As a film reviewer--I'm far to gullible a movie buff to consider myself a film critic--I watch an average of six to eight movies a week. That kind of exposure to the big screen fantasy world can be either blessing or curse, depending on the latest hip trend in film making.
Movie types run in streaks. Slapstick comedies fill the theater marquees in one period, animated kid flicks the next. This is followed by entire seasons loaded with horror, sci-fi, westerns, gang violence, or--at last a breath of fresh air--my personal favorites, romantic comedies.
It's usually difficult to track the genesis of a trend shift in movies. However, the latest flourish of romantic comedies seems to have sprung from the 1992 blockbuster hit, Sleepless in Seattle*, starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks. That success story was followed up quickly by Ms. Ryan's appearance in several more Sleepless wannabe's like, When Harry Met Sally, IQ* and her newest release with Kevin Kline, French Kiss. Another recent movie of the same genre' was, Man of the House*, starring Chevy Chase and Farrah Faucett. Two similar love stories playing in theaters are, Forget Paris, with Debra Winger and Billy Crystal and the current box office "sleeper" starring Sandra Bullock, While You Were Sleeping*.
While only a few of these movies received the Dove Seal(*), it is interesting, and reassuring to see Hollywood moving in this kinder, gentler direction after assaulting viewers with such atrocities as Natural Born Killers, Pulp Fiction and Interview With A Vampire. Then there was the second most insulting film of the century--following in the shadow of The Last Temptation of Christ--Priest. Priest, for those of you who don't want to invest in ungodly entertainment, is how one film maker tried to blend superior story telling with skillful acting and directing in a vain attempt to assassinate the character of the Catholic church.
I admit to being a sucker for a nice romantic comedy. After all, I grew up with Doris Day, Cary Grant, Audry Hepburn, Danny Kaye and Debbie Reynolds. I believe that romantic comedies are eternally successful because they appeal to the basic instinct in every human, the search for belonging to someone else. Nearly everyone is in need of loving or being loved, feeling secure and accepted, being appreciated or respected by another, and so on. We are all striving to find that other part of ourselves. Chinese philosophers call it yin-yang. The Bible refers to the search for a romantic partner as "leaving and cleaving" [Genesis 2:24].
Every romantic relationship begins with the hope that the perfect mate has been found. The typical romantic story ends with the presupposition that the couple lived "happily ever after." A more appropriate ending would be, "they formed a covenant to make each other happy forever after."
Some pundits theorize that so-called shallow romantic stories present such an unrealistic picture of love relationships that they actually work to undermine a marriage by fostering false expectations. Frankly, I don't believe romantic stories have contributed one iota to the break up of the nuclear family. Call me crazy. But, after seeing a warm, fuzzy movie like Sleepless in Seattle, or While You Were Sleeping, I become inspired to rekindle the romantic flame of my relationship with my wife, Mary. Call me old fashioned. But, I believe the world would be better off with more French Kisses and fewer Natural Born Killers.
Dick Rolfe is Chairman of The Dove Foundation a nonprofit organization whose mission is to encourage and promote the creation, production and distribution of wholesome family entertainment. For more information about wholesome films and videos, write: 535 E. Fulton, Suite 1A, Grand Rapids, MI 49503, or call (616)454-5024.
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by: Scott RolfeCopyright (C) 1995, The Dove Foundation. All rights reserved.