On-screen boyfriends that need to get in the bin.

[@leenanorms]

Films where women have jobs and that's okay??? Answers on a postcard please:

[@rhea933]

Kiki’s Delivery Service, does that count? The workling woman in question is only 13 years old so I’m not sure. But that movie is so good at getting at what it’s like to be a single working lady out of the home for the first time

[@jessicafaithcooper]

We've got Fargo... and that's it?

[@veronicasuxxx1502]

mamma mia, the archnemesis of devil wears Prada

[@lingo3125]

@@rhea933 kiki has a artist friend (can't remember her name) who lives quite independantly outside the city

[@lingo3125]

That could be a kind of "bechdel test".the "working woman test"?

[@patriciaarsene2609]

I don't remember his name, but the boyfriend from the devil wears prada can join this list. Andie was only gonna have to work that job for 1 (1!!!!) year and then she would (as put by everyone in the movie) have her choice of writing jobs. Still everyone in her life was acting like toddlers because suddenly she had different priorities and cared to look a bit more put together. Also, the boyfriend was a chef, a job with notoriously long hours, but that was perfectly fine.

[@AnnaTalks-videos]

YES!!! Completely agree

[@emilymontague8550]

Came to say this

[@cloud.tessaaa7881]

YES i agree, was just about to say the same

[@Anne_fka_XATM038x]

YES. that idiot. I actually was rooting for her to dump him and move over to the blonde guy but of course he had to be a plot villain....... I think the film might be way more interesting if she got together with her rival, the Emily Blunt character, if there needed to be romance. but actually it would've worked best I think if she just ended up "single", or you know, just a woman without an annoying partner

[@MizziProductions]

Everyone in her circle can get in the bin and stay there. They were so awful and incapable of nurturing their friend’s ambition! …BUT HAPPY TO REAP THE REWARDS AND TAKE ANDY’S SOUVENIRS FROM THE WARDROBE DEPARTMENT.

[@eleanorwyllie1002]

"Women in films who have jobs and that's ok" - this blew my mind, I've never thought about it, and now I'm thinking about it.

[@Miss_Lexisaurus]

This is totally one of those things it's better not to think about! lol!

[@jessjose3638]

The mom from princess diaries... although they do make a big deal of her being an artist...

[@angelag6572]

My mind has blown up by this to be honest!!

[@jessjose3638]

Um. Fuck. Iron mans secretary... who he marries....

[@TheLonelyFeather]

im actually spiralling about this

[@heyeilidhh]

Rachel got back on the plane, met a lovely woman and lived a full lesbian life in Paris. It's true, I have to believe it, it is the only way I can enjoy Friends now.

[@sorcellerie]

Seriously the better ending

[@marciamcdevitt964]

@@sorcellerie no lie.

[@leenanorms]

If they did a crowdfunder for an alternate ending, I would donate ALL MY MONEY.

[@anjalibhat14]

TWO of his ex-wives discovering they’re lesbians would absolutely break Ross and honestly, I’m really into it 😈 I’d donate to the crowdfunder too 🤣

[@paulinemoll3226]

[mid-series spoiler ahead] this!!! i also watched a video essay a long time ago about how friends could have revolutionized sitcoms if they had stuck with the rachel/joey storyline and actually given ross consequences for how he treated rachel.

[@Jodie_May92]

Can we add “90% of films where the protagonist ends up with the best-friend character at the end” purely on the grounds that it’s sets up this weird president that teenagers have to endure where their friend thinks if they just hang around and be nice long enough you’ll eventually love them romantically despite having literally zero attraction to them?

[@lexanneklimes5411]

I totally agree, it's a weird precedent. Made me super uncomfortable around my guy friends for a while in high school.

[@maddygullotta2551]

idk as someone who has fallen for their bestfriend and is now in a happy 5 year relationship those narratives are a soft spot for me haha.

[@360shadowmoon]

I kind of like these because in general I am a fan of "slow burn" romances. But I agree that it is overdone.

[@pyjamabottoms670]

There is nothing I hate more than an unnecessary love story. Why do we need it EVERYWHERE? Loved this video 🤩

[@leenanorms]

I know! Let people do selfless stuff for each other (like they do in real life) without being motivated by sex ! Geeez ;)

[@ellen8165]

In theory, I agree with you about Bridget Jones, but when I see Colin Firth… all principles go out the window

[@leenanorms]

Haha RELATEABLE

[@Ghoulia17]

Why, after 5 minutes of thinking of an answer to the question “which movies allow women to just have jobs and that’s fine,” did I land on only Ripley from Alien LMAO

[@kahkah1986]

Actually, sci fi can be quite a good example of that sort of thing, but more in TV series than in films. Even SW punishes Leia in the new films!

[@leeelieooo]

Ross is a terrible partner throughout their relationship. I never realised when whatching friends when I was younger but I tried to re-watch it some time ago and was surprised by how I couldn't stand Ross!

