Movie Love Quotes: Reliable or Misleading?

You know that scene in “Say Anything” when John Cusack stands outside of Ione Skye’s bedroom window, holding up a boombox and blaring Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”? Well, that brief clip from the classic 1989 romantic film single-handedly ruined love for millions of people.

Well, it’s probably not fair to say it “ruined” love, but it gave a lot of people highly unreachable expectations of what love really is. The Silver Screen has a way of doing that to us everyday people.

Instead of looking for a mate we share similar morals, ethics, friendships and goals with, we look for a mate who can create a fantasy world that only Hollywood has the budget to construct.

Here I look at five of the top love quotes from movies and offer a verdict on whether they reflect love in real life or the kind of love only John and Ione can create.

Verdict: Absolutely — a real-life quote. Love can conquer all, right? The biggest joy in life is to love and be loved in return. Whether it’s the love between a husband and wife, mother and child or best friends, love conquers all.

Verdict: Another great real-life quote. Reality is that we can live without being in love. I’m sure there are people who die at 90 and have never been in love. But why would we want to?

Jennifer Aniston’s character is being practical. She loves this man and wants to be with him but is saying she’ll survive if he doesn’t love her back.

“It has been the job of the Silver Screen to entertain

audiences and get their minds off of everyday life.”

Verdict: Nope! If the only reason you’re staying alive is because of the man in your life, then you need to get a life. Don’t you have a career you’re passionate about or an unbreakable group of girlfriends?

Sista, fill your life with something other than a man.

Verdict: Intoxicatingly quirky and a great example of real life. This is how couples talk when they are truly in love, and “Annie Hall” does a great job of showing Hollywood how us everyday people love.

Verdict: A fantastic marriage proposal and real-life movie quote from two of the best on-screen couples. Julia and Richard cannot do any wrong when it comes to convincing an audience of true love.

Hollywood has a funny way of showing us love. For more than a century, it has been the job of the Silver Screen to entertain audiences and get their minds off of everyday life — the good and the bad.

When a movie romanticizes love, sometimes it’s done in a real-life (oh, that’s like my relationship) way. And in others, it’s so far from fathomable that we are left wondering how to search for real love.