(no subject)
Aug. 19th, 2018 06:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
geebsSo decided to check out what the buzz was all about with "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" on Netflix. And I'm glad I did, ultra-cute rom-com. Heh, the fake-dating thing is kinda a fan-fic cliche, but whatever, its sweet. Cheesy, but not too cheesy.
And not at all problematic- no fake nice guys, no one compromising themselves. Heh, some people complained that why are none of the guys she likes Asian? And I'm like, what, just because she's Asian she has to like an Asian dude?! Its like, its a pretty nice movie, why do people have to find some reason to complain?!
Anyways, I didn't realize Peter was Jesus 2 from the Fosters at first, and totally didn't know Lara was Jubilee from X-Men: Apocalypse until I looked it up. But lots of other recognizable faces, her father's played by John Corbett, her sisters are Mona Van Der Waal and Dizzy from the Descendants, her best friend is Fray from the Magicians, her nemesis is Midge from Riverdale.
Also, a Sixteen Candles/Fight Club double feature would be very weird.
Some spoilerish comments: I liked that while Peter agreed to the fake dating to supposedly make Gen jealous, its not like she was doing this to be cool, or make someone jealous, she was doing it just to avoid an awkward conversation with her former best friend turned sister's boyfriend turned ex-boyfriend.
So its funny, because her reason for sticking with the fake dating was incredibly thin, but at the same time, Peter was totally the one who fell hard first. And pretty obviously, its ridiculous how oblivious Lara Jean is. As Lucas brought up, the fake dating thing was Peter's idea, she's the one who keeps trying to get out of it claiming Gen was sufficiently jealous and things were "cool" between her and Josh. And its amusing because her inner monologue claims she didn't want to go onto the ski-trip because she was worried she was developing real feelings for him, while it was pretty damn obvious that he wanted her to go on the ski trip because he totally had real feelings for her!
I mean, to be fair, it was a little confusing for her, what with Peter still talking to Gen. But it was hardly because he was "obsessed" with her as Lara would say. I think he's still kinda hung up on her, and the whole "fake" dating thing made things worse. Because from the very beginning, it was totally real dating for him, even if that wasn't his intention. Which, as an aside Peter says their spin the bottle kiss was "hot" for seventh grade when he first confronted LJ about the letter, but we see the flashback, and its barely a peck! So he's obviously idealized it way more than she did, plus the whole LJ trying to get out of it to not piss of Gen and Peter being all, naw, we have to follow the rules and insisting on kissing!
But Lara, even though she did start to harbor real feelings for him, was a total cool customer all, "Oh, I'm not nervous like I'd be with a real bf, since this is all fake!" and not actually reading the notes he was giving her.
Although I can see why she's confused- he initially brought up giving notes because Gen kept begging him to give her notes, so she thought it was nothing. And so she never bothered checking to see it was actually something!
So he was kinda in this nebulous zone where he wants to be with Lara but she was aloof, and Gen was still sniffing around, more out of jealousy than wanting to be with him. Of course, the whole mess after the ski trip coulda been avoided if he would just spit it out. Hey, if you went to Gen's room to say it was over, just come right out and say it, don't hem and haw and draw it out. Because that gives Lara to be all, whatever, this was nothing anyways, which of course makes him more reluctant to put his feelings out there. Besides, saying things like, "you don't understand the situation" or "we have this history" sounds friggin suspicious as hell!
Also, the stuff with Gen does seem kinda unresolved. Like Lara says they stopped being friends in middle school because Gen got popular and she wasn't. But then the whole spin the bottle incident not only made an impression on Lara to write that letter back then, apparently it did affect Gen. Like okay, it was kinda nuts that that stupid game made Gen jealous all this time. And heh, this fake dating thing totally played into a whole complex she had. So they have their confrontation in the bathroom, and that's it. Like, Gen prolly does think Lara is this fake boyfriend-stealing bitch.
I do wish they did a little more with Josh- like she says Josh was her best friend before he started going out with Margot, but that didn't really come across. So their first real talk after she and Peter started dating, he's totally confused, because he not only lost Margot, he lost her too, but there wasn't enough beforehand to make her seem like someone he had to lose.
I hear in the books they kiss, but I like that in the movie there's nothing of the sort going on between them. Also, I'm skeptical about Kitty's reasoning for sending the letters in the movie. I think in the books she does it because she gets mad at Lara for threatening to reveal she also has a crush on Josh, but here she does it because she could tell Peter like Lara from that one interaction where she almost ran him over?
