Not so much an age thing…
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Liberal Arts
probitionate — 9 years ago(December 09, 2016 06:28 AM)
as a maturity, development-of-personality thing.
And she's the one with the maturity, not him.
He had wishy-washy down patin much the same way that he did in his first movieand 'How I Met Your Mother'.
In small bites, he's charming. But over the course of a movie? I wanted to punch him because of his tendencies. (And why I was never a dedicated viewer of the show.)
Whereas she was much more aware than he was. She had a rock-solid foundation, whereas his was made of sand.
I found it hilarious that this essentially dysfunctional thirtysomething guy was giving the advice he was.
If the writer/director/actor wanted to play out what he clearly had the best of intentions of doing, he should have backed off on her character, making her less mature, more ditzy, and him more solid, more worldly. THEN his refusal to de-flower her would have made sense.
This was truly an 'indie' movie, where character & situation is more important than story.
BTW: For the record, had I been in that situation, if it were me and not the dweeb in the film, I'd definitely have taken her to bed. (In the hotel, not in her room.) What Mr. Beige believed to be the risks were valid for himbut not to wise, compassionate, functional 35 year old menfor example, me at that age. But he wasn't up to the taskjust as he wasn't up to Life, really. She deserved to lose her virginity to someone with experience and the insight to make her initiation a wonderful onerather than by some uni dork after she'd gotten drunk. (Which is definitely what you can infer by her actions at the party she ends up going to.) -
shelemm — 9 years ago(January 09, 2017 06:02 PM)
The movie has a theme, an important one. And it has nothing to do with age or being wishy-washy (per se). it has to do with learning how to say No.
The theme is introduced early on when Zibby explains that in improv you have to say 'yes' to everything. From then on, Jesse is prodded throughout the film to say yes when he really wants to say no. It's not so much wishy-washy as not wanting to hurt people's feelings. he knows exactly what he wants to say but gets himself in a tough spot by not saying it.
There are about a dozen times when Jesse is told to 'say yes' ("fortune smiles on those who say yes") until finally he gets in way over his head. -
probitionate — 9 years ago(January 10, 2017 07:01 AM)
"
The movie has a theme, an important one. And it has nothing to do with age or being wishy-washy (per se). it has to do with learning how to say No.?
"
While I appreciate your insights, your proposal doesn't sit right with me at all; I think you give him too huge a dollop of credit, cut him immeasurable slack. But I can see your point. -
shelemm — 9 years ago(January 10, 2017 03:00 PM)
Well, it's in the script and it's persistent throughout the movie, and he sets it up well, so during the 'improv scene' he doesn't hit you over the head with it, but he cleverly introduces his theme:
"I love how terrifying it is, and how you have to say yes to everything."
This scene at 1:37
These scene at 1:16, 1:47, and 3:53
These scenes at 25:25 and 1:00:04
In that last scene, he utters the line which perfectly bookends the line in the improv scene: "I can't just say yes to everything." Wow.