Okay, so I watched this movie last week, ‘The Break Up’ with the lovely Jennifer Aniston. I thought I would share my review and opinion of it here.

Now I’m a sucker for chick flicks. I love a good tear-jerking, heart throbbing romance or comedy that leaves me feeling spent yet resolved. I don’t necessarily want to feel all gooey inside, I just want a general feeling when I leave the theater or turn off the TV that I haven’t wasted two hours of my life.

Unfortunately, I can’t say that the two hours spent watching “The Break Up” was time well spent. Firstly, I must disagree with just the general portrayal of the lead male character played by Vince Vaughn. The guy is an asshole from the word ‘go’. Not only would no girl in her right mind go out with this guy, she would have to be insane to even consider crossing the street next to him. He’s obnoxious, rude, overbearing, loud, obviously insensitive. and just a plain, dumb jerk.

And this is where I take offense to this movie. Suddenly our men have become the laughing stock of America. No longer do we uphold their place as the bread winner or hard worker, we just cut them down to shit by portraying them as worthless, lazy oafs that have nothing better to do than drag us poor, working women down.

And here again is another beef I have with this movie. Jennifer Aniston plays a totally normal female. She works, she cooks, she cleans, she dresses up, and even tries to create a lovely twelve lemon centerpiece for the table. Who gives a shit?! Is any of this necessary for survival? Is any of it necessary for even casual day-to-day life? NO! You don’t get points for being ridiculous in my book.

But this movie only shows that the woman is in the right and then man in the wrong. He is wrong to not remember her lemons, he is wrong to want to chill out after having a hard day at work, and he is wrong to take the easier road when a woman is available to pave it for him.

So here’s my point, we women would have a much easier time of it if we just stopped trying. If we asked for help when we needed it, and if we didn’t get that help, we just didn’t do the task. How many of us ask for help, but then slug along to finish the task even though it’s too much? How many of us take it personally that our men do not value housework or center pieces or just clean toilets as much as we do?

We were not born to pave the way. We were not born to be walked over. But we were also not born to be bitches, making every second of another persons life hell just to make ourselves feel better.

The chick is portrayed as the heroine of the relationship in that movie, even though she instigates the fight that brings on the break up, she maliciously attacks the male character, and acts like a slut in order to make him ‘jealous’. Meanwhile the guy just floats through the movie looking dazed and confused. Understandable, as they have only written the male character to have the IQ of a turnip. It just makes me want to throw up.

Yes, I believe that we should all strive for relationships that make us happy and even encourage us to grow. What I do not condone is the blatant acceptance that it is okay for a woman to be a slut because she has “worked so hard” but it is not okay for a man to want a break for five minutes for just the same reason.

Cheers,
Leah