One of my “big points” to couples who are trying to make their marriage work is that Hollywood renditions of marriage are about as far from helpful as you can get. It would be like asking a professional gambler how to invest; there is just no connection between entertainment and real life; especially when it comes to marriage. There were a number of scenes that made me cringe.
I hope I’m not going to give the movie away for those who still wish to see it.
Right from the first scene as the just-engaged couple is driving home the “just asked” is calling her best friends to share the glad tidings. The friends are recounting specific sexual encounters of the newly engaged couple including the oral details while the man is sitting there listening in.
In the movie it all seemed so natural and commonplace for a woman to share her and her fiance’s intimate life with her friends; no good! The life of a married or intimate couple is PRIVATE!
The discussions are like huge holes in the relationship that allow intimacy’s specialness to flow out, and evil criticism, judgment and jealousy to flow in. I would be rich if I had a dollar for every “best friend” who used the intimate knowledge of a husband to steal him away.
Your spouse’s secrets are known by you because of trust
The trust you have for each other is often broken by accident; don’t break it on purpose. The same women who share salacious secrets about their husbands usually swear their friends to secrecy. But everyone knows that is not what happens. The gossip mill needs fresh fuel on a constant basis so there ends up being a score of wives and husbands who are sworn to secrecy about what becomes common knowledge; all provided by a “loyal spouse.”When you reveal your spouse’s secrets you are treacherous; there is no other way to look at it!
Praise your spouse!
To be a little kinder, there were some scenes in which the man was quite supportive of his bride-to-be. Despite being tempted to agree with his new found friend who wanted to find fault, the hero stuck to his positive views and stood up for her; hooray! He should have gone further and made it clear that she was first in his life and his friend would have to accept that, but in Hollywood the lines of values are never quite clear unless the topic is a hot political one.The over emphasis on sexual compatibility was there too, of course. But we all know sex sells and Hollywood is a great salesman. It is the impossible cause/effect presentations that convince people it is just like real life. Love on the screen is scary.
I think I’ll stick to action movies. The trailers for Star Trek were mind boggling!