[@Charloteblahblah]

also, i felt like the friends especially his sister- and his best guy friends who are also friends with Rachel and care about her ignore his behaviour and even come up with dumb reasons why its fine. However, because I've watched friends a crazy amount of times you can tell by their background reactions that the other friends clearly don't enjoy Ross' possessiveness and jealousy either. Yet they never stick up for Rachel and they always tiptoe around Ross.

[@RitaSuszekTV]

@@Charloteblahblah I haven't been into Friends for a long time, but I once watched a video making the case that Joey is a much better friend and lover material for Rachel and it made some strong points!

[@CoynieReads]

Exactly! ROSS HAD TENURE!!! Rachel got her Paris position after losing her previous job, she didn't have the job security Ross did and it was a fantastic opportunity. GAH!!

[@hellou27]

Leena swearing is my serotonin boost XD

[@leenanorms]

haha in that case I SHALL CONTINUE

[@joshuageraldbutler8037]

Any chance of doing a reverse of this...on screen girlfriends who should get in the bin?

[@leenanorms]

That's an excellent shout !

[@wikeschippers8608]

Seconded!

[@MelissaPrange]

I'm always happy to see more hate on You've Got Mail! The romance in that film makes me so mad. I cannot fathom why a woman would fall in love with the guy who closed her mother's bookshop. Also, why is the guy closing independent bookshops the hero at all? I just don't understand why we're supposed to root for him to get the girl.

[@gingersal8052]

If you haven't seen it, the original movie (The shop around the corner) is a much better film! The main leads are still enemies but equals, they work in the same shop. You've got mail is a guilty pleasure of mine cos it reminds me of my childhood but the script sure relies on strange character choices.

[@MelissaPrange]

@@gingersal8052 I love Shop Around the Corner! I wish so much of the plot hadn't been changed for You've Got Mail.

[@ConstanceCravingnz]

honestly we can't even say, it was a different time, because I went to see it at the movies and left feeling like I'd been goosed by it, such a weird sick unsatisfying story. EWWW *shudder*. And also, FUCK THEM for predicting the demise of the independent bookseller. AS a total antidote, the episode of Black Books where they go away for a weekend that lasts three weeks and come back to a megastore next door and Manny goes to work there for Simon Pegg and it's like a cult is so funny and cathartic.

[@sarahalewijnse1177]

I completely relate to the "I could've grown up bilingual but didn't" problem. My dad could've taught me Dutch, instead I've gotta learn it as an adult and it's incredibly difficult, despite being like the easiest language for an English speaker to learn! Yes I am salty...

[@minimushrooom]

Samee but for Polish! I have tried to take classes as an adult and still only know about 4 words... I solely communicate with my polish grandma through overexaggerated mimes and her force feeding me pierogi and baked goods

[@clairewilley361]

Our son could learn Nepali but since he started daycare in English he doesn't like it when we speak it. We need to move closer to Nepali family....

[@amara560]

Succes met het leren van de Nederlandse taal :) Zeker niet een van de makkelijkste.

[@alanamontero4743]

The same with my dad and Spanish. Then when I was an adult he said that I should know more Spanish. Well, SOMEBODY could have taught me Spanish as I was growing up and then I would be fluent in Spanish, wouldn't I. I'm also salty.

[@pheonixrises11]

@@clairewilley361 I was watching a video featuring two bilingual men, and apparently their mothers refused to respond when they spoke in english. they only conversed in the mothers’ native language. they hated it as kids, but appreciated it as adults. if your son doesn’t already know Nepali, it might be more difficult to do this, though(and you might not like doing what makes hom uncomfortable). maybe try music in a genre he likes, or movies or tv shows. seeing kids his age on tv speak it might make him more confortable, too. regardless, if you keep speaking it, he’s bound to have an easier time learning it later in life, so don’t give up!

[@anjalibhat14]

Respectfully, I disagree about the Clueless argument made here. I still don’t support the relationship, but the “they’re siblings” thing doesn’t hold water for me. They’re ex-stepsiblings who were “siblings” only very briefly, don’t seem to have known each other since infancy, and are pretty distant and not at all emotionally close at the start of the film. I *am* definitely concerned that Cher is only 16 and he’s in college, ostensibly more mature than she is. And same for Emma too, tbh, because although age gaps were more common in Georgian society, I don’t love that Knightley fell for someone he’s seen grown up, someone he’s known since he was 17 and she was an infant. That he’s felt so emotionally invested in and responsible for too since she was a girl. THAT is a bit too close to Renesmee/Jacob for me. I can still understand your discomfort with why the writers of Clueless made the choices that they did, but to your point about art reflecting what’s possible, the head writer/director herself responded to studio execs who were concerned about the relationship that her own grandparents had been stepsiblings. I’m not saying she should be rooting for all stepsiblings ever to get together, but I think her personal experience and cultural norms across the world add nuance to this conversation too. I also know this was just a silly video but hope you don’t mind me offering this perspective!

