I'm still not entirely sure what to think of on-line romances. I
certainly don't condone it when the persons involved are married. But
the idea of developing friendships with complete strangers over the
internet allows for some pretty interesting scenarios. What if you
actually knew the person you were conversing with on-line but didn't
know it because he never told you his real name? This is the premise of
the romantic comedy You've Got Mail, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
Last semester in cinema class, I learned that this movie was created as
a propaganda tool for AOL to get people to warm up to the idea of using
e-mail. The writers dashed off a script resembling Sleepless in Seattle
and starring the same two actors. They figured that they had a winning
combination that audiences would immediately go in for. They were right.
I actually thought that this movie was much less like Sleepless in Seattle
than I expected. Yes, it's got Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan starring as two
people who seem to have a mysterious attraction to one another. We get
the same scenes of them narrowly missing one another again and again,
only this time it occurs at the beginning of the film before they
actually meet. What makes this movie so different is the fact that Joe
Fox (Hanks) and Kathleen Kelly (Ryan) actually know one another.
Fox is the owner of a huge bookstore a la Barnes and Noble which is
about to move in down the block from Shop Around the Corner, a small
children's bookstore owned by Kelly. The two first meet when Fox decides
to take his aunt and brother (both young children) to the story hour at
Kelly's bookstore. During this initial encounter, Fox does not reveal
his identity to Kelly, and it is not until later that night at a dinner
party that she realizes she has been speaking with her competitor.
Throughout most of the movie, Joe Fox is a step ahead of Kathleen Kelly
when it comes to knowing things about the other person.
Both
Joe and Kathleen are in unhappy relationships. Kathleen's beau Frank is a
rather dull man who insists upon using a typewriter and is obsessed
with politics, while Joe's girlfriend Patricia is just plain obnoxious.
It's no real surprise that they're both seeking more fulfilling
relationships, and the internet seems a safe place to find a little bit
of stimulating conversation. Shopgirl and NY152 (Kelly and Fox) have
been e-pals for quite some time, and while the tensions between their
real-life counterparts build, they find themselves turning to one
another for advice on-line.
At last they decide to meet, but
when Joe discovers the true identity of Shopgirl, he is unwilling to go
through with the meeting. Instead, he joins Kathleen for dinner
uninvited and does not reveal himself as NY152. Kathleen finally gets up
the courage to say what she's been wanting to say to him for a long
time, but she feels awful afterwards. She shares her guilt with NY152,
and Joe is moved to try to befriend her in real life. While Kathleen
discusses her changing relationship with Joe with NY152, she listens to
Joe's advice concerning her e-pal.
The dynamics of this
relationship are fascinating because Kathleen believes she is dealing
with two completely different people when, in fact, they are the same
man. It says a lot about how we interact with people differently in
different situations. The premise of the movie does not seem nearly so
absurd now as it would have five years ago, but it's still strange
enough to produce a lot of comedic situations. Above all, this is an
old-fashioned romance in a new-fangled world, and while it might not
steadfastly hold the attention of the action crowd, it's sure to please
the romantics. Chick flick? Perhaps. But one of the best that genre has
to offer.
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