Before I even start, I need to say that I think Hallmark movies are generally poorly made, horribly written, cheesily acted, and entirely manipulative attempts at filmmaking. That said, a Hallmark movie yesterday made me realize a small but definite reason for my love of movies (just not Hallmark ones). I'll explain.
My mom likes to watch sappy Hallmark channel movies so that she can shut her mind off and just be entertained by cheap love stories. I often make fun of them when I am around and she is watching one of them and yesterday was no different. I don't know the plot but the ending I walked in on basically went that the female protagonist had just realized that rather than the man she was chasing the whole film, it was actually the "good guy" best friend that she always depended on but never looked at as more than a friend that she suddenly loved and wanted to marry. She leaves the sought-after guy (who I presume is a jerk and she never noticed/cared) and finds the best friend and proclaims her love, only for him to tell her that he has finally moved on with his life (I presume after loving her for a long time) and doesn't know what she expects him to say after a long time of being unwanted. He then walks away and goes rock climbing (apparently a few feet away?). She decides that "hey, maybe it's time I actually put forth effort into caring about this guy rather than just walking all over his affections" (my guess at her thought process, not actual dialogue) and promptly switches outfits with the guy's climbing buddy, climbs up to where he is, and surprises him and proclaims her love. The guy is apparently able to change his mind after climbing fifty feet (or six feet up on a prop rock) and decides that even though he's been walked all over, unwanted, and has suffered numerous days of emotional pain and toil (again, I'm just assuming here, there's no dialogue to indicate), he's gonna go ahead and let it all slide and marry this girl. Then there's a jump forward to the wedding where they find some random card wishing them well and the girl throws it out for some reason. Boom. The end.
So what on earth does something this trite have to do with my love of movies? Well, I love movies (in small part) because of the fictional world of happy endings that they produce. It's the same in TV and books as well. In movies (and the other forms), the nice guy actually does get the girl (at least a lot of the time). In movies, the male best friend who has loved the girl for a long time actually ends up winning the girl's heart. In movies, love never remains unrequited or one-sided; the lovable loser finds love and the nice guy gets the girl. It's these sentiments that are nice thoughts. I'm not sure that I believe that any of it actually happens in reality, though. Of all the people that I know, I can't think of many "Hallmark moments" where the noble guy's feelings are eventually returned by his love. Most couples I know either just started dating or they had some early connection off which they built their relationship. I honestly don't know of any situation (with one possible exception) in which the guy who loves from afar gets the girl in the end. I'm not so cynical as to say it doesn't happen at all in reality, I just don't see it around me and I certainly have never seen it happen to me. So, it's nice to see those things in movies because it's a reminder that even though it may be fiction and might never actually happen in reality, there are other people who have laid eyes on such situations as unrequited love or love from afar and have fictionalized their own hopes onto a film script. "I'm not alone, I'll never be."
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