Relax. Watch A Movie.

Checking my Twitter feed, I came across this post by Jap_Nishi: My life is currently replete with Cathy Garcia Molina moments. Oh please let me have a happy ending this time.

Sometimes I really can’t help my big mouth, or in this case, my too-quick-to-click-send finger. In less than a minute, I commented: Matakot ka sa Cathy Garcia Molina moments, cuz they're usually committee-approved fantasies designed to sell now but not last. ;)

Talk about bursting one’s bubble. Apparently I’ve honed it into a talent.

But then Jap_Nishi replied: i knoooow. kakatakot talaga. my only consolation is that my guy is nowhere near the typical leading man. msyado siyang pokerface. Lol

So to just finish my point, I added: Look for Judd Apatow moments. If you find someone who can provide those, the chances of you two lasting will be better. ;)

Jap_Nishi and I eventually veered into “friend-and-partner” versus “friend-then-partner” talk, but my point is simple. Kilig moments are great and all; in fact, it would be alarming should there be zero moments of giddy joy. But while those scenes play great onscreen, in real life they are not sturdy pillars on which a relationship can be built on.

Unlike the usual Hollywood romances, Apatow’s movies do not end with a couple kissing to a soft fade out. Instead he shows us the messy scenes that usually happen after the end credits. His movies show the very real but often awkward, and at times embarrassingly painful, ways we deal with people who matter to us. Usually it’s the people who can laugh with us as well as at us (but we forgive them for that) who stay with us longer.

Who knows, maybe one day this penchant for showing the messy side of romance will be codified and become another cliché-ridden genre. Regardless. Let’s enjoy getting light-headed and all tingly at the small of our back whenever we come across a well-executed kilig scene. But let us not forget that those moments happened in the safe, dark confines of the theater. Outside, let’s get real folks.