Romantic Comedy Cliché: He's Just Not That Into You
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Credits: fanart.tv
This movie, seemingly a Valentine’s Day twin, has some very well written romantic plots… all minus one. He’s Just Not That Into You follows interconnecting story arcs as they go through the struggles of dating in their 30’s. Storylines such as not wanting to get married, having an affair, never getting a call back, and loving someone while they’re only using you for your affection.
There’s only one storyline that really rubs me the wrong way. And that’s the storyline of Alex and Gigi (pictured above).
Their “love story” doesn’t make an ounce of sense; if you really watch the movie and pay attention to their characters from the beginning, you would automatically think “they don’t belong together”. I’ve watched this movie too many times to count - call it my guilty pleasure - and the fact that Alex’s character completely changes gets my blood boiling.
Now, for some context, here’s the official storyline of the “love birds”: Alex and Gigi.
Gigi is the movie’s main character: the movie follows her through her endless suffering of waiting for the guy to call back. She goes on date after date, only to never hear from the guy again. In the beginning, it can be seen as relatable, so they get brownie points for this. Then, during one of her “stalking nights,” where she casually goes to the bar her last date said he likes going to, she runs into bartender Alex who promptly tells her the hurtful truth…
HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU!
Cue shocked noises.
With this revelation, Gigi slightly changes up her game plan. Alex remains a friend in her life, telling her MORE THAN ONCE, and I quote, “if a guy wants to date you, he’ll date you. There’s no mixed messages”.
Alex is someone who is looking for a more casual thing, open to the idea of a relationship but isn’t heavily pursuing one. He’s a great friend to Gigi; giving her advice and not sugar-coating the truth. The only feeling he’s shared regarding Gigi is FRIENDSHIP.
credits: tumblr
Later on in the movie, Gigi decides that Alex is sending her mixed messages! He’s totally in love with her, I mean you can’t ignore the signs… in reality, she’s taking his friendly advances and turning it into a whole “he loves me” mess. Alex then hosts a party and asks Gigi to come, which she misinterprets as an invitation to co-host. She goes around the party implying this, which is embarrassing to the audience as you see how obsessed she’s getting. Once the party is done and everyone is gone, Gigi throws herself at Alex and is professing her love.
Alex, who is rightfully confused, gets up and is seen to be very annoyed. He’s annoyed at the fact she is now ruining their friendship while blatantly ignoring what he’s been saying all throughout the movie… if a guy wants to be with you, he’ll be with you. Gigi goes on some long rant, claiming he’ll never be happy, and runs out of the apartment.
Now, normally this would be the end of the situation. But for some reason, the writers thought it would be a great idea to turn Alex into the male version of Gigi. He keeps calling her, is overthinking about her, then shows up to her apartment professing his love and saying she is the one! After that, the movie is basically over.
How come the writers thought it was totally okay to change the character’s mindset? They turned him into a completely different person. It would be different if he showed a little bit of interest in Gigi, but he didn’t! He was nothing but a friend to her. This also shines a bad light on different gendered friendships; the fact a guy and a girl can’t just be friends without one of them catching feelings.
Overall, this movie has some great plot points, and I do find myself enjoying every other storyline. It does well in the Rom-Com genre but really fails at Alex and Gigi’s story. It doesn’t make sense - will never make sense to me - and it should’ve been cut from the movie altogether.
I guess I’m just not that into the movie, huh?
Madilyn Bailey
I’m Madilyn, a full time student at Algonquin College. I have an addiction to coffee scented candles, enjoy watching anime, as well as making my family fat from all the baking I do.
