Tuesday, February 05, 2008

I hate it when, in movies, people cheat on their spouses.
I don't like it in real life either, but when it's paraded around for the sake of "entertainment"... well that really gets under my skin.
There are a lot of reasons why I hate it. Mainly because it saddens me. Also because it may actually be an accurate reflection of life, what with more than 50% of marriages ending in divorce.
But most of all I hate it because I don't want to see it. I hate to think that something so hurtful could be so romanticized to the point that we call it entertainment.

I remember the first time I really pondered this was when I saw the movie Lord of War, which was a couple of years ago. And the main character in the movie had no conscience. I mean, the guy sold guns to children. But still, when he cheated on his wife (who was, of course, a very devoted and loving wife who had no idea what her husband was) I was still shocked. It didn't really help that in that particular situation he was sleeping around with African prostitutes in a region where there was an 60% HIV rate, and of course he went home and slept with his wife after that. Which I suppose is reasonable given his character. But still, promising to love and cherish and protect someone your whole life and then exposing them to a deadly STD is disturbing (and also, thankfully, illegal).

But anyway, my point is that I wish this wasn't so prevalent in our culture that it is accepted as good or right, which is how it's often portrayed.

Anyway, I need to get to sleep because I have to work early tomorrow...

6 comments:

Unknown said...

It doesn't look so glamorous after you've seen the real-life consequences of such choices.

Mandy said...

I totally agree with you Ciara. It seems most every romantic movie has some sort of cheating as the main part of the love story. That and the idea portrayed that sex=love is so sad.

Dave Ketah said...

Good call! I recently watched an awesome movie called, 'Once' that was nearly ruined by this. The fact that the script dealt with this made the film even better!

Unknown said...

maybe the problem isn't cheating- but expecting people not to cheat when it is hard wired into their brain? i think it is more of a travesty to force people into roles (husband/wife) that they have no real experience (culturally or evolutionarily) to handle.


PS i don't remember him sleeping w/anyone in africa for fear of getting AIDS himself. i could be wrong on that though; i was cheating on my wife w/two senegalese whores while i was trying to watch that movie so my memory might not be right on.

mylordcares said...

Terry, People are not hard wired to cheat. God created everyone and He would have found that completly offensive and immoral and against His character, so no you are wrong. Ciara, you are right. No wonder our world is so degrated and no-one respects the marriage vows or ideals anymore. It's about me, me, me and what makes me feel good. I deserve better, I need better, I DEMAND better. Marriage isn't easy, it's hard work but if you are going to make a commitment you better darn well be ready for the ride. Terry, I also do not find you funny one bit. OK I jumped off my soap box, Love you!!!!

Paulos said...

There are plenty of examples in nature of creatures that pair up and don't cheat on each other. They seem to have not been shown the way out by the survival of fitter breeding systems.