I read this post awhile ago about the seven basic movie plots, but didn’t think about it until I’d seen a number of movies, all about the same thing. Once is nothing. Twice is interesting. Three times is a pattern. That’s my rainman skill. I notice patterns.
Turns out, I read it on Wilder’s site. To wit:
Overcoming The Monster: Destroying a great evil that threatens good. Examples: my divorce attorney from my first marriage, Star Wars®.
Rags to Riches: Start out poor and drunk, get money, lose money, get more money plus the girl and a private helicopter. Examples: Sonny Bono, Brewster’s Millions.
The Quest: The search for and attainment of a thing or place after being found worthy. Examples: losing my virginity, The Lord of the Rings.
Voyage and Return: A trip to an unfamiliar place, a learning experience, and a return as a changed hero. Examples: The Mrs. and I moving to Alaska and back, The Hobbit.
Rebirth: External events happen, and force the hero to change for the better. Examples: I was adopted. Duh. Groundhog Day.
Comedy: External things keep happening and pile up to the point that they get more and more confusing, but then sort themselves out in the end. Examples: My first marriage, any episode of Frasier.
Tragedy: Bad things happen to good people because they let temptation spoil their virtue. Examples: Me giving up on a drug-addicted friend, Macbeth.
Where do chick flicks fall here? Specifically “Leftover woman finds her man in old age.” I think the first I heard of this was How Stella Got Her Groove Back – Baby mama goes to Jamaica and scores a dude half her age.
I think I’ve seen at least six of these this month. To Wit:
- Somethings Gotta Give – Diane Keaton plays a middle-aged playwright who falls in love with her daughter’s much older boyfriend. I didn’t need to see a nekkid Diane Keaton in a bed.
- Mother of the Bride – a rather rough looking Brooke Shields meets her old flame at her daughters wedding. Hijinks and shenanigans ensue, including a younger man vying for her attention. Told the Girl “eew…she looks like (Bruce) Caitlan Jenner”. She couldn’t shake that for the rest of the movie. Old Brooke made it impossible for the dude to find her after he disappeared, and is put out that he never tried (He did)
- Find me Falling – Middle aged woman doctor runs into her child’s father when he buys a house where she lives in Cyprus. She ghosted him after their affair when they were young because she felt he wouldn’t be a good father, being a rock star and all. How she knew that after a week or so with the dude was never explained. It was actually a good flick in a Big Fat Greek Wedding sort of way.
- A Family Affair – Nichole Kidman is a widowed middle-aged writer, who begins an affair with Chris Cole, a younger movie star and the boss of her daughter Zara. FWIW, 4K is usually cruel to older women. In this flick, she looks like an android.
I forget the others. Why did I watch these?
The Girl wanted to. The plots resonate for her, after all she landed me. In real life, my estimation is that it’s a probably a more rare thing. I’m a decent looking, fit dude in his sixties. I meet women, literally, every other week. There are hundreds around where I live. If I didn’t have one already, I’d be busy. Hell, I was before I met her. Competition is stiff in that age bracket and guys I know that are in the game at fifty-ish are dating women in their 30s. The handsome and/or rich guys in these movies in reality wouldn’t give them a second thought.
And then there’s the spaz factor. For example, Brooke Shields in Mother of the Bride is a guru level spaz. If I were the dude in question, I’d be thinking that I dodged a major bullet there. Looks like a tranny AND is a spaz. Guys my age aren’t that thirsty and abhor drama.
Whatever.
It’s cheap/nearly free entertainment and it makes the Girl happy. I get to rest, nap, and recover from working out all week.
Inspected By Pat 