Sweet And Sentimental, Or Sappy Propaganda?

it is the literary classic plot of any love story, publishers want romance books to be written that way as well. Would you believe I couldn't get Angels watching me published with several publishers because of that very reason it didn't have the classic plot.

I do know that the storyline you described (man likes woman, woman hates man, woman loves man) is the standard format for Harlequin Romances. I wrote the company once and asked about writing for them and they sent me the format and that is exactly what it is. How they have made so much money selling millions of books that have the same format is beyond me! I'd have to say if a guy did something to me to make me dislike him, there would be no changing my mind. Funny though, how I did something that hurt a guy but he eventually came running back to me. Hah! We've been married almost 12 years! He just couldn't stay away. Gotta love it!

Women today are way to soft. So many still sleep with a man on a first date just to hoping it will make him call back. I saw that movie. I did not care for it. It must have been written by a man or at least a woman who does not have respect for women. We need strong role models for girls today...ones that say you don't have to give in and you don't have to do anything you don't want to. And it does not matter if he calls back.

Who knows why some romantic movies have plots like this? But I do believe Hollywood sometimes has a rather warped view of society and how the world really works. And what's sad is that there are those who get so caught up in the fantasy world of the silver screen that I think some begin to believe it.

All movies and novels any more are formulary. Hollywood and \New York think they can milk one success for years.

Very interesting discussion! Just an FYI--"You've Got Mail" is a remake of the 1940 classic movie "The Little Shop Around the Corner" with James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan. The movie, in turn, is based on the Hungarian play "Parfumerie" (as someone had previously mentioned). In the 1940 movie, the two characters are co-workers in the same store as well as (unknown to each other) penpals who have been corresponding for some time. They hate each other in person but fall in love through their letters. I find the plot interesting because it raises the question of how well you can truly know a person, and what qualities can make you fall in love with him/her. Which is the truest reflection of a person--the one you see every day or the thoughts and feelings he/she expresses through correspondence? Of course, every good story has to have some sort of conflict. And the tension only heightens the sense of passion. If the characters aren't being thrown together by some kind of circumstances (war, destruction, crime or something else beyond their control) the the conflict must be driven by the characters themselves. That's why Harlequinn romances are so formulaic. Think about it...Boy meets girl, boy and girl date, boy and girl fall in love, get married and buy a condo...sweet, but not exactly a story worth reading. As for You've Got Mail...I admit that movie makers really stretch the limits of credibility. I doubt if I could fall for the man who is about to destroy my business, either. But of course the woman has to discover along the way that the man isn't the ruthless, coldhearted man she thought he was. She has to learn that under the driven, Type-A exterior he really is just a big softie. Sure, you meet those guys all the time. The interesting part is that in the 1940 (pre-feminism) movie, the two characters were co-workers, which put them on equal footing. It's the 1998 remake that creates his character to be richer and more powerful than hers. I wonder what that says about society today...? Dont' get me wrong, I'm a sucker for a good romantic comedy. But the movies never seem to show what it takes to build a relationship in the first place--trust, compromise and a lot of hard work.

I think it's more a form of escapism from the realities of life, my friend. Ok, very occasionally, that sort of thing might happen, but it's rare. You could be right in that the media is male-dominated and trying to put forward some ideal they have about a woman's place in life, but I think more that it's an escapist's idea of a love story, which ends well. Brightest Blessings.

this plot is the main reason I hate today's romantic comedies. They are not funny or romantic. In fact whenever I see the promos I ret the urge to get on a pklane with my baseball bat and go to the producers and discuss how these films make me feel. I know if a man ticked me off All the time, I would always hate him, period. There would be Nothing he ciould do to make me love him. In fact the he would try , the more I would hate him.I feel sorry for peopkle who think this is how to romance a woman. It is harassment. And if this happened to me, I would get a retraining order against the idiot and if that didin;t work, I would take th next step and it isn't marriage.

Sounds to me like the plots of the Harlequin Romance books that have sold millions!! They always start out with the fight between the male and female and in the end, she is in love with him and vice versa. OR the same with the woman who loves the "bad boy". It is always the theme for the movies and books and even today, many women go after those "bad boys". And I must admit, that was me with my first marriage. All I can imagine is that it is the adventure of the seemingly impossible. Or the idea that women have soft hearts and will see the good in the man no matter what. Or maybe that LOVE conquers all or that you find it in all the strangest places. In the end.............it sells!!

Yeah, I don't like those either. LIke it'd really happen in real life! Not that everything has to be able to happen, but in this case...give me a break..man trashes woman, woman falls in love with man...I believe we are better than that!

In my opinion, It's just a movie. It was made to entertain us. We can give our comments and we can even have a different ending if we want to. In movies, impossible things may happen, even if we like it or we don't. Just my humble opinion.