Closer sex

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Seriously...how hard can it be to write a damn blog? The novelty wore off after a bit. I really think I just don't have the heart to write at home when I spend all day writing for money. Ironically, I'm not at all used to writing about how I really feel. People tell me what to write all the time.

Copywriters are either the whores or the boybands of the writing community, depending on how you look at it.

The case for "Whores":

1. I write what you want me to write, for a fee.
2. "You" are a client.
3. I have several "clients".
4. Sometimes, "clients" ask me to do things I'm not proud of, and would never want my mother to find out.
5. I take a shower after a hard day's "writing".
   

The case for "Boyband":

1. I make pictures, sounds, videos and music of questionable taste.
2. I work with a lot of gay people.
3. The more famous I get, the more money I make.
4. Girls send me their undergarments in the mail all the time.
5. (OK, no. 4 was a complete lie.)

So maybe that might explain why I find it so hard to write about how I feel. I get confused between what I'm supposed to write and what I want to. It's different.

So I'll give it a shot. And talk about some things I've thinking about during this whirlwind of a week.

Which brings me to the title of this entry. It refers to 2 of my new favourite movies, "Closer" and "sex, lies & videotape". That's how you spell it officially, BTW. In lower case.

"Closer" stars Natalie Portman (yay!), Julia Roberts, Clive Owen and Jude Law. It's an intense, dialogue-driven piece dealing with 4 adulterous characters getting into bed with one another. One critic described it as "very attractive people doing very unattractive things".

Case in point:
1. Clive Owen undoes his pants in front of his computer while in a sex chat room.
2. Natalie Portman plays a stripper and responds when Clive says "Show me your cunt".

Anyway, the story revolves around these 4 people getting in and out of each other's pants. Both guys sleep with both girls. So you can't really call it a triangle. But calling it a "love square" is just too corny.

An interesting thing to note is that there are only 6 people in the cast. And the other 2 only get one or two lines. 99% of the movie is one character talking to one of the other three. And every scene depicts the beginning or the end of a relationship.

Now, "Closer" is probably the spiritual sequel to "sex lies", which is also about adultery. It's a slow burn involving (surprise) 4 people getting in and out of each other's pants. But only one guy sleeps with both girls. One's his wife. The other's his wife's sister.

And the other guy is an old college buddy who gets off on videotaping women telling him their sexual history 'cos he can't get it up in front of another person. So he basically tapes them and jacks off to the tape after they leave. Why can't he just buy porn, you ask? Because he needs to have some kind of interaction with the women. He never touches them physically. He just gets off on what they tell him.

What I like about these movies is how they depict the most exciting parts of relationships: The beginning and the end.

Not much is said about the middle bits. But that wouldn't make for much of a story either.

The initial prospect of a relationship is always memorable. It's when hormones talk and your brain is flooded with endorphins and dopamine, leading to that dreamy, butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling. I'm not saying it's entirely chemical. I like this part the best, but who doesn't.

What's cool is the process of discovering someone. It's like a CD you buy without testing (something I do often). You pick it up based on what you've heard, or what the cover looks like. You put it in your player and make mental notes of parts you like and skip the parts you don't. Not everyone agrees on your choice. Soon, some parts start growing on you. If you're lucky, you stumble upon parts you've hear a million times before and discover a new little gem. You even learn to appreciate the bits you never liked before.

The dopamine wears off, obviously, and then you get to the routine middle bit. We all know what that's like.

Then comes the impending end of a relationship. The emotionally-charged, nothing-to-lose part. It's make or break, and all the cards are out on the table. This part sucks, but it's necessary. Now, constructing sentences for a living kinda helps here when you're thinking of something to say. Because you end up saying the same thing over and over using different words anyway. But there is no winner and loser. Everyone hurts.

Personally, the couple of serious relationships I've had have started with a bang and ended with even bigger bangs. I like to remember them like they were scenes from movies like these.

There's another favourite movie of mine with similar themes about the beginning and end. It's called "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". I've been meaning to watch it again.

But I might just cry.

It's late. Meowie thinks so, too.