Tuesday, July 31, 2012

it'll change your life I swear











If I had to pick one word to describe my feelings about the upcoming film Ruby Sparks, that word would be mixed. Look, this movie kind of seems to be the manifesto for Manic Pixie Dream Girls. In fact, if you go to the top comments underneath the trailer on YouTube, the number one liked comment is "Manic Pixie Dream Girl: The Motion Picture". Yeah. I'm sure everyone has seen this FANTASTIC video on Tropes vs. Women for Manic Pixie Dream Girl (BUT IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCH IT. And be prepared for Garden State to be ruined.) IF you're too lazy or need a refresher, it basically discusses the complete shallowness of these women, how they essentially appear out of thin air, fix these melancholy men's lives, then disappear just as easily, with no mention of their hopes, aspirations, or personal accomplishments. Which, for the record, totally sucks.

Here's the thing, though. I read an interview with Zoe Kazan, who wrote and stars in the film, in BUST magazine and this is what she had to  say about her film: "In romantic comedies, I find that there's a lot of male wish fufillmentthat is subliminal, subtextual, and not blatantly on the surface, so they kind of get away with it. I just wanted to put a spotlight on that. [Ruby Sparks] is about what happens when you reduce someone to the idea of something, instead of looking at the person themselves. " 

[NOTE: The following revelation may have been obvious to everyone else, but nonetheless felt groundbreaking to me. Forgive me if I sound foolish.]

HERE IS WHAT I HAVE CONCLUDED. Using my brain. Like smart grrrls do. These men who write these MPDGs (doncha love that snappy anagram I just made up on the spot)? The shallow, wish-fulfilling, unrealistic, slips of characters? Those men are Paul Dano. Or rather, Paul Dano is playing the personification of those men. MIND BLOWN RIGHT. WHOA.
And after I realized that, I started to think of the potential for busting those tropes discussed in that video for Bitch Magazine (The one I linked to above. This one. Right here.). Which means there may be hope -- this film may not only be cute it might help change the landscape of the female love interest. So I'm allowing myself to gush. 

...Ready? 

ZOE KAZAN. IS BEAUTIFUL. PAUL DANO. IS ALSO BEAUTIFUL. ANNETTE BENING. IS A GODDESS. VALERIE FARIS AND JONATHAN DAYTON ARE GENIUSES. 

Phew. Alright. Here's hoping it's good.

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EDIT:
So I saw it. It was cute, slightly more twee than I hoped it'd be, definitely with a happier ending than I wished for. Can I just say what a horrible person Calvin is with seriously NO consequences? And while I totally understand why Zoe wrote the ending she did, it didn't seem to fit the tone before it. BUT Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan may be the cutest couple ever.

I GIVE RUBY SPARKS 3 OUT OF 5 HAIR BOWS. Hair bows being the most QUIRKY AND ADORKABLE rating system ever devised DUH.

1 comment:

  1. got heebie-jeebies while watching the trailer. thank you!

    ReplyDelete