Day 17 - Shallow Hal
First Impressions:
This was not my first viewing of "Shallow Hal" yet there are so many scenes I don't remember, like this first scene where his father says on his deathbed that life is all about hot young tail.
Molly Shannon seems to be a rom-com staple of the early 2000s.
Why are inner and outer beauty mutually exclusive? There wasn't anyone in the movie who was beautiful inside and out.
Personal Reflections:
"See! That's what I had with Rosemary! I saw a knockout, I don't care what anybody else saw!"
The obvious comparison is "200 Pounds of Beauty". Rosemary is actually 300 pounds! In "200 Pounds of Beauty" the main character changes her body where in "Shallow Hal" one man's perception has been changed. In both we see the stigma weight has for women. "Shallow Hal" has Rosemary destroy every other chair she sits in, which might seem cruel but is actually necessary for the plot since we need to be reminded that the svelte Gwyneth Paltrow is not actually who is sitting in front of Hal.
"Shallow Hal" is what I would expect: Hal doesn't care about Rosemary's weight and is completely in love with her personality. Rosemary doesn't need to change; the world around her does, different from "200 Pounds of Beauty" where she remains her altered self.
So how important is physical appearance? In most rom-coms everyone is attractive except for Jason Alexander (Co-stan-za!). The 'correct' answer is that personality and character trump looks, since appearance inevitably changes with time. The real answer is that appearance matters. I don't need to go into apps like Tinder where matches are largely based on appearance or how social media is more picture/video than text based.
I never really understood marriage until I started thinking about the importance of physical appearance. There's a book I liked as a child called "The Twits" by Roald Dahl. The husband convinces the wife she is shrinking by gluing small pieces of wood to the end of her cane and legs of her chair. The change is imperceptible at first. This is the same as aging. I think it's really important to be initially physically attracted to your significant other. While you are married and see each other every day, neither of you will notice subtle changes. By the time you notice that neither of you is the same person, you are already so complacent in the marriage to consider an alternative. This is what marriage is about: security.
Or is the right answer that if you never care about physical appearance in the first place you will never be disappointed? Yes, we need to see beyond the impermanent physical vessel, but I believe that aspects of character manifest in the physical. If someone takes care of themselves, that is evident in their hygeine. If someone is happy, you can see that in their face and ease of movement. There is a difference between being "shallow" (ie. having a checklist of criteria like: must be 6'1, 200lbs, look like James Franco etc) and appreciating the personality qualities that translate into physical qualities.
Rom-Com Tropes:
1. Doesn't end with a wedding, though the send-off is wedding-like, with Rosemary carrying Hal to their car.
2. Beauty is skin-deep.
3. Who we love doesn't always make sense to third party perspectives.
Soundtrack:
Sheryl Crow, PJ Harvey, Cake, Phoenix. Comfort Eagle takes us home.
This was not my first viewing of "Shallow Hal" yet there are so many scenes I don't remember, like this first scene where his father says on his deathbed that life is all about hot young tail.
Molly Shannon seems to be a rom-com staple of the early 2000s.
Why are inner and outer beauty mutually exclusive? There wasn't anyone in the movie who was beautiful inside and out.
Personal Reflections:
"See! That's what I had with Rosemary! I saw a knockout, I don't care what anybody else saw!"
The obvious comparison is "200 Pounds of Beauty". Rosemary is actually 300 pounds! In "200 Pounds of Beauty" the main character changes her body where in "Shallow Hal" one man's perception has been changed. In both we see the stigma weight has for women. "Shallow Hal" has Rosemary destroy every other chair she sits in, which might seem cruel but is actually necessary for the plot since we need to be reminded that the svelte Gwyneth Paltrow is not actually who is sitting in front of Hal.
"Shallow Hal" is what I would expect: Hal doesn't care about Rosemary's weight and is completely in love with her personality. Rosemary doesn't need to change; the world around her does, different from "200 Pounds of Beauty" where she remains her altered self.
So how important is physical appearance? In most rom-coms everyone is attractive except for Jason Alexander (Co-stan-za!). The 'correct' answer is that personality and character trump looks, since appearance inevitably changes with time. The real answer is that appearance matters. I don't need to go into apps like Tinder where matches are largely based on appearance or how social media is more picture/video than text based.
I never really understood marriage until I started thinking about the importance of physical appearance. There's a book I liked as a child called "The Twits" by Roald Dahl. The husband convinces the wife she is shrinking by gluing small pieces of wood to the end of her cane and legs of her chair. The change is imperceptible at first. This is the same as aging. I think it's really important to be initially physically attracted to your significant other. While you are married and see each other every day, neither of you will notice subtle changes. By the time you notice that neither of you is the same person, you are already so complacent in the marriage to consider an alternative. This is what marriage is about: security.
Or is the right answer that if you never care about physical appearance in the first place you will never be disappointed? Yes, we need to see beyond the impermanent physical vessel, but I believe that aspects of character manifest in the physical. If someone takes care of themselves, that is evident in their hygeine. If someone is happy, you can see that in their face and ease of movement. There is a difference between being "shallow" (ie. having a checklist of criteria like: must be 6'1, 200lbs, look like James Franco etc) and appreciating the personality qualities that translate into physical qualities.
Rom-Com Tropes:
1. Doesn't end with a wedding, though the send-off is wedding-like, with Rosemary carrying Hal to their car.
2. Beauty is skin-deep.
3. Who we love doesn't always make sense to third party perspectives.
Soundtrack:
Sheryl Crow, PJ Harvey, Cake, Phoenix. Comfort Eagle takes us home.
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