While flipping channels the other night, I came across a movie that I've seen a couple of times and found it to be farily amusing. The movie is High Fidelity, the John Cusack comedy from 2000 about an unlucky-in-love pushing-40 record store clerk in Chicago. I gave it a longer look this time because Justin, our communications guy, assures me it is one of the more accurate depictions of the male psyche ever captured on film (at least as it pertains to dating and relationships).I must say, I think he's on to something. (For those of you who haven't seen it, stop reading now). Here are some of the nuggets of reality that one can find in the movie.
1) When Cusack's girlfriend leaves him to move in with another man, one of his first questions is if the sex is better with the new guy or him. Cusack's heart is broken, but his ego may have suffered the most damage.
2) When his lovelorn angst begins to overwhelm him, our hero seeks out a new conquest, a hipster bar singer (Lisa Bonet, as in Cosby Show Lisa Bonet!). Cusack has a great time with her, even spends the night, but the moment he bolts for the door, he immediately turns his attention back to the girlfriend who burned him. Guys, it seems, aren't always thinking about sex. Sex is a distraction!
3) Cusack is lying in bed, having sweat-filled nightmares about his ex and her new lover. In his brain, she is like a porn star with an insatiable sexual appetite. She was driven into the arms of another man because he couldn't meet her requirements as a partner. Now, it is pretty clear throughout the rest of the movie that his ex is a pretty normal woman who, up until the start of the film, had accepted Cusack for who he was. It seems unlikely that after years together she would cut and leave on sex alone. But, in the male mind, its perfectly reasonable!
So High Fidelity is a pretty accurate summation of that part of the male internal monologue we so rarely get to hear. It is a funny film, even touching in some instances, but what really stands out in my mind is how the male protagonist is a wounded, scared little boy when it comes to love. He's frightened and unsure of himself and absolutely dependent on his girlfriend for reassurance and comfort. Maybe some of us ladies should take a few notes and realize the male psyche is more fragile than we might think.
