The premise of this film is that Charlene Yi is traveling around the country to either prove or disprove the existence of romantic love, as she does not believe in it. In so doing, she meets Micheal Cera and the two begin to develop a relationship. The film is lighthearted and fun the whole way through.
This artifact comments on everyday occurrences within the context of relationships--from the first meeting, to the development of friendship. In this case, the relationship is presented in a realistic, down to earth way. This film emphasizes the importance of community and friendship, as well as imagination. When taking a further look into this film, I am left wondering why the word 'love' is only used (with one exception) in the generic and romantic sense. The fact that believing in love, or not, depended on researching and interviews the romantic love shared between two people, and not another ultimate example of love did not leave much room for faith. The one time a different 'type' of love is explored is in one scene that takes place in a biker bar, where the bikers discuss the role of love in friendship. Overall, it was a look at the developing romantic relationship between (as fictional versions of themselves) Micheal and Charlene as well as young and old couples 'interviewed' throughout.
One way that this romantic comedy broke the cookie-cutter mold of the genre is that there is no personal catastrophe. No one is a damsel in need of being 'saved' by love, and no one had to give up something for the sake of monogamy. Rather, it is a story of two equals spending time together and (slowly) learning to love each other. While I do believe that expressing love without an example of ultimate love through Christ is, ultimately, missing the point, this is a more honest look at human interaction than has been presented in past films of its type.
1. Why does our society idolize dysfunctional relationships in films?
2. Why do people treat each other differently when they know they are being watched? Is this a positive thing?
Paper Heart directed by Nicholas Jasenovec (Lakeshore, 2009), DVD
Paper Heart looks like a quirky, hipster take on relationships! I look forward to checking it out sometime ...
ReplyDeleteI wonder what a film would look like that explored the deeper notion of love you identify in your post; it seems like it might be an entirely different movie than this. Does every movie need to allude to love in its fullness or can a good story be told about a simple interpretation of love?
While I only saw a third of the movie, I agree with what you said, and I find it interesting that they do indeed approach love as such a light and frothy thing. Their relationship is surprisingly refreshing, and while I wish that a fuller and deeper love was alluded to, I think that for this movie and for their story, their simple approach to love was enough. We should also probably finish watching the movie.
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