Neither the racing mind nor the racing heart will save us
The Princess Diaries is a bad example for women.
No, teach hot girls to read.
Hot women want the nerd, and we know this to be true. With his brains, and her charm, there’s nothing they can’t do.
Or maybe it’s the other way around?
Movies can’t seem to get it right. The problem with being a nerd is that the “hot” people benefit from nerds being resentful. Why should you be resentful if you’re right? Such nerds are weak and pathetic. They’re the worst kind of consequentialists. They recognize their own failure and quietly brood. They lack grit. They’re always looking for the “perfect” words etc. They have yet to learn that there are no perfect words. They’ll never be perfect just as the popular idols aren’t perfect.
Movies give us the clueless nerd who learns to accept society, the bitter nerd, and the popular hot girl. There’s a missing character in there. What about the gentle, courageous and bold nerd? No, such people can’t exist. And even if they did, writing such a character into a script wouldn’t be believable. And even it could be believable, nobody in Hollywood could ever accept such a thing— it goes against their principles.
So we’re left with weak stories that try to make up for it with high production quality. I’m sorry you guys (and you’re talented) but you’re wasting your time. Nothing you do will ever be enough because you’re trying to polish a turd. And no, a spicy sex scene, guns, lasers, etc aren’t gonna do it either. Why are you trying to bribe our hearts into liking such garbage?
We don’t want our hearts to race, but to sing. This is something the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once got right. The protagonists are gross, selfish, and unlikable, but in the end they find their way. They waste the entire movie budget on spurious special effects. Oh the poor production and VFX team… I pity you. Your purpose was to critique your own position in the form of a film and I’m sure you got paid handsomely for it. You got the hug of death. You were betrayed with a kiss.
The nerd can and should be the hero. In their desire to make desirable movies, Hollywood has forgotten that we do not want to be thrilled, and shocked. We enjoy it, and even seek it out, but this does not satisfy. Such movies are refined in the way white bread is refined. We want a little emotional grit, and no not the Joker kind. More specifically, we want to see the ugly turn into the beautiful — and I know you think you’ve made this movie already — no not like that.
The Princess Diaries tells us a racing heart is better than a cold, calculated, and rational one — and that’s true. But it’s incomplete.
We can never run out of good movies because like Shakespeare has said all happy families are the same; all unhappy families are unhappy in their own way. The tragic story is a cheap one. Yes, life is miserable. Yes, it’s hard for us to turn a bad situation into a good one and we often feel like giving up. The tragic story tells us to give in. Even Princess Diaries is a tragic epicurean tale of submission to the wanton desires of the racing heart. They put a bow on it and dare to call that art. No, it’s emotional porn.
People come from so many places and have so many problems. We’re stuck in so many ruts. Often, they’re self inflicted — and yet we see no way out. This is where we should find the next great American film. It’s under these heaps of self-inflicted and preventable wounds that we should look for new stories. And the puzzle is to figure out how to go from the suicidal, atomized, depressed, and cold world that we find ourselves in and bring ourselves into a better future. Neither the racing mind nor the racing heart will save us.