+perspectives+

'safe from harm' - massive attack

was watching tv last night, as you do, and there was bugger all on.
so i started random channel hopping - yeah, i know i could have switched it off, but i needed a no brain, eye fodder evening.
anyway...
stumbled upon the last half of 'love actually'.
yes, it is a cheesy film, that deliberately tugs your heart (tear?) strings...but i love it.
have seen the movie twice before - both times at the cinema, but that's not really what i want to write about.

what struck me last night (after i'd got through half a box of tissues from crying at all the cheesiness....definitely NOT a film for lonely single people to watch; just up feeling crapper - notice how everyone kind of pairs up at the end? everyone finds love...bah humbug)

ANYWAY.

what struck me was how perspectives of the same thing change over time. of course, this isn't a ground-breaking thought, but watching the film last night really made it clear.

first time i watched the film, i was in singapore with my family. think i went with sister sin.
was hot, but christmas, and i was looking forward to going back to japan to see my man.
and the fact that he was going to pick me up from narita made it even more poignant.
had lovely images of us hooking up at narita airport in a love-actually like scene...

second time i saw the movie, was with above man.
the above man who overslept, didn't get to the bloody airport, and who asked me to get the train home instead.
so, a few months after singapore, i took him to see the film & show him why i was especially upset that he didn't pick me up. (yup, got to teach these boys the error of their ways...) and it worked - he spent the next few hours apologising & took me out for dinner.

and third time was last night. the man has become ex-boy, and i'm single.

but how have my perspectives changed...
well, when i watched the film the first two times, the story that got me most was the father-son one. and maybe the writer in portugal (it was portugal, wasn't it?)

this time, the one that really got me was the husband-wife one, with the joni mitchell cd thing.
and the singer & his fat bastard manager.

and, and the end of the film, i felt differently.
kind of semi-ranted above, in the film everyone gets together & kind of ends up with some form of love.
when i was a smug girlfriend, i finished watching the movie & thought, 'ah, isn't life wonderful and aren't people lovely'
this time, as a bridget-jones-with-better-underwear, i thought, 'fuckers. it's not that damn easy' and then stomped around the living room & had a cigarette.

yeah, perspectives have changed.

just as a little point of interest, in singapore, they edited the film & completely cut the story about the couple who met on the movie set as body doubles. think it was a bit too racy for singapore audiences.... (!!)

and, btw, despite all my ranting, i still love the damn film. even though it makes me stomp.
and if you haven't seen the film, then you probably didn't understand any of the above...watch it!
and if you have watched it, which story was your favourite?