Ruby Sparks

"I couldn't see you when you were here and, now that you're gone, I see you everywhere."

Since I had nothing to do last night, I watched this movie, Ruby Sparks. Its cinematography and wardrobe choice were beautiful; minimalistic cool tone attires for the taciturn antisocial Calvin, while the bubbly Ruby was almost always dressed in red/burgundy undertone. The plot was not terrible either, it was thoughtful, and the underlying message was accurate.

At first, I thought this movie leaned itself towards the generic "antisocial boy met (or in this case made) quirky girl and fell in love" in which there are cute movie montages of them doing irrelevant exploits with each other. However it set itself apart from the typical romantic comedy which glamorise the life of the perpetually single leading-man by making him more real (with his inability to have friends, dates, or even proper acceptance speech even though he was a writer) instead of sympathising him and forgiving him for being such an obsessive person with a made-up girl.

The movie spoke about the entrapment one would feel when they are in a relationship with someone who idealise them into something that they are not. It relayed to the viewers that a person can be unknowingly controlling, obsessive, possessive, restricting to the point of self-obsessed and narcissistic because this person only wants their significant other to exist solely for them. Calvin portrayed the type of person who was unable to communicate properly with Ruby, even though they talk to each other all the time. He set himself up to the idea that a person whose life revolved around him was the perfect person for him, treasuring and rejoicing in the fact that Ruby only needed him, that she was miserable without him; revelling the fact that he was the only one that could love and accept her. Therefor, when Ruby found another interest, his insecurities slapped him in the face in order to accept her as a human being, no longer a concept of an idealised person whose sole purpose in life was to be his.

Ruby Sparks made me realise a few things: the danger that a writer understands about loving and living as an idealised person, the impact of heavily and completely relying oneself to someone else, the notion of loving someone is different than the actual act of being in love with someone, the incompetency of communicating with someone without being entirely controlling, and the rejection of new cycle in a relationship.

This is one of a few movies that justifies my fear of being committed in a relationship––that it could only just be the temporary solution for loneliness. A momentary gap between similar states of loneliness.

[ricklinklaters]