SPOILER ALERT. Proceed with caution.
I recently dragged my boyfriend to see the new Nicholas Sparks Movie The Best of Me (he was a trooper). I was sitting in the theater and I was reminded of how ridiculous and far-fetched his movies are. Also, THEY’RE ALL THE SAME.
Let’s take a look at some of his other major films to see how scarily similar they are to The Best of Me. Some of Spark’s more popular films include The Notebook, The Last Song, A Walk to Remember, and The Lucky One.
For starters, the romantic couple ALWAYS includes someone from a wealthier family who disapproves of the other partner because they are ‘trashy.’ This leads to the wealthy family trying to bribe the significant other to stay away from their son/daughter. The Best of Me is no exception but I won’t give too much away.
There are also these ridiculous coincidences that happen during these movies. In The Notebook the old couple make a conscious decision to die while in each other’s arms. What are the odds of that? The answer is slim to none.
And in The Lucky One Zac Efron’s character is saved from an explosion by bending down to pick up a photo (red flag number one) so NATURALLY he hunts down this chick—unlikely AND creepy. Once again, The Best of Me unfortunately fails to defy this trope. SPOILER ALERT: James Marsden’s character dies at the end and purely by chance his heart is donated and used to save his lover’s son.
And then there’s the infamous rain scene. Why does every Nicholas Sparks movie need a freaking rain scene?! Is there something incredibly romantic about kissing with your clothes stuck to your body that I am missing out on? Apparently so because every Nicholas Sparks movie seems to have one. Now I know I am not the only one who notices all of these cheesy and overdone things within these movies.
So the question remains, why do we continue to take two precious hours out of our lives to watch them? There are several reasons why. If we’re single, we watch them to fill a void in our romantic lives (sad but all too true.)
Even if we are in a relationship, we watch them because they give us this warm feeling that reminds us of falling in love all over again. We also watch them to fill a void because lets be real, no actual relationship is like a Nicholas Sparks relationship.
This brings me to my main point: Nicholas Sparks movies suck so much not because they are essentially the same—although that definitely adds to it—but because they distort our ideas about what a happy relationship is. They set up these unrealistic expectations and these expectations can be really damaging. If we continue to compare our real life relationships to those in movies, we will never feel satisfied.
Now I’m not saying everyone should boycott Nicholas Sparks movies because I enjoy them just as much as the next person. I’m just saying don’t read too much into them. I personally enjoy laughing at their absurdity, and I encourage you to do the same.