[@Miss_Lexisaurus]

With you on this. I have step siblings who I've known since I was young but we didn't "grow up together" and I wouldn't even consider them friends, much less family, I certainly don't think of them as siblings. To me the Clueless relationship wasn't weird like that because it was set up that the weren't siblings in any actual sense of the word.

[@ElizabethMorgansays]

Agreed, and I also think Cher/Josh need to have that familial connection because why would a guy near(ish) her age be hanging around the family and have known for a long time, like Knightley? She's 16, so anyone older, like a friend of her Dad, is going to feel way more creepy.

[@leenanorms]

Fair enough :) for me it was a completely unnecessary addition, there were so many ways to insert him in to her life otherwise, making her his step-sibling felt like a lazy way of stopping the audience guessing the ending, and creating a DUN DUN DUN cheap ending playing on peoples 'ick' incest response instead of creating a great plot with good writing. Totally get that they're only 'distant' but I think if I was in that writing room and everyone was like 'why not?' I would definitely be in the 'BUT WHY' camp 😂 thank you for indulging me in silly videos and fun debates x

[@Anita-nw5ts]

@Anjali Bhat I absolutely agree. The age difference in Emma always bothered me!

[@kahkah1986]

I think it made sense for Josh's character as a retelling of Knightley's, he has grown up with a very fractured home life but Cher and her father don't push him away, he maybe needed a father figure from Cher's dad at the beginning (before the film), he didn't intend to get into a relationship with Cher, it shows they are kindly and open-minded. In the same way in the book, Knightley's parents have died and his brother has moved away, Mr. Woodhouse has him round to play cards and he teases Emma, otherwise he would be alone in a big house constantly.

[@mollybridge7417]

I haven’t read time travellers wife since I was 12 but I remember being so annoyed that she had her first time with him on the eve of her 18th (?) at a point where he was considerably older. Felt like it was sort of approving grooming and I think she deserved to have those growing up experiences separate from him like he did separate from her, instead of her whole life revolving around him (although I guess that’s the whole point of the book lol)

[@Imallwrite212]

was JUST thinking about this

[@amara560]

Definitely have mixed feelings about it. I think it's passable because of the way the time travel works which means everything is kind of already predetermined and inevitable, but there was no real reason it had to be precisely that way.

[@alanamontero4743]

The same. I found the book disturbing for this reason. I was an adult when I read it.

[@wikeschippers8608]

I love that you mentioned The Host. That WAS Stephenie Meyer's redemption. An actually interesting and even fairly nuanced YA novel with much less creepy bullshizzle. Though, you know, still a weird thing with age difference. But I can live with it, it's fine.

[@leenanorms]

YES! Always lovely to see another host fan in the comments, I'm so sad it didn't get the readership Twilight did x

[@wikeschippers8608]

@@leenanorms Absolutely, I reread that every few years, keeps holding up.

[@katrijndekeersmaecker1904]

@@leenanorms It's so sad, that book deserved the readership Twilight had so much more! I would love it if you would make a video on The Host!

[@taylacollins764]

I loved the host but rereading it I don’t know why she had to bring in the whole underage romance again. But it is such a good storyline that I feel deserved more.

[@geniej2378]

@@leenanorms I love the Host and I feel so validated that you think it's good! It's always been a "guilty pleasure" because of the Twilight association.

[@orangelemontwist]

In the same vein as Groundhog Day - 50 first dates. Sure, it's a cool idea to imagine what if you could get a million second chances over and over, but the clueless partner (ha, not to be confused with Clueless) is having a genuine experience, while the other one is just performing a play every day.

[@junpi8562]

That film left me with a lot of questions.

[@sorel7342]

I watched that film as a kid and I remember being really desperate for her to get her memory back because I couldn’t understand how it could be an ok love story while she constantly forgot him. And even as a 10 year old I’m pretty sure on this one I was right!

[@ConstanceCravingnz]

I don't hate it for that but now Tim Minchin has made a musical I HAVE to at least give it the benefit of the doubt until I get to see said musical. Dammit

[@graceharrison1430]

I think Mary in the movie About Time has a really cool job and it's okay and not plot point and a great movie

[@beanbagbooks]

I also love that she keeps it after she gets married AND has kids and there's never any discussion about her quitting or stepping down while her husband stays in his job

[@Hillary429]

Such a good movie, I always want to rewatch it but it makes me sob like no other 😭

[@emmeline-tyler]

Yes love this! And she continues working in the job after having children and it's not a thing.

[@junpi8562]

It's been ages since I watched it, but isn't there an element of Groundhog Day style manipulation there too?

[@beanbagbooks]

@@junpi8562 there certainly is, but even so, it does fit the criteria of "woman has a job and that's okay." Also I think it's slightly better because the protagonist doesn't completely change his personality in order to go out with the girl

[@lucyalice5]

Mr. Bean's Holiday, nothing but support for Sabine and justice for her film premiere at Cannes!

[@aisling8308]

I was literally talking about this with my bf the other night

[@mcwjes]

That is a bizarrely wonderful fact about a bizarrely wonderful movie.

