Where's the real romance?

In the past three weeks Shannon and I have seen three or four different, so called romantic comedies. (Hey I like an occasional chick flick) Each one of them followed almost the same pattern. Guy and girl meet under false pretense, where one of them is pretending to be something they are not, then under the worst of circumstances they fall in love, the secret is revealed, they hate each other until one of them desperately confesses their love for the other and all is forgiven. They then live happily ever after.

This plot is not at all original and is to be expected when going to this type of movie. No one is expecting an Academy Award to come out of it.
However, I have been noticing a disturbing trend lately. Most, if not all, the characters are jerks!

It's mostly the guy characters, but the fact that these women would actually choose this type of guy, no matter how heart felt the speech at the end is, is sad and pathetic. Why is it the leading man's qualities, girls are supposed to swoon over, include him being as crude as possible, with virtually no redeeming qualities? When did it become okay to portray the "man of her dreams" as a looser who either doesn't have a job, lies to get what he wants or is just an all out idiot when it comes to how to treat a woman. Then excuse it all in the end because he looks good, has a killer smile, well all's forgiven because he really LOVEs her.

Look I've never thought that what is portrayed in movies should be an example or a goal for anyone to desire. But come on! If this is all the young girls and woman see on the screen, will they be more willing to accept that behavior in real life?

Unfortunately this type of story is becoming more and more prevalent. Just last week I saw another trailer for a upcoming movie where the guy is a literal male slut, sleeping with every thing that walks. At one point he is shown the hundreds of girls he's slept with and dumped, only to later be reunited with his "child hood sweetheart" who, of course is a successful, attractive and all around nice person.. Then after a few mishaps and most likely some lame speech, all is forgiven and he's now the guy of her dreams. It makes me vomit a little in my mouth. What kind of woman really wants to be with a walking STD?

All this example really does is tell young men, they can act like jerks as long as they ask for forgiveness in the end. Is there any wonder why young men, and a lot of 30 somethings as well, don't know how to be MEN. They seem to have no clue how to truly date and "woo" a woman.

In my disgust that this is what is being passed off as romance or acceptable behavior, I then have to realize who is actually writing these scripts. It's young, mostly unmarried, guys (I refuse to call them men) who have no real relationship experience at all. It is these losers who are telling our daughters this type of behavior is acceptable.

The true manly examples of characters like, Mr. Darcy, Wesley (The Dread Pirate Roberts), or William Thacker are what women need to see more of on screen. Men who might be a bit goofy or not as swave but still know that anatomy humor or torrid hook ups are not the way to a woman's heart.

I hope this Valentines day all the fathers out there will show their daughters how a real man treats the woman he loves by romancing his wife, their mother, the old fashioned way. Through her heart and mind.