He's Just Not That Into You.

The movie He's Just Not That Into You follows several people and their relationships, with all the characters somehow being intertwined. Gigi, one of the characters, opens the movie with a monologue about how little girls are told that when a boy makes fun of a her or treats her poorly it's because he likes her. I'm sure I was told that at one point when I was younger. Then she goes on to say that many girls actually continue to believe that statement through their adulthood and that's where the problem starts. Gigi is one of the girls who struggles with this idea. Throughout the movie she goes on dates with men or meets men some place and then obsesses over every detail about the encounter, wondering if the guy really liked her. In the beginning, she has a date with a guy her friend sets her up with, Connor, and then constantly waits by the phone for him to call and eventually calls him a couple times because she hasn't heard from him yet. Gigi has certain ideas about dating; these ideas include that dating will lead to her finding the guy of her dreams and getting her happily ever after. Like we discussed in class, there are many different views on the purpose of dating. Gigi happens to have a more positive view of dating because she believes it will lead to an eventual great relationship. When she meets Alex, a bartender who also happens to be Connor's roommate, he gives her a lot to think about. He says if a guy wants to talk to you or be with you, he'll make it happen; she's the rule, not the exception. He also tells her that if she thinks that a guy doesn't seem to care, its highly likely that he genuinely doesn't care and she should move on to the next one. As Gigi's relationship with Alex develops, she see "signs" that make her think he likes her and then acts on her feelings, but gets rejected. At the end, Alex realizes that he actually did like Gigi and acts on his own information and makes it happen. Alex was too busy experiencing what's now called the hookup culture to recognize his feelings for Gigi. As we discussed in class, the hookup culture can be some people's idea of fun, but it can also hinder one from developing meaningful relationships. I feel that Gigi and Alex's type of relationship happens more in today's modern society because people tend to be friends first and a relationship comes later. In addition, I know people who think that if boys pick on them that it's because they like them; although this may be so every once in awhile, it's not reality. Also, the information that Alex gave Gigi is practical in most cases today. Why should a girl chase after a guy that doesn't want to give her the time of day?

He's Just Not That Into You also contains a storyline about Neil and Beth, a couple who has been together for seven years, but are not married. Neil doesn't believe that marriage is absolutely necessary for the two of them to be happy. In today's society there are people who are very happy together and aren't married, but it is obviously not as common as marriage. Beth wants to get married, but doesn't really push for it until Gigi tells her about the "rule, not exception" knowledge; Beth starts to think that she's the rule because if he doesn't want to marry her now, he never will because she's not the 'exception.' Beth asks Neil if there's a reason why he doesn't want to marry her, but he just says the same thing each time. Because Beth believes that Neil will never marry her, she breaks up with him because she can't get understand why he'd live with her for so long but won't marry her. Later, when her father has a heart attack, Neil shows up and cleans and puts away dishes. When she see this, Beth realizes that he does more for her and is more of a husband to her than her sister's and friends' husbands are to them. She has the realization that she doesn't care if they're not married, as long as they love each other and she has him by her side, she'll be happy. At the end, he asks her to marry him because he wants to make her happy. Both of them could've had their doubts about what marriage would do to their relationship. In the Catholic Church, people aren't supposed to get married unless they have full knowledge of their significant other and only if they do it out of their own free will. Neil could have not wanted to marry Beth because he felt like he was being pressured to do so. Unlike Beth and Neil's outcome, there are people who are together for long periods of time that end up splitting due to problems or one person not wanting to marry the other. I knew a couple that was together for five years and ended up splitting up because they realized that as they matured, they were too different and wanted different things. As people grow up, things change and the ideas that people have about relationships also change. As discussed in class, in people's mid-20s to mid-30s, relationships are thought of as something that could turn long-term and possibly lead to marriage. Overall, the characters and the relationships portrayed in the movie relate to the topics we have been discussing in class.