[@gretchenlynn89]

I am sorry to all the Brits, but this is how I feel about literally everyone's relationship in Love, Actually except for Martin Freeman.

[@ludovicatirone4304]

the fact that colin firth "falls in love" with the maid and they can't communicate in any way until basically the end is, just yikes. He's the boss and she's, like, the only non anglophone person (who, of course, works as a housekeeper). Also, that other "love story" with the love triangle with the best friend is plain cursed.

[@humwengus1204]

let's bin the movie as a whole: the fatphobia is uncomfortable, unnecessary and not even funny!

[@rachelbryant3697]

I loathe Love Actually, there is at least one trash human in pretty much all the relationships. I really don’t get why people like it so much.

[@rebekahengal7281]

Could you elaborate on this please? I think I'm with you (even though I love the film and rewatch it yearly) but would love to hear more of your thoughts. Thanks :)

[@catherineelmore2004]

The one I like was the preteen and his crush on the American girl. That was the only one that worked for me.

[@27alpar]

Just saying, a world with a bilingual leena that can read Brazilian authors and comment on them is now my dream haha, love from 🇧🇷

[@koalaeucalyptus]

RIGHT? Even just understanding Brazilian memes would be a whole can of worms for her to open on video hehehe

[@RisingSun73]

Should Rachel have gotten off the plane? No. Could Ross just have moved to Paris with her? Also no, he wanted to stay in NYC for his son. Ross and Rachel would have been better off without each other anyway.

[@Hillary429]

As Good As It Gets is a horror story showing the lengths mothers will go to in a country with no healthcare and extreme wealth disparities

[@gabriellecarr3070]

I agree that Rachel should've stayed on the plane, but I think the main reason Ross can't go with her to Paris is because Ben, his sister and his parents are all in the US. But tbh Rachel could've gone to Paris and they could've remained Friends and awesome co-parents!

[@maidenrohina]

Slight Emma correction, Mr. Knightley is actually Emma's brother-in-law as his younger brother John is married to Emma's elder sister.

[@whtstar2]

Plus because her sister is much older he's been around in a brotherly role since she's been very, very little. I think there's a line in the book about him being around when she was in diapers. Plus Clueless really toned it down with getting rid of the 20 year age difference and making it, like, 3-4 years.

[@AwkwardHester]

The point about Ross has sparked a rage in me because I last watched friends when I was a teenager, since then I’ve done most of a PhD and worked in academia and like as well as Ross being 100% able to get a job in Paris, it would probably further his career! Like such a big part of academia is moving being research groups and international collaboration, I don’t think I know anyone who’s senior in research who has stayed in the same country for their whole career! Ugh!

[@joxclever]

Time Traveler's Wife: yes, there is a scene. I remember it oddly clearly. Young Henry has never met Claire and they have quite a nice, boozey dinner party where she's totally grown up and sexually empowered (I remember she playfully straddles him at one point; can you tell I read this during a dry spell?) I do think the "yikes" is successfully diminished in that book, although you'll never really banish it when you have a grown man meeting his 6yo future wife.

[@Imallwrite212]

YES THE STRADDLE. LOL iconic

[@walsheyness]

I remember this! Yeah - I think its near the start like maybe it's the opening and it describes her entering the library and seeing him and then asking him out to dinner and how flustered he is

[@weirdsister1992]

Agree he describes his hard-on as tall enough to get on a rollercoaster don’t know why I know this

[@ukegirlzoe13]

AND SHE WEARS A VELVET DRESS WITH GARTERS AND STOCKINGS! WHY DO I REMEMBER THIS SO CLEARLY

[@emilyengeman8431]

Yes! Also the implication is that he knows her first as his wife, an adult woman then meets the younger version of her and looks after her in a totally innocent way. So it feels less predatory

[@mandarinz69]

"oops I slipped up at a party I was having an existential crisis and didn't really know who I was" is very specific and quite relatable lol

[@Imallwrite212]

OK! So in the time traveler's wife book, the story starts with adult Clare meeting Henry. He has no clue who she is (because he hasn't time traveled back yet) but Clare knows everything about him because she has all her memories. This sets up a weird dynamic, and quite frankly, their relationship really weird and far from ideal, because Clare was essentially groomed by Henry even though that wasn't supposed to be his intention. (He could have left her alone though whenever he time traveled to her house and not hung out with her, and he DEF could have not had sex with her once she turned of age, who cares that she was persistent). This is my favorite book of all time because it explores so many things (chronic illness, autonomy, death, love, freewill), but I definitely don't romanticize Clare's relationship with Henry perhaps as much as the book might want me to. As a teen, I loved the "unconditional" love they had for each other, but as an adult, I question whether that's a good thing, especially for Clare. I think the book does a good job of showing just how imperfect their relationship is, and how much Clare really suffers and sacrifices. She could have had a much happier life with someone else, honestly. I feel like the character Gomez, was supposed to represent that, but he's sleazy and not at all a good choice, and of course, isn't supposed to match up to Henry. But I'm sure there are tons of other men out there LOL. I never saw the movie, there's no way they could get any of the interesting nuance in it without making it a trashy romance.

