If movies have done anything to the modern American male, they have ruined our sense of romance and ability to act romantically. The problem is manyfold, persisting at all levels of relationships. For the purposes of this brief overview of the issues at hand, I have divided the affected stages of a relationship into two stages: Pre-relationship, and Mid-relationship. Post-relationship, while admittedly important, is beyond our present scope.
During the Mid-relationship, it is the hallmark of the skilled male to employ semi-regular, yet seemingly spontaneous romance injections into his burgeoning relationship. The advantages of such deliberate use of romance is vital to the continued success of said relationship. However, film, or more specifically, the prevalence of cinema in modern society, has had a negative impact on both the provider and receiver of romance.
By nature, most males or not overly creative. Ideas for bits or romance come slowly and are few and far between. Films have provided an entire canon of potential actions. However, their free and public dissemination has taken many options off the table in many relationships. Actions become trite or over-used. They do not feel spontaneous or make the female feel particularly special or unique. Moreover, Hollywood spends millions of dollars to think of new and inventive ways to romance. Most men are outgunned when it comes to new ideas in this regard. Filling a room with rose petals has not only been done hundreds of times in film, it is quite expensive. Resources need to be diverted from other pursuits (such as video game play) which used to sustain the mental acuity of the former bachelor. Lastly, and there is little statistical evidence to support this point (due mostly to poor data gathering techniques before 1980), female expectations have risen. While there is no direct link to the prevalence of modern cinema, the Expectation Boom has enjoyed steady progress for decades. Many scholars attribute this to the continuing women’s rights movements. I myself do not discount this theory, and find it commensurate in scope with my own; that is, films have shown women what they could (and what they feel they should) be experiencing on a weekly basis. Whatever the cause, the effect is the same. Expectations continue to rise, and societal energy is increasingly being spent on romance and romance-related activity.
From a Social Darwinian point of view, this is merely an acceleration of the natural order. Perhaps, it can be argued, this phenomenon is benefiting mankind in the long run, speeding up the normal process of evolution to select the fittest for our modern society. Those men best suited to be romantic, i.e. intelligently creative and/or rich (that is, “good providers”), will mate more often, and, statistically speaking, more successfully than other males. Film is a catalyst in this process. Pretty theory, to be sure, but there are holes. Huge glaring holes, that I will gloss over for brevity’s sake. However, there is yet one point that follows, which brings us to film’s effect on the Pre-relationship stage.
to be continued…