And then she acted like she didn't know who he was when he went to drive them to school!
And not at all problematic- no fake nice guys, no one compromising themselves. Heh, some people complained that why are none of the guys she likes Asian? And I'm like, what, just because she's Asian she has to like an Asian dude?! Its like, its a pretty nice movie, why do people have to find some reason to complain?!
Anyways, I didn't realize Peter was Jesus 2 from the Fosters at first, and totally didn't know Lara was Jubilee from X-Men: Apocalypse until I looked it up. But lots of other recognizable faces, her father's played by John Corbett, her sisters are Mona Van Der Waal and Dizzy from the Descendants, her best friend is Fray from the Magicians, her nemesis is Midge from Riverdale.
Also, a Sixteen Candles/Fight Club double feature would be very weird.
Some spoilerish comments: I liked that while Peter agreed to the fake dating to supposedly make Gen jealous, its not like she was doing this to be cool, or make someone jealous, she was doing it just to avoid an awkward conversation with her former best friend turned sister's boyfriend turned ex-boyfriend.
So its funny, because her reason for sticking with the fake dating was incredibly thin, but at the same time, Peter was totally the one who fell hard first. And pretty obviously, its ridiculous how oblivious Lara Jean is. As Lucas brought up, the fake dating thing was Peter's idea, she's the one who keeps trying to get out of it claiming Gen was sufficiently jealous and things were "cool" between her and Josh. And its amusing because her inner monologue claims she didn't want to go onto the ski-trip because she was worried she was developing real feelings for him, while it was pretty damn obvious that he wanted her to go on the ski trip because he totally had real feelings for her!
I mean, to be fair, it was a little confusing for her, what with Peter still talking to Gen. But it was hardly because he was "obsessed" with her as Lara would say. I think he's still kinda hung up on her, and the whole "fake" dating thing made things worse. Because from the very beginning, it was totally real dating for him, even if that wasn't his intention. Which, as an aside Peter says their spin the bottle kiss was "hot" for seventh grade when he first confronted LJ about the letter, but we see the flashback, and its barely a peck! So he's obviously idealized it way more than she did, plus the whole LJ trying to get out of it to not piss of Gen and Peter being all, naw, we have to follow the rules and insisting on kissing!
But Lara, even though she did start to harbor real feelings for him, was a total cool customer all, "Oh, I'm not nervous like I'd be with a real bf, since this is all fake!" and not actually reading the notes he was giving her.
Although I can see why she's confused- he initially brought up giving notes because Gen kept begging him to give her notes, so she thought it was nothing. And so she never bothered checking to see it was actually something!
So he was kinda in this nebulous zone where he wants to be with Lara but she was aloof, and Gen was still sniffing around, more out of jealousy than wanting to be with him. Of course, the whole mess after the ski trip coulda been avoided if he would just spit it out. Hey, if you went to Gen's room to say it was over, just come right out and say it, don't hem and haw and draw it out. Because that gives Lara to be all, whatever, this was nothing anyways, which of course makes him more reluctant to put his feelings out there. Besides, saying things like, "you don't understand the situation" or "we have this history" sounds friggin suspicious as hell!
Also, the stuff with Gen does seem kinda unresolved. Like Lara says they stopped being friends in middle school because Gen got popular and she wasn't. But then the whole spin the bottle incident not only made an impression on Lara to write that letter back then, apparently it did affect Gen. Like okay, it was kinda nuts that that stupid game made Gen jealous all this time. And heh, this fake dating thing totally played into a whole complex she had. So they have their confrontation in the bathroom, and that's it. Like, Gen prolly does think Lara is this fake boyfriend-stealing bitch.
I do wish they did a little more with Josh- like she says Josh was her best friend before he started going out with Margot, but that didn't really come across. So their first real talk after she and Peter started dating, he's totally confused, because he not only lost Margot, he lost her too, but there wasn't enough beforehand to make her seem like someone he had to lose.
I hear in the books they kiss, but I like that in the movie there's nothing of the sort going on between them. Also, I'm skeptical about Kitty's reasoning for sending the letters in the movie. I think in the books she does it because she gets mad at Lara for threatening to reveal she also has a crush on Josh, but here she does it because she could tell Peter like Lara from that one interaction where she almost ran him over?
And then she acted like she didn't know who he was when he went to drive them to school!