[@alexwright4930]

In the determinist time travel where history can't be changed of the book I guess both Claire and Henry feel and are trapped by the actions of their selves elsewhere in time. But I suppose where Henry hasn't been told what happened in the past, he still does have agency. And certainly had agency on Claire's 18th birthday.

[@Maria_745]

There is truly no reason for the stepbrother bs in clueless. They could've easily made him the son of another lawyer or an intern for Cher's dad

[@sarahjervis5957]

"I am alive, alert, awake and enthusiastic, the world is a beautiful place to live in." ~Leena Norms 2021 Aye aye captain!

[@mcwjes]

If I remember correctly, in The Mummy Evie has a job she wants to progress in and her boss is a turd for holding her back. But it's been a while since I've watched it.

[@AnnyLeigh]

I relate so strongly to the "I make notes on my phone about things that bug me" comment. Wow. Yes. I do that. We love to see it.

[@daisydog]

Now there is a lot of speculation on Ben in the last few seasons of Friends, but surely that was Ross's excuse for not going to Paris. I read one theory that when Ross had his breakdown and went on sabbatical, Carol had his custody rights revoked.

[@nimrodgrrrl]

This was JUICY. I LOVED it.

[@leenanorms]

haha JUICY is what I was going for.

[@math20-22]

In defense of Groundhog Day (my favourite movie of all time), he isn’t able to win her over when he is deliberately manipulating her to be with him. It’s only when he stops pursuing her and genuinely focuses on trying to be a good person that she takes an interest in him.

[@ArtieCarden]

This just convinces me more I should make my video idea of “would have been better if it was gay” 😂 because it makes more sense.

[@meganhorridge6586]

Big Time Traveller's Wife fan here: I have cried along to both the film and the book in the last few months. In both the film and the book, Henry meets Claire as an adult (she already knows him but he has no idea how it who she is) before he ever meets her as a child. It's a huge theme and conflict in the book where Claire sees their relationship when she was a kid as more sexual than it was, because she was a child who had a crush on an older man and fantasised about him, but to him she was just a child. There's also the added confusion of him kind of grooming her by mentioning that they get married in the future, but the book does explore that and how he consciously tries to push her away. A lot of the book is discussing whether their relationship is even healthy tho so you could argue it is a timey-wimey kind of grooming. Definitely worth re-reading (though if you sob to the end of the film like I do, please be warned the book ending is even more tragic).

[@paupau2587]

Same I have ugly cried to this book in the 2 times Ive read it!

[@Charlie_Fuchs]

I remember crying every time I opened it when I was reading the second half of it. "I feel like I'm on top of a rollercoaster". Yes, I've never seen the movie (couldn't bear to, it's just so terrible) but Henry spends a lot of Clare's teenage years trying to push her away, pushing her to have experiences of her own.

[@meahrbenicxox]

I feel like I'm watching myself sending videos/voice messages to my groupchat at 1AM on various topics skdghlahds I feel represented and seen. ALSO TED AND ROBIN.

[@keltavuokko]

Yes. Just yes to all of this. Also have to nominate my favourite series, the Gilmore Girls. I bloody love Luke, but come on man, grow up (thank you seasons 6+7 for ruining his character), and especially Christopher, and I also like Rory's boyfriends in general, but they all are wrong in one way or the other (rooting for Jess, though, he seems to be getting decent as he grows up, thank goodness). Ally McBeal and Everwood come to mind as series where women's jobs are respected - though in Ally McBeal it's a constant topic because of Ally's insecurities.

[@janejanejane4628]

I also would love the opposite of this video which is you gushing about relationships on the screen you LOVE and why

[@keepthechannelopen1700]

I just DIED when you said jacob and renesmee - I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about twilight?!?!? Also yes the host is the best book ever

[@laceyh]

Wow this one stung. The Time Traveler's Wife is my favorite book! Clare does first meet Henry when she's 6 and he's an adult, but they don't become sexually entangled when she's a child. He does at some point accidentally let on that they do get married, but it's not until she's a teenager and it's framed as a mistake he's made. It's pretty much involuntary for him, but the involuntary nature of it does start when he's an adult, whereas for her it's when she's a child. There is a lot of concern about the fact that he's 'making her weird' from both parties, and some darkness and angst about it, but at that point, they're both so wrapped up in and trapped in his time travel, and this codependent relationship/their collective obsession with it that neither one of them is really capable of unravelling it, y'know? Like they're both trapped. One of the major themes of the book is that there isn't such a thing as free will: not even someone who can travel in time and see the future/interact with the past is capable of changing anything. I do think it's a very dark book about a very flawed love, and not a romantic book about a perfect relationship, which is one of the major tonal problems of the film. The book is about love and there is a great deal of beauty and joy in that love, but it is a very messy and flawed love made not more magical but more codependent, complicated, and painful due to the time travel. There's something that has always felt incredibly real about the love in the book even with this sci fi fantasy twist: they're too flawed people in an imperfect situation and they're making due and loving each other in the midst of it. The movie is just not a faithful adaptation in terms of tone and concept. I think the smartest thing in the movie is that Clare and Henry dance to 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' at their wedding, and I genuinely don't think that was an intentional move on part of the borderline incompetent production team LOL.

