Dear John

Movies are never as good as books. They simply cannot compare. Isn't this what I always say?

Except maybe, just maybe, this doesn't apply 100% of the time. Because maybe this time, for once, I enjoyed the fairy tale ending.

... This coming from a girl who hates fairy tales, who roots for the third wheel, who wants the characters to follow their morals for once and forego the passion of the moment for a love they can count on. Suddenly, this girl wants the idealized Hollywood perfection of true love triumphing over all.

Let's go back a bit, shall we?

Last weekend, I went and saw Dear John with my roommate. Typically, I like to take the time to read the book before seeing the movie, in order to criticize all the differences and laugh at the added cliches. This time, I didn't. This time, I went without any expectation and walked out with a face gleaming with tears and a heart pounding with something not entirely desired nor hated.

Since then, I've sought out, purchased, and read the book version, by Nicholas Sparks. It has now become book #3 in my quest for 50.


The ending of the book was more realistic than the movie by leaps and bounds. Nicholas Sparks did not go the easy route, did not finish with the cliched cop-out of killing the "other man" with a bout of cancer. He did not allow the lovers to fall into each other's arms in a final scene of romantic passion. His ending was bittersweet, it followed my own set of moral beliefs, it was realistic. It was also incredibly unsatisfying.

Maybe it's because I saw the movie first. Maybe it's because the storyline was entirely too personal. Maybe it's because I was in a rare mood for an entirely unplausible fairy tale. Either way, I must hang my head in shame and admit to being nothing more than a silly girl with unrealistic romantic notions.

Sometimes, you just need a fairy tale, something to cling to, something to assure you - even when common sense screams at you to be sensical - that love will be enough, no matter what.

Forgive me, oh lords of literature.

I will redeem myself by diving into Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

~ Gina Marie