The following contains major spoilers for the movie Liberal Arts (2012). Read at your own risk.
If you have not already seen it, Liberal Arts (2012) is a treat. It stars Josh Radnor and Elizabeth Olsen as a 35-year-old and 19-year-old, respectively, who fall in love. When Radnor’s character, Jesse, revisits his alma mater he meets Zibby, played by Olsen, and thus starts a subtle, growing attraction between the two of them. The movie also features great performances from Richard Jenkins, Allison Janney, Zac Efron, and Jon Magaro. My favorite is Zac Efron as Nat, a very stereotypical college hippie. As a currently enrolled college student, the feelings towards a higher institution of learning and humor about dining halls and roommates were instantly relatable.
The film’s greatest theme, however, was that of age, time and mortality. Jenkins’s character, Professor Peter Hoberg, retires but is dissatisfied. Janney plays an aggressive older professor who swears off any early stages of affection because she had been hurt in the past. Jesse wants to relive his college days and Zibby wants her and everyone else her age to grow up. While Janney’s Professor Judith Fairfield seems deceivingly content in her old age, Hoberg and Jesse want to rewind the clock and Zibby and Jon Magaro’s character, Dean, want to speed it up. The theme is not too overpowering and sets the background for the conflict.
The major conflict of the film is the age difference between Jesse and Zibby. And though they connect amazingly either because he’s stunted or she’s advanced, the movie ends with him finding happiness with an age-appropriate woman instead of the 19-year-old. While I love the movie and I believe the ending is justified, it is a problem because there are not enough books or movies dealing with age gaps in relationships. When a piece of art introduces a morality issue and rules upon it, it affects the viewers’ belief of that moral issue.
While it is true that most married couples are four years and four months apart, there are couples with upwards of fifty years between them. As long as both people are consenting adults, love should not be denied on the sole basis of age. For college girls looking for a serious, mature relationship, older men become viable choices. And for older men, finding a fun, energetic partner in a younger woman can refresh their view on life.
Looking past the set of morals, why should we judge others or our own happiness? As soon as we can start stop comparing ourselves to others or worrying about others’ perceptions of us are, the freer and happier we are able to be. As long as the relationship involves two consenting adults, we as a society really shouldn’t care.
"Liberal Arts" is a good movie with a misleading message. And though I urge everyone to watch it, keep in mind that there are reasons why a large age-gap can and does work.
