Sometimes, Cliche Doesn't Have to be Bad

Hmm... “Love Story Fades to Black”, by Michael Potter. Sounds interesting. The title implies something along the lines of a traditional hopeless romance scene where the guy loves the girl, but the girl considers the guy to be, at best, a friend. A bit cliché, but there is still hope. After all, this Michael couldn't be that bad of writer if he could come up with an intriguing sounding title like “Love Story Fades to Black.” Perhaps it will be funny. It's not like I've got a choice anyway. I have to read this for Writing 150.

“I walk into the scene looking nonchalantly around the walls...” Okay, so he's got a nice style, sounds very suave, etcetera, etcetera, blah, blah, blah, or at least he does in his own head. I'm curious about the use of the word “scene”, though. He acts as if he were in a play, not the real deal. Is he disconnecting from reality, trying to pretend that he is in a play, because people in a play always get the girl? Is this just a harmless contrivance, or is it a dangerous defense mechanism? My suspicions are partially confirmed a few sentences later when he adds, “Hopefully it's a movie where the insecure romantic gets the girl.”

“'What a lovely home.' Hmm, a little too much like daytime television, but here we go.” I've got to admit, he's right. That is a rather hopeless piece of opening . Next, he substantiates the theory that the girl isn't interested by saying that it lacks the warmth he thought it should have. Then again, he could just be paranoid and imagining it. Continuing my reading, I enjoy how he tells himself to be quiet, probably because I tell myself that on occasion. It's nice to know that I'm not alone. 

Next, he admits the dread secret the mankind has hidden from womankind for untold millennium: that we also over-think things, because we have absolutely no idea how girls think. I wonder if this is what the teacher meant when she said that we need to be candid in our personal narratives? Anyway, as the story continues, the author leaves clues explaining that he's been gone on his mission, that she probably doesn't care for him, since she only sent two letters, but that he is still blind enough to hope otherwise, at least for right now.

The dialogues both internal and external, continue, but the author quickly realizes that he is losing control of the conversation, which doesn't seem to be headed along the romantic lines he'd been hoping for. All seems lost (and the way he was moaning, the author sounded almost as if he'd lost more that just the conversation), when suddenly, “I hear what I hope marks the transition into a deep, Oscar-worthy second act.” There is hope as the girl asks what he's thinking about, but than the author gets lost in a remembrance of the “good old days” when they would sit on a tower and talk for hours. Sweet, and probably useful for me to know, but it isn't helping the conversation. But perhaps that remembrance was what he needed to get into the right mood for romantic dialogue. Of course, the girl is still clueless, and his attempt at romance soon flounders. He is on the verge of falling apart completely, when he is save by the bell, or rather, the phone.

Since his “second act” failed miserably, he readies himself to try and make the “third act” a rousing success. He readies lines sure to make the girl go weak at the knees, prepares himself for the delivery, only to drop dead as she returns saying, “'That was my friend. He's stranded in Las Vegas. Oh my gosh, he is the funniest guy. I'm so excited that you'll get to meet all my friends. There are some cute girls too.'”

If it wasn't for the girl's exceptionally clueless comment about how some of her girl-friends were cute, the author would have likely hoped that the funny guy would remain in Las Vegas permanently. As it was, he is completely shattered. At last, he must admit to himself that not only is this real and not merely a movie, but he also must confront the fact the his dream girl does not love him, and is clueless to the fact that he does. Having the other guy out of the picture wouldn't help in the least. As he wallows in the mental agonies of the dual revelations, he abandons himself to despair and the scene fades to black. Poor guy, you really have to feel sorry for him. All the same, at least he succeeded in not turning the story into a sappy cliché. I give him full credit for that.