You know, I don't ever do this anymore, but I would love to talk for a few minutes about the movie You've Got Mail. It is without a doubt, one of my favorite movies of all time. No matter how many times I watch it, I still love it. I think one of the main reasons I like it so very much is watching the process that the main characters go through to fall in love. Now, technically, it seems that they might already be that way at the beginning of the movie to some degree or another.
1. The secret.
When the movie begins, Joe and Kathleen are exchanging emails and such. It's an odd situation because they don't talk about anything personal so they have no idea who the other person is. And they are both attached to other people. And while they don't talk about things like what they do as a job and such, they are giving away critical information about their personalities, which is really what has them interested in the other person. So much that other people around them notice how happy they are.
2. Big Bad Bookstore Moves In
And then one day it happens. Fox Books moves in and starts gobbling up all the smaller bookstores around the area. Kathleen is determined not to let that happen. So she starts getting a bit proactive. One of my favorite parts is her on t.v. while Joe is on the treadmill. She states that he has compared books to cans of olive oil. Now, being a fellow book lover, I would find that equally appalling. Books change lives. At this point, it's almost like they loathe each other. What's so ironic? Joe is actually telling her to fight for her business and all that jazz in those emails, but it's really him who she is fighting against. That's what I call ironic.
3. She's Who??!!!
Ooooohhh yes. Joe and Kathleen decide to meet, however, a slight little hang up occurs and he finds out she's actually his arch nemesis: Kathleen Kelly. How could that sweet woman he talks to online be the same woman as this dragon lady who is sitting in a little cafe with a rose on a book, waiting on him? H e was almost ready to propose marriage to this woman who he was meeting until he found out that it was Kathleen. Joe decides to make her think she was stood up because Kathleen is in as much denial as Joe: there is no way Joe Fox is the man she's talking to. He's too nice for that. A gentleman. Regardless, their conversation gets kind of ugly and doesn't end well.
"You are just a suit."
4. Dejection and Rejection
"No matter what he's done to me, there is no excuse for my behavior."
Yes, even though he deserved it, she felt bad for her behavior towards Joe Fox. After some time of them not speaking, the two of them are feeling a little down because like Joe said, she expected to see someone she trusted, but met the enemy instead. Which is so very true of relationships sometimes. There are times when those we love become the enemy more than one we can trust. That is a hard and sad place to be and that is what they both feel as well.
"Dear friend,"
5. Life Changes
Everything suddenly changes. Both Kathleen and Joe break up with their significant others because they realize they want so much more. A particularly revealing scene is where Joe is stuck in the elevator. Certain truths are revealed. Then, Kathleen decides to close her book shop, which is devastating. Even Joe's father is on the down and out with his most recent woman.
"There was a man sitting in the elevator with me who knew exactly what he wanted."
6. A New Plan
"I wanted to be your friend."
Joe Fox starts being nice. Crazy right? Well, yes and no. Things change and with it comes a change of heart. He decides that maybe, just maybe, he was the bad guy in all of this and that he had driven the woman of his dreams to a breaking point. And so he decides that it's time for a new approach and the two become friends, easily it seems. And with that friendship, other things bloom as well. He once more sees the woman he knows he is in love with. Now, to convince her.
And last but not least....
And they lived happily ever after. I hope.
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