The Notebook

                Okay, so apparently these are a lot harder to write than I originally thought. I promise that these will come a lot more frequently once I can get the ball rolling.

                I watched ‘The Notebook’ for the very first time for this entry. I understand completely why this movie makes anyone with a heart tear up. It’s got the right amount of cheese mixed with a classic Romeo and Juliet story. For me personally, my favourite character was the older narrator. I could write for days on why I thought this movie was romantic, but the things Allie does can’t help me on my quest, so I had to focus only on Noah (though Allie does something that drives me nuts... But that’s a rant for another day)

I would just like to note that there will be ***SPOILERS*** from here on out.

The First Impression

                I think we can all agree that Noah needs to work on his introductory skills. From standing WAY to close to Allie and creeping her out, to completely cock-blocking Allie’s date by hanging off a Ferris wheel, it’s easy to see him as a psycho. Or is it? If he’s completely crazy, why is it that SO many women who see this start to show signs of ‘Puss in Boots’ eyes?
                While I stand by my views that he’s crazy for threatening to kill himself if this girl he just met doesn’t date him, I believe it’s the thought that someone wants you so badly he’ll do anything for a chance, is what women find romantic. I can understand that, but it doesn’t make his first impression any better.

I may not be as creepy with my first impressions, but I am equally as bad. In fact, I am close to the opposite of our Noah in the sense that I usually don’t speak to girls at all. I don’t hide in fear (anymore), but I usually only speak when spoken to. That’s not to say that I make a bad impression, I usually don’t make one at all. The thing is, I’m not too sure what’s worse: being remembered as the creepy guy, or not remembered at all.

The First Date

                With the help of some mutual friends, Noah finally gets his chance at a first date with Allie. They sort of double date at a movie, but I don’t believe their date doesn’t really start until they leave the theatre. The very structured Allie gets talked into lying in the road, and has an impromptu dance party with no music. She even confesses to enjoy painting (this becomes important later).

                I relate myself very much with Noah in this field. I have been on a very similar first date, though I have to admit, I didn’t lie down in traffic. I have a quirky shyness that, from what I’ve experienced, can be relaxing, and help conversation flow. That and I prefer to listen instead of talk anyways.

The Rest of the Relationship

                Okay, since I could talk about their relationship and what makes Noah so amazing for hours. But they all really lead into one sort of theme: Unconditional love.
                I know, I know. There are so many lead men that have ‘unconditional love’. What makes Noah so dreamy is not only being the absolute definition of the term, the length of time he remains this way. When I say definition, I mean writes Allie a letter every single day for a year, builds their dream house (complete with fence AND painting room) though they’ve been apart for years. He puts up with insults from Allie’s parents, and their blatant dislike for him. This doesn’t just go on through the courtship phase, or even to win her back, Noah’s unconditional love follows their relationship through their entire lives. He converts his house to a seniors’ residence when Allie shows signs of Dementia. He reads their life story to her every day in hopes to have her remember who he is. Noah even sneaks into Allie’s room and dies with her in his arms. Noah devotes his entire life to Allie from the time he meets her, until death does them part.

                I can’t even claim to compare to that level of unconditional love. While I can’t give a girl a house, I do go out of my way to do things that are incredibly unique. I have a knack to being very soothing, and not just on a first date. I genuinely care, and know when to make light of something, and when to take it serious. It’s hard to be unconditional in the way that Noah is, when there isn’t anyone for me to be unconditional with. That said, I am very confident that once I find my Allie, I will be just as dedicated.

                There are some things that I know I didn’t touch on, like the “Little Mermaid” rowboat ride, or Noah’s dad. I also didn’t mention the fact that Noah is played by Ryan Gosling. There is no way that I can even come close to looking like Mr. Gosling, and while his physical attractiveness does play a part in what draws women to this movie (if I have to hear one of my girl friends tell me how attractive he is one more time...), there’s nothing I can do about that. 

What I’ve learned

                I can stand to be more tenacious when it comes to asking a girl on a date. Maybe not ‘threaten to kill myself’ tenacious, but I know that I am a great guy and just need to take someone out once or twice for them to truly see it. After all, I’m no Ryan Gosling, so I can’t rely on my looks to win a girl over.

