Why Romance Movies Ruined Me

Kristen Key
Kristen

Guest Blogger Kristen Key

I’ve been watching romance movies before I could even remember.  Disney films, Ever After, Never Been Kissed, Maid in Manhattan and yes, even Pretty Woman, were some of my favorite childhood flicks. I would sit in front of our television set, wondering who my Prince Charming would be.  Based on these movies, I obviously knew that he would be tall, handsome, athletic, and brave.  He would be able to save me from my life with his perfect hair and his reasonable intelligence.  He would be from a faraway kingdom, and would ask for my hand in marriage even if I were the lowly housekeeper.  Of this, I was sure.

As I got older, I began to notice some things were different between me and the women on my screen.  I started to realize I wasn’t turning out as pretty as these women had become, and the boys I met were nothing like what the hero of my heart should be.  By the time I was in my teens, I had realized that I was average, and with that came the despair of wondering if I would ever have the love my favorite movies had shown me in the past.  A true love with a man that was perfect for me in every way.

My teen years went by and I continued to search.  While I may be average, a recurring theme in my favorite movies was “It’s the inside that counts.”  I hoped with all hope this was true.  If I was kind like Sleeping Beauty, hard-working like Cinderella, brave like Mulan, and have some killer heels like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, I would be okay.  The ‘perfect man’ would find me and we’d live out our days being adventurers and not having to clean because I could call animals to take out the trash with only a whistle.

It took me a long time to realize… THERE IS NO PERFECT MAN! There is no perfect life, because fairy tales and made up love stories are not reality.  Is there a man out there for me, possibly?  Is he a Prince? Probably not.  Is he a rich businessman who goes to Hollywood Boulevard and finds a hooker by the name of Vivian who likes singing Prince and is afraid of heights? Hopefully not.  But I’ve always been looking for something more and I blame romance movies. They never allowed me to see an average man in front of me as my happily ever after.  There’s nothing wrong with an average man, and only after 24 years of romance movie watching have I realized it.  A small part of me will always feel like I should have a Prince out there yearning to save me, but I can’t put my life on hold based on what the romance movies tell.  Let’s just say I could be waiting a long time.

Follow Kristen on Twitter: @KristanKey

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@lynncorey

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