Movie Analysis Paper

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Institution

Question #4

Introduction

Issues pertaining to love, friendships and romance have always made popular and controversial topics in the contemporary human society. Indeed, these issues have been considerably explored both in literature and in film. It goes without saying that these films and literary works often have varying themes and messages that they want to pass across, often guided by the experiences of the authors or film directors. Indeed, these works are aimed at sending a particular message about the society of the authors or the story directors, as well as shape certain ideas or influence some social changes in the thinking and the way of doing things in the societies within which they live. This is the case for the movie “When Larry Met Sally”.

Written in 1989, “When Larry Met Sally” is a romantic comedy that follows the romantic journey of Harry Burns and Sally Albright. They have just cleared school and are sharing a drive to New York City. Sally is just about to start studies at a journalism school, while Harry will be kicking of a career. Of particular note is that Harry, at the time is dating Amanda, a friend of Sally’s. In the course of the drive, the two have a discussion pertaining to their different ideas pertaining to friendship between males and females, with Harry holding the opinion that men and women can never be just friends as sex will always come in (Pasupathi, 2006). They part ways in unfriendly terms with Sally becoming angry with Harry for telling her that she is attractive. Their meeting, five years later, involves Harry trying to mend fences with Sally and trying to clear the air on his opinions as to men and women not being friends as the sex part will always come in. After another five years, they meet again and, this time round, have the capacity to be friends to the extent of spending quite a lot of time together. Eventually, the two have sex after Harry goes to comfort Sally, who is devastated about her ex-lover getting married to his assistant. While their love meets varied hiccups, they eventually make up and proclaim their love for each other.

While love, friendship and romance feature prominently in the movie, “When Harry Met Sally” is really about the differing ideas that men and women have pertaining to friendships between the sexes. In essence, the central theme is the differing ideas that men and women have regarding relationships and love. Indeed, it is evident that the two genders have different aspirations or ideas as to what constitutes friendships, or rather what purpose friendship serves. Sally thinks that friendship is merely for emotional support and social purposes, a notion that Harry seems to agree to but cannot see how that would fail to invite the prospects of sex (Pasupathi, 2006).

The differing ideas that women and women have pertaining to friendships and relationships are what keep Harry and Sally from having a romantic relationship. The recurring theme of the movie is essentially the place of sex in friendships, and especially with regard to whether men and women can be just friends without having sex. As much as Sally would disagree on Harry on the possibility of being just friends, Harry is eventually proved right when they have sex. Friendship, evidently, is a precursor for romantic relationships, which may never survive without sex.

This is, essentially, the message that the filmmakers are attempting to pass. They are insinuating that men and women have a considerably different view of friendship and what they entail, to even the purpose that sex serves in relationships. For Sally, it is evident that sex is not merely for recreational purposes rather it is bound to enhance the bond between two people. Harry, while not disagreeing per se with this notion, also underlines its recreational purposes component. Indeed, the importance of sex is underlined by the older couples’ interviews in the movie. For instance, when Harry and Sally are out at a restaurant and Sally begins faking an orgasm, an old woman asks the waiter to bring Sally is having, not in reference to the food, but rather to what would give her such pleasure (Pasupathi, 2006).

References

Pasupathi, V. C (2006). The Rhetoric of Love and Seduction. University of Texas at Austin