Am I the only person that doesn't get emotional from romantic side stories of a movie?

[BeachBaby]

For instance:

"Titanic" - I couldn't have cared less about "Jack and Rose". Actually, I was a bit annoyed that the producer/directors felt it necessary to add something like that to a tragedy such as the sinking of the Titanic. If there was any part of the movie that shook me up, it was when they showed the dead bodies floating in the water. Why? BECAUSE THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED.

"Pearl Harbor" - I got a bit upset seeing a depiction of our innocent men and women getting blasted to death. Why? BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. The whole love triangle thing? To me, it took away from one of the most historical events in our nation's history.

I just don't get emotionally shaken up from fiction. To describe me, my uncle said it best: "You react to reality. Nothing wrong there".

[rockymountaindem]

1. Yeah those love stories are lame in almost all those movies

"Enemy at the Gates" was another one. I guess the battle of Stalingrad and the most legendary sniper duel of all time weren't good enough for the producers. It's love triangle time.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I hate most movie love stories.

They're usually annoyingly trite and treacly.

[LeftyMom]

3. I loathe that kind of crap. And I cry at commercials, so it's my not being insensitive.

I just prefer that anybody trying to emotionally manipulate me engage in at least a little bit of subtlety about it.

[BeachBaby]

6. It's Sarah McLachlan and the dogs, isn't it.

Gets me every time.

[LeftyMom]

10. Oh god no, I change the channel.

Camera commercials, cereal commercials, anything that's treacly and overly sentimental. Especially that time of the month. Actually, that's usually the early warning sign, when I start crying at the drop of a hat.

[latebloomer]

4. My husband calls it "gratuitous romance"

He thinks it's thrown in there to keep the womenfolk happy.

[BeachBaby]

7. I totally agree with your husband.

Most women I know, don't watch war movies. They'd rather watch the quintessential "chick flick".

Furthermore, they compose very dramatic music for the love scenes in war movies. Like LeftyMom said upthread, it's manipulative.

I don't need to be "moved" by fictional stories. I have more than enough real-life drama - there's no need to add fictional fluff pieces to a non-fiction tragedy.

[AlienGirl]

13. It seems thrown in to please American audiences--movies from other countries don't usually have it

[Lasher]

5. Midway has one of those side stories.

Ensign Thomas Garth has a girlfriend named Haruko who is an American-born daughter of Japanese immigrants. This side story was way out of place. I have often wondered what the director and producer might have been thinking when they decided to soil an otherwise great film by its inclusion. The only thing I can figure is, they must have wanted to provide something for Mom when she went to the drive-in with Dad and the kids to watch the movie in 1976.

Well I've got it on DVD now, so I can skip right through those parts. I no longer need to stick my fingers in my ears and go 'la la la!' while keeping my eyes closed.

[Quantess]

8. Romantic comedies are the worst.

No wait---romantic comedies about WEDDINGS are the worst!

[SoxFan]

9. You're not alone

It drives me nuts, too.

On the television series "Lost", they almost sank the show by wasting a season on a tiresome love triangle/quadrangle storyline, when most of us wanted creepy Ben, evil smoke monsters, and more cheesy 1970s videos with the Chinese guy whose name keeps changing.

[Iggo]

11. Yep. Unless the movie IS a love story.

Then it's on!

[AlienGirl]

12. I don't much enjoy love stories as the primary *or* the side story.

I'm just not that interested in romances that aren't mine. Almost everything I watch is a documentary of some sort, a show about people working to acquire knowledge (detective or lawyer shows, sci-fi about exploring the unknown), or something about disasters.

Tucker

[TZ]

14. Don't take offense but

I think you have a hard time with the "willing suspension of disbelief" thing. I think its why you dislike Sci-Fi/Fantasy so much.
For me it depends on how well the story is done. I did get caught up with the Jack and Rose thing. But the Pearl Harbor romance? Not so much.
Some people have less imagination than others..Thats not necessarily a good or bad thing. It just is.....

[BeachBaby]

17. You could be right.

Remember how I was raised. I was told, from the beginning, that there was no such thing as Santa Claus, or the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny. My parents didn't read me fairytales. And YET, the Bible was truth and was to be believed.

Oh, the irony. :P

[Deep13]

15. Depends. If it is believable and is part of a larger story,...

then I can get into it. If it is extraneous and gratuitous like the example you cited or when it is the whole story, I'm too bored to care.

[Captain Hilts]

16. Same here. "The Last Train" is a recent example. Dreadful romantic side story. nt

[MorningGlow]

18. Totally agree

I'm a sucker for romance, but NOT when it's getting in the way of a true story that's far more fascinating. I knew quite a bit about the true stories of the people on the Titanic before I saw the movie (went because I was curious, ended up feeling like the proverbial cat killed by same). As far as I was concerned, goddamn, Jack and Rose should've gotten their OWN fucking movie! I might not have hated them then. MAYBE. x(