“This is Emo” 4/27

Reading Summary

In this chapter of Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, Klosterman discusses how no one will ever be fully satisfied with love. He believes that everyone has the “inability to experience the kind of mind-blowing, transcendent romantic relationship” that is seen in movies and the media (Klosterman 2). What we see in the movies is not realistic and there will never be that kind of love found in reality. He explains how the media portrays this kind of romantic fantasy that society must follow in order to find true love. As audiences, we can sometimes take on the roles of characters and follow in their footsteps thinking we will find the same kind of love, but Klosterman argues that this is corrupt. The media always leads us down the wrong direction of love and making us think we want something deeper. Unfortunately, life is not like the movies, and Klosterman makes a definite argument that this “fake love” we are trying to find will never surface because it is not real and we, as human beings, will never be satisfied. 

Outside Example

For my outside example, I chose the movie La La Land starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. In this movie, Mia, Emma Stone, is an aspiring actress and is unhappy with both her career status and her love life. Sebastian, Ryan Gosling, is a struggling jazz pianist and he has made it his goal to save jazz as its popularity is declining in Los Angeles. The two spontaneously meet and they begin to date and fall in love throughout the seasons. They face some hardships just as many couples do and they eventually break up. Mia becomes a well-known actress and marries another man who she has a daughter with. Sebastian opens up his own jazz club and is very successful. One night, the two encounter each other at Sebastian’s club and the feelings all come rushing back. The movie shows a dream sequence in which the two imagine what their relationship might have been alongside their different careers. 

Reading Connection

Klosterman’s chapter reminded me of this specific movie because it is not like the basic romantic movies we see in movies. In basic movies, the couple find each other in the end and live ‘happily ever after’. In this movie, it is quite the opposite. Although audiences see Mia and Sebastian’s relationship bloom throughout the movie, we see the reality of love, that it is not always perfect. The movie ended with Mia and Sebastian going their separate ways and even though audiences were rooting for them to be together, it did not end life’s normal romantic movies. The main point of this movie is building your own life and sometimes love must stay out of it. Just as Klosterman explains, life is not like the movies, and I think La La Land is a prime example of a realistic love story.