I've never met a Leap Year baby. Is it true that they can say they are 10 years old when they reach 40? I don't lie about my age (though I've been told I look - and act - a lot younger than my years) but, it would be wonderful to have a valid excuse for claiming that I was 21 when, in fact, I'm not.
I hear that Leap Year babies can celebrate their birthdays the day before or the day after February 29 if it is a normal year. I would choose the date that fell on a weekend...no explanation necessary.
This past weekend, I watched the movie Leap Year. I learned that it is an Irish myth that a woman can propose to a man on Leap Day. Apparently the Irish haven't entered the 21st century. And if they have, the movie industry hasn't read up on Irish tales. I mean, women propose to men all the time these days...and why not? But, the fact that there is a big enough stigma still lingering on that notion to have a motion picture made about an American girl's travel to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend is...well, sad.
Sadder than the stigma of female to male proposals is the movie that was written about it. Don't get me wrong, Leap Day was a cute movie. The writers and directors did as much as they could with such a weak storyline. It was supposed to be romantic:
Boy takes girl out on their 4-year anniversary. Boy gives girl...nope...not an engagement ring...earrings. Boy then leaves for work in another country. Girl ponders this and instead of telling the guy how she really feels, she decides to let him leave. THEN she managed to book a flight (because those are really cheap) and travel thousands of miles to propose because her drunk father told her that it was still acceptable to propose to him on Leap Day.
Obstacles and intended-hilarity ensues. Girl meets a local in her travels. She finally makes it to her boyfriend who wasn't at all worried that she not only booked this last minute flight but also didn't show up when she said she would. Instead, he embraced her as her male travel companion looked on and THEN he proposed.
Blah blah blah.
Apparently two days spent with a wooly stranger was enough to question her love for the man she agreed to marry. So, all of a sudden we see her in a cafe waiting for her Irish love interest. Surprises him. Expects him to drop everything for her because she traveled (once again) thousands of miles to see a man.
Maybe she has a great-paying job that she can afford all these hair-brained trips. Maybe she already dated everyone in the States. Maybe she hasn't found a good therapist that can talk her through her self esteem issues.
Long in short, don't waste your money on a rental. If you spent money on Leap Day in the theatre, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for you because you can't get your money back. If you haven't seen it, wait until it plays every day on Lifetime or Oxygen and you're sitting at home with nothing else on but 90210 reruns on SoapNet.
Right after this train wreck of a movie, we lept into Avatar. I give it an A for special effects. But I have a hard time understanding a universe where a human falls in love with a blue alien...so much so that he wants to become one. It was uncomfortable watching potential beastiality occur. Maybe I lost the ability to have a convention of disbelief agreement on romance after watching Leap Day.
I'll probably watch Avatar again - my husband thinks it's 'own-worthy'. But I think I'll watch a couple episodes of the Smurfs beforehand to warm up to the idea that blue creatures do exist and they do have feelings. Maybe there's an episode where Smurfette falls in love with Gargamel.
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