The "Good" Guy Always Gets The Girl?

It has become common place in films and television that "the good guy always gets the girl."  I find absolutely nothing wrong with this notion.  However what is actually portrayed is "the good guy gets the way out of his league girl."  I don't know like how this notion has affected male psyches.  In popular culture, it is assumed that if a guy just hangs in there a little longer, somehow this girl he is after is going to "open her eyes" to how great he is for her.  I am sorry, but that is not how it works.  I find it amusing to that the guys I have encountered in my own experience who have this mentality usually rank Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow movies as their all time favorites.  I find this amusing because all of their movies follow this ridiculous storyline.  Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love movies by these filmmakers (and Freaks and Geeks was/is one of  my favorite shows).  What I don't love is the lasting impression these guys leave on their audiences.  So many guys leave these movies with this new sense of optimism to finally "get" that girl they have always wanted.  If a girl isn't interested, she isn't interested.  She isn't leading you on by being "just friends."  It is not automatically assumed that if a girl is friends with a  guy there is automatically something more there.  And further more, what is annoying is there is more to this than just "the good guy getting the girl."  This spends the entire movie pining after someone or trying to save a failed relationship.  All of their efforts are ignored up until the moment when that "good guy" finally finds success.

Let's think about this.  Feelings don't just change like that.  A woman doesn't say no to a guy over and over and over again to just magically say yes all of a sudden.  This is never displayed, but the only reason that woman finally decides to say yes is because of the word success.  They don't have a change of heart because they finally see what they have been missing.  They weren't missing anything.  It is only because of this success that comes in during the final act that the girl finally sees the guy differently.  She sees the money, she sees the fame, she sees the comfortable life.  He finally fits into the category of being "good on paper."  She decides to settle.  This is another crucial message portrayed in these movies that I feel is detrimental to a lot of women.  

The thought of having to settle.  We all know that the "Prince Charming" type fairytales have completely fucked with women for longer than anyone can remember.  And no, there isn't a perfect man out there.  There is no person alive that is perfect.  Perfection isn't something to be found, it is something to constantly strive for.  However, no person should just "settle" because that's what you are supposed to do.  You shouldn't commit to someone because you are bored with looking or you don't want to end up alone (and if you do take that step, I am so sorry for you.)  You commit to someone because they are right for you.  Also, I am not saying that opposites don't attract or that a couple have to be in the same category of "attractiveness" from a list of superficial social standards.  Love is love and it doesn't matter who it's with.  What is portrayed in these movies is not love.  Love is something you can feel right away.  It isn't something you create, it is already there when the two souls first meet.  So the idea of the women in these movies all of a sudden changing their minds when there was nothing there to begin with is completely ridiculous.   

This isn't something you see with the genders switched.  All the films where the not-so-hot girl gets her "Prince Charming," the girl really isn't unattractive at all.  These films are always with women who are already hot underneath and the filmmakers just throw some glasses on her and make her hair messy.  However, the same theme is being displayed.  A superficial transformation finally opens one's eyes to the "love" that was standing in front of them this entire time.  Sure, he finally sees what he is missing.  But, he doesn't finally see her inner beauty.  It was her unattractiveness that was keeping him from her. How ridiculous is that?  "Oh, you got rid of your glasses!  Sweet!  Now I'm ready to be with you."

But, the theme portrayed in the Kevin Smith style movies is much more subtle and much more socially acceptable.  I worry about how this mythologies acceptance affects a woman's psyche.  I am scared for how many women out there might be subliminally brainwashed into this way of thinking.  But those getting brainwashed by this type of mythology probably don't have much depth in their way of thinking to begin with, so it probably works out okay.

It is never wrong to dream.  But, it is never okay to stalk someone.  When a girl says she just wants to be friends, she means just that.  So to all you guys out there, seriously, stop it.  When a girl says she just wants to be friends, she means she just wants to be friends.  All the time you waste chasing after the wrong person, you could be finding the right person for you.  Don't "wait it out," because whatever you think "it" is, isn't really there.  However, if you are fine with a chick way out of your league being with you for the money, then kudos to you sir.