[@VickiLuLa]

I think this is a universal feeling because I, too, threw Breaking Dawn across the room. But I just thought it was because I was an adult trying to figure out what they hype was about. Glad to know that I was in good company.

[@helenworrall450]

The first time Henry meets Claire they’re both adults, so SHE recognises HIM from her being young but HE doesn’t know HER and loves young dream ensues

[@jadesham9401]

I thought I was the only person with bilingual parents who used their second language as a "secret adult language" against me!!

[@lc4749]

omg thank you for saying this about You've Got Mail. i could not believe my eyes when I saw that film that so many people love. Just absolute trash characters and story. That film actually gave me nightmares

[@FoxInTheStudio]

Practical Magic. She owns a shop and while he pokes around the shop during investigation, he never wants her to quit and he moves to her rather than vice versa.

[@RisingSun73]

I think the worst thing about all these movies/relationships is that I didn't realise how messed up they were when I watched them for the first time as a kid lol

[@SecretTwilightGirl]

Okay but Clueless revolutionized the classic literature to high school reimagining pipeline and is a testament to the power of costume design for movies. The impact of those outfits? Iconic. They’re still felt to this day. All this to say the Josh romance is the least appealing part of the movie for me and something I gladly ignore in favor of everything else about it.

[@poeticsparrow]

The Intern!! Thank you, I was so upset the ending was about the relationship and not her feeling more empowered about running her company

[@hannahrowe7763]

I recently wrote my A-level English lit coursework on The Time Traveller’s Wife (and The Handmaid’s Tale but that’s irrelevant) and about two pages of it was basically just me slagging off Claire and Henry’s relationship while trying to phrase it somewhat eloquently. Suffice to say, there were enough examples in the book to back me up. The fact that Niffenegger made the conscious decision to make Henry lose all of his clothes every time he time travelled and then have Claire meet him for the first time when she was (I think) six doesn’t sit quite right with me. Also, I’m pretty sure he impregnates her whilst she’s asleep (or she was asleep but wakes up during it) while a different version of him slept on the bed right next to her. Full offence, I despise Henry.

[@alanamontero4743]

It was a terrible relationship. And I also despise Henry.

[@katastrophic3907]

look as an old gen z, i have never watched friends or content of that time but i was entertained by it

[@leenanorms]

haha More of a Dawsons Creek era person? WHAT DID YOU WATCH INSTEAD? Tell me about The Past!

[@andrewdavis9041]

John from "The Breakfast Club" can absolutely get all the way in the bin. Right down deep in the trash heap.

[@BlogManiac64]

i'm so sorry for spamming your comment section but 🗣 i need at least 5 more parts of this

[@gee159]

I love saying “Alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic”!! I feel like you’ve just unlocked forgotten memories of school for me my teacher loved motivating us with that haha

[@Amy-ob2yu]

Haha thats funny, I had a teacher who did that too. I wonder if we went to the same school😂

[@leenanorms]

I learned it from my brother is a scout leader lol!

[@FranMinney]

Bad Santa is one of those films where I just kept thinking “no fucking chance would these women make these choices”. I know it’s not exactly along the same lines but STILL

[@EM-wt6ib]

oh my god! we need to talk more about kids who can't speak their parents languages because our parents didn't want us to?? I'm convinced they never wanted me to learn so they could continue to goss about me

[@bluesquirrel2472]

What's the language?

[@sarahfrench5103]

If you haven't seen it, The Shop Around the Corner, which is what You've Got Mail is based on, doesn't have the same problems. One isn't trying to take away the other's dreams. There isn't the weird power dynamic. They literally have the same job in the same shop. Maybe that movie would be more enjoyable to you haha. Also it's got Jimmy Stewart! And the whole cast is great.

[@gingersal8052]

Yess this is the loveliest of movies! And it's set in Hungaria (ok, in a Hollywood studio) which was pretty rare for the time! Much better than all the remakes Hollywood made afterwards.

[@lifewithnic]

I live and breath by the belief that Rachel should have stayed on the plane! That poem is perfection and belongs in the book!!

[@louisa1878]

You've got mail is legit my most favourite movie, my most comfy time, but I adore listening to you trash Jo hahaha

[@soukaina1113]

Rachel chose to stay because she wasn't 100% convinced she wanted to go to Paris. She didn't want to leave her family and friends behind. And I understand that, for some of us family and friends and our home country are more important than a job in a far away land, especially that she had just had a daughter and had to learn to parent on her own with no support from her close ones. She just needed a reason to stay and Ross helped her think clear.

