One Day

It's happened. Something that, in my mind, was so unlikely to have happened that it actually (in some hipster-esque ironic fashion) makes sense that it did. I found myself (and continue to) moved by the recent release of the film "One Day". Ask Meg and she'll tell you that i'm not quite the Rom-Com kind of dude.

For those of you who are not in the know (doubtful), "One Day" is the story of Emma and Dexter. They meet for the first time upon graduation from U Edinburgh on July 15th 1988. Although, Em admits that she and Dex have met before, in rather unflattering instances; Dex, in his drunken stupor (which seems to be a rather disturbing pattern throughout the novel), has no recollection of their previous run ins. What follows next is Dex (Cassanova that he is) trying to hook up with an obviously shy, yet infatuated, Em. Reluctant at first to his advances, she finally acquiesces. Rather joltingly, Dex changes his mind and tries to skee-daddle ((we catch a glimpse of him in the unceremonious act of putting on his trousers while Em's in the lou (sorry brits, i don't know how to spell that one) mustering up the courage needed to successfully bed the beguiling male specimen in her bed.)) She comes out looking, admittedly, geeky, timid, resolute and seductive, but then notices his change of mind and decides quite quickly that it was a mistake to think that this would actually happen in the first place. To cut a long story short, the spend the night with one another, but don't move past some rather sweet spooning to the waxing moonlight.

***Spoiler Alert***

If you do not wish to know what happens next because you'd rather see/read for yourself, by all means don't read the next few lines. I'll italicize them so that way it's distinct what's the spoiler and what isn't. A firm line in the sand will demarcate when the spoiler has ended.

So the movie ends with a flashback of them waking up after they decide to lay down with one another back in 1988, exchanging a few tender/awkward sentences and deciding to take a walk. They playfully trudge up a hill situated next to the school where, presumably, they can take in the Edinburgh sky-line. Upon reaching the summit, they converse with one another on the history of the day in question. Realizing that he wants her just as badly as he did last night, whilst soundly drunk, Dex makes another pass at her. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth (i guess i can see why some critics would have an issue with that) she decides to throw caution (and presumably her knickers) to the wind. In fact, she's the one leading the charge down the hill and back into town. The race is against the clock because he wants to do the deed before his parents return. Once they enter town, a pre-dawn light bathes the city square in a blue, yet unpredictably auspicious, light. They embrace each other in quite the passionate kiss (scene serves as the cover for the book and movie posters.) The music that plays throughout this scene is light-hearted and happy, much like our love birds. Unfortunately, their tryst is cut short by his poorly timed, cock blocking parents. Que lastima. After awkwardly, yet glowingly, meeting his parents, Em decides to exit stage right while he tries to reassure his smirking mother (she's well played here) and obviously embarrassed father that Em is his friend and nothing more. The scene cuts to Em walking down the street and Dex running up to her to try and arrange future meets with her. After bantering with each other, and kissing one another, in that perfectly nerdy and awkward way, she notes with confidence that they will see each other again. We see them trade contact info, cutesy good byes and, while turning their backs on one another, steal glimpses at one another. Fade to black. Roll credits.


***Spoiler done***

The rest of the story revolves around their lives and this particular day, during which we see their respective trials, tribulations, loves and losses. The glue in their lives is their unofficial pact that this day is what keeps them stable for the remaining 364. The movie fashions itself in a way that shows the days without one another and the one day that they actually do have each other to themselves.

(a more romantic approach to this whole premise would be to secretly steal their calendars, cross out every other month & date and write July 15th over and over again.)

So why am I even taking the time to write on this topic in the first place? Truth be told, I can't give you a straight answer. Even before this movie came out, I saw the previews and (at the risk of sounding utterly melodramatic) felt something stir. I suppose my trepidation at seeing this movie on the screen came from a few places.

1.) Meg read the book at the suggestion of her friend, Traci. Meg and I have, largely, incongruent tastes in books and movies.

2.) Major motion features adapted from novels are, for me, like new releases of Dan Brown novels in Barnes & Nobles. More often than not, lots of shimmer, but the depth and emotionally complexity of a thimble of water...for Feival.

3.) ZERO black folk. Pause. That's not true. Some rappers meet Dex on one of his shows and he, painfully, fumbles the interview in the red zone. In this one, we're none existent, but when we are, we're non-smiling, ultra cool caricatures of what we're supposed to be like. Shaka Zulus, but wearing what one would see at a Das FX concert. But there aren't a lot of us who would have existed in Dex and Em's world to begin with so it's logical to see no brown folk.

Regardless, I found myself in the embarrassing position of being that guy who blubbers ceaselessly for folks that, seemingly, share no connection to him (outside of the obvious). I've never chased anyone for twenty years off and on, nor have I had a flirtatious relationship with any of my friends that were tolerated to the level they are in the book/movie. In fact, back in college/post college when I did have flirtatious interactions with female friends that resulted in sex, I usually lost the friendship, much to my extreme consternation and disappointment.

Yet there I was, during key parts of the film, blubbering my eyes out with the 4 teenage girls seated several rows behind us. I think Charles would take a stripe from me on that one...ask him about if you want to get the joke...don't you just hate inside jokes that really aren't that funny to begin with and are now just annoying because they don't really advance they story along? But I digress...monumentally...

Ultimately, I can't put my finger, specifically, on what about this particular movie that broke me down in such an unexpected fashion. I mean, part of me knew that I was going to see this movie and feel something, given how much I felt in the build-up. I just wasn't expecting such a movie to be so good at the job. To say the least, this film has moments that will stick with me for a while.

I tried to think of the emotions the film brought out. Jealously? Partly because i'm not in Europe anymore? It could be that. But, perhaps more apropos, I've definitely been on the losing end of unrequited love so that's not a feeling that i'd like to re-visit. Ever.

1.Suddenly realizing that your clothes have, for reasons unbeknownst to you, have left your body at the precise moment you realize you farted at a staff meeting of over 100 other co-workers. While giving a presentation. On the declining size of the black male member.

2. Walking across the graduation stage, slipping into the arms of the president of the college, stumbling over him, standing up and realizing that you're pitching a tent that's poking out of your gown. In front of everyone.

These things would suck tremendously. Truly moments that no one could, conceivably, find an easy recovery from. Nothing sucks...is more embarrassing... than loving someone who's so obviously in love with someone else or just simply, doesn't love you back. This movie brought some of that back in me.

What was truly heartbreaking is how tragic the story is. Can anyone truly be happy? Is that the point? Is there some expiration date on contentment in life? Is utter happiness such a pure and combustible substance that it immolates itself quickly and without any real idea of knowing how long till the fuel gives out? Must the situation resolve itself by separating the couple in some overly dramatic and equally tragic way?

It's really fucked up to see people who are obviously madly in love with one another go time without being with one another. But then again, it begs the question of what happens after happily ever after? How does Charming feel when Cinderella go from a size 0 to a size 10? How does Aurora feel when Charming lose the gait that made her shiver all those years ago? Is that the point? In order to preserve the beauty of the love two people who are madly in love with one another, must they keep each other at extreme arms length so that the love shared doesn't succumb to reality? And woe to them should they throw caution to the wind and actually acknowledge their burning passion for one another by making each other honest. Is it an author/filmmaker's intention to keep love clean so that it can't be sullied by the possibility that despite love at first sight, as we age, we tend to go blind, need glasses and ultimately run the risk of losing our sight altogether?

The cynic in me sees this as a cautionary tale. The romantic (which I thought actually didn't really exist) is so moved that even after the films conclusion, he still weeps tears of joy and goes home to watch the trailer, all the while counting down the days till it's released on DVD.