The movie’s about a writer that writes about a girl who he
falls in love with, and then that girl suddenly just appears in his apartment
one day as his girlfriend. Better yet, he has the power to change her by
writing about her. Awesome premise, right?
1.)
The movie’s really good, and definitely worth a
watch. Set in Los Angeles, the writer mentioned that it was the ideal set
because one can feel “isolated” in LA and alone even though there’s so many
people and things around. And I can relate to that; one can get lost in the
hustle and bustle of the city or any of the other various cultures in the L.A.
area. You can lose your identity (kind of how the girl in this movie did).
2.)
If you knew you had the power to change your
girlfriend, would you? It’s like a Pandora’s Box, though and definitely illicts
themes of playing God, and the movie deals great with that.
3.)
On top of having that power, what a lucky guy to
just have a girlfriend….no need to go on dates, no need to make the first
contact, start conversation…….that’s really my biggest problem (along with a
lot of other problems). I’ve always believed that if someone got to know me
they’d know I’m a good person. That doesn’t necessarily reflect, though, just
walking down the street or sitting at work or something when I have a
near-frown on my face and am not making jokes and “revealing my true self.”
4.)
The movie at its core is about true love and
finding it/producing it yourself, as well as ideas of “you can create your
ideal love partner and tell her to love you back, but that’s not truly what
love is.” The actors/ actresses in the movie, Paul Dano and Zoe Kagan, who are
actually together in real life, do a great job of expressing this kind of love
and show that they are happy together (well, most of the time throughout this
book). The Japanese have a term (well, more than just one term, and other
cultures/languages have similar terms too) called “kataomoi,” or unrequited
love. (Japanese lesson of the day). I have yet to experience this and more
research (preferably hands-on/case-study) must be done.
5.)
This movie is exactly why I can’t watch romantic
comedies anymore. It’s not they’re bad movies; I actually think that some of
them are done pretty well. It’s just that every time the story becomes loving
and love gets in the air, I’m reminded of my own situation. Especially
upsetting in this movie was that the writer was a recluse who only talked to
his brother and his psychiatrist at the beginning of the movie; I actually get
out there and try to talk to women but with apparently less success than the
writer. Sigh.
With that said, I did 2 editions of “Ruby Sparks for myself,
or in the baseball version, “Brucey Sharks.” You’ll see what it’s about. (This is
basically a version of me trying to copy what the movie did, as I’m sure many
people, although I guess they only took in $2 million+ box office in the U.S.
I met “Hannah Wu” at a volunteer
event for kids with disabilities. We immediately hit it off, talking about what
camps we had worked for before. We laughed as we shared jokes about what our
Asian parents are like and how they’d be happy each of us had met someone who
was of the same race and could speak Mandarin. I apologetically mentioned that
she was a lawyer, to which she replied it was OK because she was tired of
talking to marketing majors anyway. As with most people in the LA area, she had
gone to UCLA but really didn’t care that I went to USC law school. We
appreciated going to the Getty Center/ Santa Monica Pier/ Griffith Park/
movies/ dinners/parties/Angels baseball games, but also other unique things
like my orchestra concerts and dodgeball games, her product launches and dance
performances. It was just a great summer of fun that turned into the fall and
the winter, and then suddenly we realized we were very happy together and traveled
throughout the world. Sigh.
OK, here’s the real fantasy: I met “Brucey
Sharks” on the waiver wire of my 14-team USC Law keeper league, my most
competitive league and the one I care the most about (and haven’t won). Brucey
was a less-heralded prospect who had been a serviceable player in the big
leagues for about 3 years for a small-market team but hadn’t attracted much
attention from fantasy managers, having shown some signs of power, avg., and
speed. The big breakout came after the All-Star Break when he started on a tear
with several multi-hit games and “Combo Meals” (stolen base and home run) at
which point we started a relationship. A week in, Brucey was moved to the 3rd
spot in the lineup for his real MLB team and added more runs because of his
lineup protection. I rejected legitimate offers for Brucey in the face of many
experts’ projected regression. Brucey’s hot streak never fizzled, lasting into
September and the fantasy playoffs when in the Semifinals, on Sunday night
Baseball, Brucey scored 3 runs and hit an 8th-inning,
matchup-clinching 3-run homer off of the best pitcher in the league that
miraculously gave me the win over my archrival and propelling me to my first
Fantasy Baseball championship ever. Brucey was named the MVP of my season
despite being added after the All-Star Break and became my perennial fantasy
sweetheart. Sigh.
Fantasize on (literally),
Robert
Yan
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