The Main Character

                I know it's been a while between my first and second posts. I knew I didn't like talking about myself, but this actually took me a lot longer to write than I had thought. Today is about establishing a baseline. This is going to be a quick look into my brain to make comparing myself to the hunky lead men a little easier for everyone to understand. Recently I was asked to describe myself in 5 words. After a lot of thinking, I came up with: Nerdy, Caring, Fun, Shy, and Chivalrous. For now, that’s all you’ll get, and until I get more than 5 people reading, I am going to try to keep my posts short.

                Okay, so let’s take a look at the first word “Nerdy”. There are many different activities that classify someone as a nerd.  You have your typical math, computer, videogame, fantasy, and book nerds; photography nerds; and movie/TV nerds. And YES, you guys who know everything about every sport ever...you are nerds too. Deal with it. For me personally, I gladly encompass almost all of the above (aside from the math part), and that is why I take the term to heart.

                 “Caring” for people is something I take a lot of pride in, and am very good at. From working with kids and animals all my life, to staying up until 4 am on the phone with friends and former athletes, I do what I can to take some of the stress off of others. When there are no words to care or console, I am full of hugs, or kisses, or hand-holds. And I can just sit in complete silence staring off into space. I enjoy cooking, and am good at cleaning, and love kids. I’ll stop there, though, so that this doesn’t end up sounding like a personals ad. (But seriously, I cook).

                “Fun” might not be the fairest way to describe myself because everyone considers different things fun, but that’s exactly why it’s a true description of me. I am a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ kind of guy -meaning I can have a good time doing just about anything. I believe that to truly have fun, it’s not about what you do, it’s about who you do it with.

                Most of the people who know me don’t believe me when I say that I’m “Shy”. I went to school for film acting, and in grade 7 I dressed in full drag and sang a parody to a Britney Spears song. That’s never been an issue for me. I am very shy around new people. I claim that I’m just “taking in my surroundings”, and” getting to know people from a distance”...and that’s partly true. But the fact is I just have no idea what to say. This becomes incredibly annoying when I meet someone attractive and the only word that my brain can think of saying ends up getting stuck in my throat.

                According to Wikipedia, I am bang on the “Chivalrous” money: “Knights vowed to be loyal, generous, and of ‘noble bearing’. Knights were required to always respect the honour of women.” Even by modern standards of holding doors, giving up my umbrella/jacket, and always paying for dinner, I am excelling in this field. Plus, I know how to use a sword. Granted, it may be much harder to find in a lot of guys, but ladies, chivalry is dead because you don’t want it anymore.

             

              I originally had a much longer, more in depth installment planned. I feel it’s a little too personal, and it’s too much of a reveal for this early in the movie. For now, it’s time to start my quest. My first look into the world of swooning romance is... The Notebook.

The Plot

For those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is David. I am a dog trainer who wants to be an actor when I grow up. Well, not really grow up, but get older (I don’t ever plan on growing up). I will be getting more into myself as I go on, but for now, I like to describe myself as a politically incorrect Disney prince. It might seem a little presumptuous of me, but it’s more accurate than you’d think.

               The purpose of this blog is not just to compare the differences between real life and the movies, but to help me on a quest of sorts. I am looking not only to better myself, but make myself ‘The Perfect Man’. Again, that may sound presumptuous but I have a foolproof way of doing it. I am going to watch some of the most popular romantic movies out there and compare my findings to myself to see what I’ve got, and what I need.

                Once you stop laughing (with or at me), you’ll see that there is a method to my madness. Romantic films are designed to make women swoon (I like that word, so you will see me using it a lot... deal with it) and man, do they work! I haven’t seen the movie, but if I have to hear about ‘The Notebook’ one more time, my brain will explode.

                In fact, that’s the point I am trying to make. There is only one universe where threatening to fall to your death is considered romantic. That’s not something that’s going to get you a wedding. It will get you a restraining order, and either jail time or a psychiatric evaluation (if you don’t splat on the ground). But there is more to it than that. The fact that someone wants to love you so much that they are willing to do whatever it takes for you, THAT’s what is romantic.

                Aside from this quest for my personal Holy Grail, I will also be taking a look at other movie genres, and find things that would only make sense in movies...but more on that to come.