[@ez3748]

i swear 'seeking a friend for the end of the world' is my villain origin story. i was literally thinking about how weird it is yesterday lol ty for validating me

[@ronjas]

if anyone wants to watch a movie with a nice and realistic couple where they support each other and love each other and the man isnt a clown i recommend About Time

[@hazel350]

Yes!! I love that movie 😍😍

[@emmeline-tyler]

my favourite movie of all time!

[@serpentartist1348]

Good news! As a member of "The Youth" I have never heard of As Good As It Gets

[@leenanorms]

That is heartening

[@ilahjarvis]

Thank you for making me look harder at movies I blindly accepted, for making me feel justified because they felt weird, and giving me further permission not to watch the ones I haven't seen. I'm old enough to remember when "As Good As It Gets" came out in theaters, and immediately knowing it would be awful, because any movie that glorifies Jack Nicholson is going to be awful. And the more time passes, the more I know I will never intentionally watch that film.

[@johnnymissesme7464]

When you first posted your short about Rachel and Ross I agreed, but I also thought it was harder for Ross to go with Rachel because of his son Ben. But I've just remembered Ross also had Emma ( I had completely forgotten about her!) so yes, his decision to stay, and therefore Rachel's, did come down to his career! As a side note, when I first watched friends as a teenager I dreamt of having a relationship like them. As I rewatched it as an adult, i realised their relationship is verging on toxic and nothing like what I wish to have!

[@BoredSoprano]

Now have 🎵I’m alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic! I’m alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic! I’m alive, awake, alert, I’m alert, awake, alive, I’m alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic!🎵 on a loop in my head

[@thatjillgirl]

The only book I've thrown across the room in anger was Tess of the D'urbervilles, and it was indeed because Angel Clare needed to be thrown in the bin. He eventually pulled his head out of his ass and redeemed himself (though it was too little, too late), but at the point when I threw the book, yeah, just throw that whole man out.

[@Singalong519]

Yes, I agree Rachel should have gone to Paris and Ross could have gone. But I think he didn't want to go because of Ben. BUT again, Ben had two great moms and probably would have been fine without him! If I were Ben, Id rather live with my 2 moms and visit my dad in Paris with my awesome step-mom and sister!

[@Marmalade251]

I believe in You’ve Got Mail, at the end, she became a children’s book author. I liked that she moved on from grieving the past and fighting to hold onto it, which was where her love interest at the start of the film had been stuck.

[@Lunapple1]

And earned so much money and acclaim she bought back the bookshop! And dedicated it to her mum. And would give a platform to marginalised authors each month!

[@arabellat]

sadly i would also have to say that the relationship between emma and mr knightley also gives me a massive ick, mostly because of how much older he is than her, and the fact he has known her basically her entire life. i know that the historical context might be different, but i still remember being quite put off when i realised that, during the events of the book, she is 21 and he is 37

[@TheGigglingwombat]

Leena I haven’t even started this video yet I already have my question: where is that gold eyeshadow from? It’s so sparkly ✨

[@beckyok4582]

True! We NEED answers!😩🤩

[@kvaija]

Thank you for bringing up the Intern! I hate hate that she forgave him but the few people I've spoken to about it take the "it's her choice" /"what she's doing is brave" stance that's mixed up with feelings of sympathy towards her. I think part of it is because people feel like admitting that that was a terrible call would make the whole movie bad and they don't want to do that to an otherwise wholesome movie. And part of it has to do with the larger conversation around feminism presently where as long as a woman has been "made the choice", the choice should not be met with skepticism (+ weird attempts at subverting the tropes where women who """choose""" to do things conventionally expected of women are they ones making the bold choices) .

[@helenlamer8622]

I WAS NOT EXPECTING JACOB AND RENESME TO BE HERE LOOLLLLLL

[@CinziaDuBois]

YES about the get on the plane XD I hadn't even hit puberty when that episode aired (I don't think - may have been new to it) BUT I remember being really sad that Ross didn't move to Paris with Rachel and surprise her by showing up at the end by somehow beating her to Paris and meeting her there. I bloody loved this video, Leena xxx

[@sonorasgirl]

Thank you! I actually really liked the Host too ☺️. Also, I’m sorry, but I REFUSED to watch “seeking a friend” on principle. I’m sick of Hollywood casting young actresses with significantly older men as love interests, and also…ehem…I love Steve as an actor and he’s a handsome dude but…Kira is LEAGUES outa his league and I’m also sick of that trope. It’s denying roles to age appropriate women, and it’s just weird old white men writing their self-insert getting into relationships with hot women who could be their daughters. In fact…it’s the exact age difference between myself and my dad 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤢🤢🤢

[@BellaHardcastle]

Would love to see a wedding version of this style of video like bride wars and my best friends wedding etc! Love your take all these relationships and totally agree with everything 🤩

[@beatricet7396]

Oh my my... You've got mail is such a mess. But a mess that I love.

[@philippatill9727]

Well I think "you've got mail" is leaving my favourite film list..... Though I did feel it was just about 90s thoughts on "progress" and her running the book shop out of some kind of guilt. Just my thoughts.

