Questioning the gushy stuff

I was excited to hear we were watching a movie in class.  I love movies!  I was also intrigued by the subject of the film.  Iron Jawed Angels tells the courageous story of a brilliant group of suffragettes.  The film closely follows the personal journey of activist Alice Paul, played by Hillary Swank.  We did not get to finish the entire film during the period; however, the hour and fifteen minutes did give me some curious thoughts.

From the first scene I was immediately immersed in the story.  The short frames and moving music rapt my attention.  The script and actors worked well to build interesting characters (can a political activist manage to be an uninteresting person?)  Everything was going smoothly until the camera focused in on a new character played by Patrick Dempsy.  I won't go in to detail as to what I think of Dempsy as an actor.  Suffice to say, I don't care for the sappy, overly smooth ladies men.  When I saw him enter the frame, I laughed out loud.  Of course, I thought, what would a chick flick be with out a little romance thrown in?  The choice of Dempsy also amused me.  Dempsy's character is the gentle, sensitive, Mr. Mom type.  This, in and of itself, is not terrible.  Throw him into a group of "iron jawed" women, he could get gobbled up.  His character is in no way a threat to these young, ballsy women.  Had he been any more macho, he might have tipped the scale.

What made me smirk the most was the typical Hollywood romance device employed.  Alice Paul walks into his studio, sees a picture of Dempsy with another woman and child, gets angry, and proceeds to walkout.  Herein-lies the cheap trick, his wife is four years dead.  The hearts in the audience sigh a resounding "Aw!"  His four years of loneliness only make his pursuing more credible.  Plus the fact that he has a kid, which he later takes to a dinner meeting, contributes to his sensitivity.

If you, dear reader, can not tell, I despise mechanical pulls on my heartstrings.  I am in no way against love, romance, and being pursued.  I just can't stand the unnecessary insertion of Hallmark card material.  I am looking forward to finishing up the movie. Maybe, I'll surprise myself by finding purpose to this relationship.  Frankly, I think not.  The Alice Paul in real life didn't need the Dempsy character; so, its more that likely that the film could do away with the nonsense as well.