I have gone through a recent phase that is not really all that surprising, and only mildly shameful: a Ryan Gosling obsession. It has really only been a matter of time before it happened to me, but it has: my recent viewing of Crazy, Stupid, Love. did me in good. Really, can you blame a girl?!
Admittedly, I am about eight years late to the party. It seems the Gosling love started with his breakout role as the heartthrob Noah in 2004 movie, The Notebook. As with most Nicholas Sparks book-to-film adaptations, it’s a tearjerker that can absolutely destroy your emotional balance. I say this with the utmost respect for Sparks: he’s been wildly successful, so clearly he’s doing something right. I can see three of his books on my bookshelf from here, and with a quick glance at his website, can name at least six of his sixteen published novels that I’ve read at some point. However, his books all have a decided theme to them that makes them all eerily similar to each other. Cue: the Nicholas Sparks equation
Step One: Boy Meets Girl
In some (naturally) adorable way, our couple comes together. They are nearly always from different backgrounds, so either they hate each other, their families hate the idea of each other, or both. This meeting nearly always happens during a carefree summer, before the realities of autumn hit, and then…
Step Two: Boy Cannot Be With Girl
This is likely due to the aforementioned family issues, war, or illness, among others. It’s always tragic, it’s always sad, and it will make you cry. Both boy and girl spiral into depression, corresponding through letters (that may or may not be received) and wondering how they will move on.
Step Three: Boy and Girl Make It Work
Forgetting all things conventional, the loving couple decides to face what is keeping them apart. They tell their family who’s boss, they make a miraculous turn in health, they break down social norms. Ryan Gosling builds you a house. Everything is wonderful.
Step Four: Steps Two and Three Repeat
(This is self-explanatory)
Step Five: The Sobfest
Juuuuuust when you think Sparks hasn’t tortured you enough, this is when he really lays it in – the heroine dies of cancer. They end up together, married and with children, but she has Alzheimer’s and can’t remember him. He comes back from war, and she’s moved on. And so on and so forth.
While some endings are more ambiguous, the more I think about it, the more I realize just how sad the majority of them are. It’s not a secret, either. Sparks is notorious for this. So why do we do it to ourselves? I think the reason is simple: when the inevitable movie comes out, it will star someone like Ryan Gosling.
