Goodbye to Romeo and Juliet
This article confirms something I have long been saying: you can learn nothing useful or accurate from the movies.
The television program Mythbusters has pretty comprehensively discredited the physics, chemistry and other “science” depicted in the movies. Reading a good history or biography will discredit Hollywood’s take on those subjects.
But the most destructive myth that Hollywood portrays is that “love conquers all” (somehow, Hollywood confines the love that conquers all exclusively to the love that exists between two young and good looking protagonists).
People who subscribe to the romantic ideal portrayed in movies are in for a rude awakening. This article does a good job of pointing that out.
For all the good points this article makes, I cannot believe the ignorant use of literature that characterizes it. Romeo and Juliet did not portray some romantic ideal. Romeo and Juliet, to the best of my recollection were two impulsive and impetuous young people who let their emotions get the best of them. If memory serves, their relationship ended, rather poorly. Frankly, I think Romeo and Juliet can serve as an object lesson in the importance of controlling ones’ emotions when making love and marriage choices.
Perhaps a better example would have been, I don’t know, every single romantic comedy since the 1970s?
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I am all for controlling emotions when making marriage choices, which is why I recommend chastity before marriage to men. They need to keep their heads clear while they are choosing, and perhaps involve family and friends in monitoring the relationship.