Good Chickflick vs Bad Chickflick

Remember the chickflick list? Tonight we finally finish it. Yeah. What was supposed to take 30 days has taken half a year. But it's coming to a close with The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Which, for those not in the know, it's a film about mother-daughter relationships, motherhood, friendship that ages through the years and loyalty. It has little to do with romance, which is rare for a movie geared towards women, and I like that.

However, speaking of chickflicks, let me talk about a bad one I saw very recently. The Wedding Planner. If you want to see a movie about a woman who is capable at her job, but too mentally inept to speak up and properly call a man out on his lying bullshit OR too meek and simpering to correct a man who's telling damaging lies about her personal life, then this is the movie for you!

The mere fact I can't fathom anyone, even a stupid person, being this clueless about how to proceed in life tells me the writers who generated this garbage have no business being in business. It's really infuriating.

Set the stage. A woman working in her capacity as a wedding planner, with a couple whose groom failed to mention he was engaged while he was on a date with said planner, experiences an awkward moment. An eccentric man (that her father had set her up with) runs up while she's working and tells everyone in earshot that they're engaged, which they are not.

The wedding planner:
A. Tells the man on no uncertain terms that not only are they not engaged, but he is disrupting her work and that he should leave.
B. Quietly asks security to remove the man, and discreetly mentions to the couple that she is not involved with this man.
C. Goes along with the lie and does not correct the groom while he gives her hell for not being clear she was engaged on their date.

I didn't finish the movie, but I know how it ends. You see, the bride says something that makes her not perfect at one point, so clearly she's not the woman for this sneaky groom. This clears the way for the wedding planner to start a relationship with the liar who dates other women while engaged. And then... she finally gets HER turn for HER special day! Yay!

And sadly, I'm pretty sure now that if I encounter someone who liked this movie, I may just wind up respecting them less for it, much like if I found out they were a Scientologist.

The paw print

The Dude is still on vacation time and likely will be all week. So I sent him on an errand to the vet clinic to retrieve Jerry's ashes, which had just recently arrived. I was expecting a small cardboard box with a plastic bag. I was going to scatter them somewhere or give them to my brother to scatter.

When I opened the box, which was a light blue, it contained an urn. The urn was stoney and sealed with a stiff ribbon around the neck holding a sold bronzy heart with "Jerry" engraved across it. It's small, beautiful and I shed tears when I held it. I didn't think it would mean so much to me to have his ashes in such a sweet little urn with his name on it.

But that wasn't all that was in the box. Inside was a silky navy drawstring bag. I opened it up and found a flat oval terracotta imprint of Jerry's paw. That did it. If I was moved by the urn, I was weeping over the paw print. The Dude and I held it and discussed ways to keep it safe and yet somewhere we could see it. We'll think of something soon.

I don't regret my choice to cremate him, not at all. I thought it was a little expensive, but didn't want to possibly ever regret not doing it so I shrugged off the cost and forgot about it. Now I see why it was so much. But I know I'll do it again when it's Smokey's time, hopefully a really long time from now. I can see the urn from here. It gives me a little feeling of peace knowing there's something of my little Jerry still here with me. And that damn paw print. God almighty. My heart broke in a sweet way over seeing that.

Emotions are in focus around these parts lately. We started our chickflickathon yesterday with The Notebook, and today was When Harry Met Sally. Since the Dude has already seen Shakespeare in Love, we're subbing in The Piano. It really is a lovely way to end an evening with a movie that makes you feel something.