its catchy intrigue and sparkly, shiny transcendentalism. On the other hand, though, the “realistic” is also insufficient to the degree that it makes acceptable any subjective action taken to satisfy a love that expresses “who I am” and “what I need” and “what no one should tell me about how to live my life.” It is the deal-with-it mentality that leaves no room for a conversation about a productive attempt at shaping, refining, progressing, or becoming something more by means of the mutual firing of relational true love.
Ms. Carter does not explicitly address women, but she should since they are the primary audience for romantic comedies and the consumers of emotional porn.
Meanwhile on FB I came across a recommendation for this relationships book by Edward Sri based on Love and Responsibility/Theology of the Body: Men, Women and the Mystery of Love: Practical Insights from John Paul II's Love and Responsibility.
official website
Yahoo Movies
Rotten Tomatoes
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