Predictable Love Stories

I saw New Moon for the second time today! (TEAM JACOB <3) I went with Kathleen (my eighteen-year-old cousin) and Lizzy (my thirteen-year-old sister). Lizzy liked it okay, but it was kind of intense for her and she had trouble following the story. *shrug-sigh* Kathleen really liked it.

It was good the second time, but SOO infinitely much better the first. There's nothing like seeing a good movie for the first time. All the lines hit you, and you don't know what's going to happen next. Jacob's line that almost made me bawl the first time didn't bring tears to my eyes this time around. Still, it was good. I don't really want to see it again for a while, but it was good.

Keeping with the theme of love stories, I'd like to talk about something I've been thinking about lately: predictability in romances.

Let's face it: you can pretty much tell who will end up with whom ten minutes into a movie, or four chapters into a book. The average girl and the new guy. The new girl and the bad boy. The rocker and the ballet dancer. The human and the vampire :) We still like the stories and movies, but we often sigh at how obvious the outcome is.

One of my personal goals is to write an unpredictable romance. But then I got to thinking...

That would kind of suck.

I mean, we all clamber for some surprises, and surprises are great, but wouldn't you feel bummed if the main character suddenly ditched the crowd favorite went with the underdog? Some of you scream "NO!". But think about it. Some characters were just obviously meant to be together, and you'd be ticked off it the plot messed that up.

Star Wars: Han Solo and Leia. JUST KIDDING, Leia decides to marry Lando Calrissian instead.
Twilight: Edward and Bella. Edward changes his mind and ends up with Jane Volturi.
Cinderella: Cinderella and Prince Charming. Prince Charming ditches Cinderella and marries Drusilla.
You've Got Mail: Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox. Kathleen decides that Joe's not for her and sticks with Frank.

...wouldn't all that kind of SUCK?

Of course, there are some movies that don't end like we expect them to (Casablanca, Gone With the Wind) and they're still good and famous. But we do feel sort of bummed after seeing them for the first time.

I guess my point is, we complain about predictability, but if anyone ever really writes or films a completely unpredictable story, you leave the theater with a curled lip muttering about how crappy it was.

I think we as humans like predictability, whether we like to admit it or not.

So, my challenge to write an unpredictable love story just got that much more challenging:

Write an unpredictable love story that people LIKE.

:)