Maybe you’re completely lacking a love life or its state at present leaves you questioning why you even chose to have one in the first place; regardless, we have all found ourselves fantasizing about that perfect someone and all the ways we could end up with them. Sometimes you dream of finding the most off-the-wall impossible love affair of a lifetime, but other times it is the simplicity of what is right in front of you that serves the theme of your perfect daydream. Often, I find myself looking to movie plot lines for inspiration, so here are a few of my favorite love stories Hollywood has provided us with:
1. "Midnight in Paris"
Leave it to Woody Allen to paint the scene for a picture-perfect romance. Really, who couldn’t fall in love in a beautiful city like Paris? To summarize, a Hollywood screenwriter by the name of Gil roams the city trying to find new inspiration. Gil stumbles onto a side street that transports him back in time, where he meets all of his favorite writers and artists. Besides the sheer aesthetic of the places he finds himself wandering, the theme of discovering the unexpected is equally as charming. I’m a sucker for storylines set back history, and when Gil falls in love with a made-up character who is supposed to be the artist Picasso’s mistress, I find myself wishing I, too, could be dressed as a flapper, finding true love in 1920’s Paris.
2. "Footloose"
Sorry, Kevin Bacon, but I’m talking about the 2011 version. This movie plays into my own fantasy that I would dance my way into someone’s heart (if I knew how to dance in the first place). Set in a small country town, an idea which is completely novel to me, I wish it was me sexy-country-line-dancing with the dreamy Ren MacCormack. Better yet, my dad hates him and dancing, so it’s a truly forbidden love.
3. "10 Things I Hate About You"
Much more realistic than time traveling in a different country is "10 Things I Hate About You," in which Julia Stiles plays “the meanest girl in school.” In actuality, her character, Kat, is an extremely educated bookworm with a level of sarcasm I highly respect and found eerily parallel to myself. Though these qualities leave her an outcast at her high school, the new hunky Australian kid played by none other than Heath Ledger sparks her interest. Who doesn’t want to be the underdog who ends up dating Heath Ledger? Did I mention Heath Ledger…
4. "Friends with Benefits"
It’s a common belief that the best kind of love would be ending up with your best friend, which is the idea behind "Friends with Benefits." Try as they might to keep things casual and only be hook-up buddies, Jamie and Dylan (played by Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake) end up falling for each other and turn their legendary friendship into an even greater relationship. I loved their playful senses of humor, and their ability to make fun of each other, and, like I’m finding many of my favorite movies to have, there is a musical performance.