A beautiful scene in the chucklesome, heart-warming film from the ever-wonderful Dave Eggers (screenplay).
A married couple, truly happy, deeply in love. How often does that happen in a film? No, there are no extra-marital affairs. The plot does not unravel a big global conspiracy and they aren’t caught in a do-or-die situation. She doesn’t get cancer. He doesn’t lose his job and they start to fight and so he takes to drinking heavily and hitting her occasionally.
(And yes, these things might all happen over the course of time, once the credits end, and this fictional couple carry on living in their fictional world. But, equally, they might not. They might not!)
They are happy. She is heavily pregnant. She is crying into her hands, she is moaning “I’m so uglyyyyyyy.” He slides up behind her on the bed, spooning her, affectionately, but not sexually, at all. Not yet. Not now.
He prises open her hands and he says “I find you beautiful. I’ll still find you beautiful if you get even more enormous. If it takes you a year to shake off all the fat. If you NEVER shake off all the fat”. Of course, he has said exactly the wrong thing. His wife looks like she might be angry, but then the humour of him trying so hard, but getting it so wrong, whacks them both hard, and they collapse into giggles and the cuddling comfort of two people that know everything about the other but are still undeterred. In fact, they are all the more determined.
It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful because it’s true and touching. And because love gives – or should, if all works well – the gift of being found beautiful, every day, for the rest of your life, no matter what comes, and no matter your age. It’s corny, yes. And sickening for singletons. But if you’re single – you have it to come. And when it happens – it’s amazing. There’s nothing quite like it. It’s alchemy, magic. Suddenly your base metals are transmuted into invaluable gold.
A married couple, truly happy, deeply in love. How often does that happen in a film? No, there are no extra-marital affairs. The plot does not unravel a big global conspiracy and they aren’t caught in a do-or-die situation. She doesn’t get cancer. He doesn’t lose his job and they start to fight and so he takes to drinking heavily and hitting her occasionally.
(And yes, these things might all happen over the course of time, once the credits end, and this fictional couple carry on living in their fictional world. But, equally, they might not. They might not!)
They are happy. She is heavily pregnant. She is crying into her hands, she is moaning “I’m so uglyyyyyyy.” He slides up behind her on the bed, spooning her, affectionately, but not sexually, at all. Not yet. Not now.
He prises open her hands and he says “I find you beautiful. I’ll still find you beautiful if you get even more enormous. If it takes you a year to shake off all the fat. If you NEVER shake off all the fat”. Of course, he has said exactly the wrong thing. His wife looks like she might be angry, but then the humour of him trying so hard, but getting it so wrong, whacks them both hard, and they collapse into giggles and the cuddling comfort of two people that know everything about the other but are still undeterred. In fact, they are all the more determined.
It’s beautiful. It’s beautiful because it’s true and touching. And because love gives – or should, if all works well – the gift of being found beautiful, every day, for the rest of your life, no matter what comes, and no matter your age. It’s corny, yes. And sickening for singletons. But if you’re single – you have it to come. And when it happens – it’s amazing. There’s nothing quite like it. It’s alchemy, magic. Suddenly your base metals are transmuted into invaluable gold.
It’s starting to snow again. The days have gone back to being bone-achingly cold.
But here is a poem by Robert Graves:
She tells her love while half asleep,
In the dark hours,
With half-words whispered low:
As Earth stirs in her winter sleep
And put out grass and flowers
Despite the snow,
Despite the falling snow
Nice.
ReplyDeleteBut, seriously, not even a car chase?
:)
Hahahaha - there is definitely some space in my life for a filmic car chase or two, but they might not come under all things 'beautiful'!
ReplyDelete