[@72melmo]

Thank you! I hated the ending of Friends! Rachel spent 10 years bettering her life and becoming independent, only to get off the plane. I bet she ended up getting that Ross=Boss tattoo.

[@ginat.8064]

I wanted Rachel to go to paris too. But Ross could not leave Ben behind in New York. I imagine it would be very hurtful for Ben to know his dad chose his new little half-sister over him.

[@taylaleonardis6951]

I’m pretty sure Henry and Clair meeting as adult does happen in the book. They first meet and she knows who he is but he’s never seen her before

[@katarinakidd9450]

I rewatched The Time Traveler's Wife recently, and I couldn't believe how weird their relationship is??? I know "grooming" is a heavy word, but even in the film at one one point she was like "you visited me since I was a child and made me fall in love with you, thinking there was no other option" and then they just carry on?? Rewatching it now also made me realize how little characterization she had beyond the relationship/wish for children as well. (In terms of women have jobs and that's okay, I quite liked What If for this reason as a romcom!)

[@alexwright4930]

I think there's a lot more about Clare's career in the book. I re-read it when the now cancelled TV series came out.

[@ceebee1461]

Now I’m seriously questioning my critical thinking because half of these never struck me as fecking awful until you’ve just pointed it out… I’ll go sit myself in the corner of shame.

[@meinhartfrancois]

I'm a little late to this party, and more's the pity, because I want to screech about THE AGE OF ADALINE! Blake Lively plays Adaline, a woman who stopped aging 50 years ago. She's trying to deal with personal loss & flying under the government's radar (she doesn't want to be experimented on). Michiel Huisman's character is handsome & rich, but still acts like a total creep: - blackmails her : he'll only make an important donation if she accepts it in person (exposing her to press, which she feels very uncomfortable about, re : hiding from the government) - tracks down her home address & the movie plays it as romantic rather than stalking - her dog dies, the last descendant of the dog she had with her family & he forces her out to dinner with him, when all she wants to do is mourn at home

[@GeeJinx1990]

Can we also talk about how Joe Fox literally manipulates her into falling for him?!

[@jessjose3638]

Yep. Hated the end of that movie. He's a creep. And its basicaly "capitalism, its great!"

[@maryandshea]

I too have parents who used Brazilian Portuguese as their secret language while I was a child! Got them back though didn’t I, played the long game & got a degree in it. Anyway, THANK YOU for this video, I agreed with all of it & will be showing all of my friends who don’t believe that Rachel deserved better! Xx

[@annjay2581]

What annoyed me about Groundhog day was the she wouldve never been with him if it wasnt for the timeloop. He literally only gets her because she forgets about all the times he fucks up. This is every "nice guys" dream and every girls nightmare. I hated that movie so much.

[@iriny.4341]

I know that comments can boost and help a video but sometimes I feel like a facebook mum wanting to comment something like “that was brilliant, really enjoyed it! Thank you so much!” 🥴🤠

[@z.spinney2058]

Omg I remember seeing The Intern and being so disappointed that she got back with her lame-o husband.

[@Miss_Lexisaurus]

I haven't seen several of these so I can't comment but I am looking forward to loving them and then rewatching this and going "omg, actually that is so weird and wrong why did I like it?!" lol

[@magdalenarusanova2706]

I think in the movie The Time Traveler's Wife Claire certianly already knows Henry when she first meets him in adult life. She has been waiting to ser him and keeps repeating "you are so young". He's the one who has obviously not met her yet and asks her to slow it down a bit, to pretend they are strangers for a bit.

[@littlemusic4x]

I like “the intern” so much. Everything but the “romantic relationship” is great. Films with women in jobs: Elizabethtown, Amelie, Erin Brocovich ( athough it sort of becomes a paint point)

[@Olivia-lj7qn]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who didn't like the relationship in You've Got Mail, it made me so frustrated!!

[@seamonkeyl9061]

Hi Leena, have you already done something on the rich/poor dynamic in John Hughes movies? (Molly Ringwald was poor in Pretty In Pink and rich in The Breakfast Club -but equally pouty in both). That always fascinated me - in New Zealand (Aotearoa) we used to think we were not particularly class-driven, but being a colony of England meant that there was an underlying seam of hierarchy, racism and snobbery. In the 80's the obvious flaunting of wealth really shone as being rich really was supposed to be cool (I was a teenager) and so I had to find other ways to form my identity and tribe (creative and weird ones). Being bullied for the 'wrong' (ie, cheap) school shoes was normal, the biggest gang of blonde girls at school were the popular ones (according to them anyway). I digress! I must eat something.

[@mirandagil3642]

i was traumatized by the couple of as good as it gets 😭

[@BryonyClaire]

I don't have a film where women having jobs is fine but the show Parks and Recreation with Leslie and Ben is the best handling of this ever and I've wanted to make a video about them for the longest time because they're genuinely couple goals

[@Imallwrite212]

Second comment because I have so much more to say! But I always saw The Intern as a continuation of The Devil Wear's Prada, and in both cases, Anna Hathaway needs to put her boyfriend in the bin!