Doesn't anyone find this movie and I guess it was a novel a little immoral? The guy has to get all good looking before this woman will ever give him a chance? She couldn't like him for his personality? What is this telling everyone? This movie is so immoral for that. I wouldn't have dated her ass if I had to do some big transformation.
shareWell thats a problem that American women need to adress isnt it? But all in all I liked this movie, she didnt like him because of his physical characteristics so he changed (for the better.) This movie is the reason I started lifting weights. I was in a similar situation, all skinny and malnourished. I met a girl whom I clicked with, until I realized what she was all about. I lifted weights for a year, and when she finally noticed me, it was too late, she already had 2 kids from some other bum. She wanted to get with me, yet my attraction for her left, but I told her "we could still be friends."
shareSee it is immoral. Some girl can't like you for who you are? Thats sad.
shareI kind of agree that Emily's attitude wasn't the greatest. I have to admit that Gus didn't look the most attractive at the beginning, however, she does have to realize that this man just won a battle with cancer. Over time his appearance would have improved. I would be a complete hyporcite to see that looks don't matter on some level, however, they should not be the highest priority on the list. It is the personality that has to be there first. If a person is gorgeous, it doesn't meant that their personality is equally as attractive. Besides, a wonderful character makes for a much more appealing exterior over time. I speak from experience. The man I am madly in love with now was a man that I wasn't interested in romantically at first. I knew him for about 7 months before we started dating. I never thought he was unattractive, but he just wasn't for me. Well, I really got to know him as a person and now I think he is just beautiful. That is why character is so very important.
Now, as for the film, I can understand why Emily wouldn't have been the most attracted to Gus at the beginning. He was just getting over his battle with cancer and he didn't look his best. (Hey, who could expect anyone to after all of that)? However, she should have given him more of a chance than she did. I have to admit that Gus got pretty damn sexy after his transformation. However, if she had given the real Gus time she would have found he would have become more physically appealing over time.
I don't know if you could describe her as immoral for that--SHALLOW certainly, but people can and sometimes do grow in character and/or change for the better, so I don't know if I would permanently hold shallowness against someone--but it would make me think carefully before jumping off into the deep end with them.
To me the more immoral thing is the casuality with which premarital sex it portrayed. Yeah, I know--all the standard "reality" and "that's the way it is" and "old fuddy duddy" responses need not apply--it's an old (not to mention invalid) reply.
Wrong is wrong, that's an objective standard imposed from outside man. It doesn't change because society's mores becomes more lax.
Don't get me wrong--I like this movie despite this flaw. I realize that movies are naturally a reflection of the society which creates them. I wish our SOCIETY was more moral more than wishing the movies were. (Yeah, society IS influenced by what we see in movies, but I don't think that putting out all clean movies would reverse the current trend of immorality in society.)
I'm enough of a realist to realize that we're not going to get a much cleaner movie out of Hollywood in this day and age, and I normally wouldn't bring it up--but the topic set by the original post WAS immorality.
Immoral or not I think there was a moral to the movie. It was that you can't judge a person by looks. In the end she realizes she loves him. When she tells him he no longer looks like Lobo, just a healthier Gus.
As far as american woman judging men by their looks, the same could be said in the reverse regarding men judging women.
" This is my happy face "
No one said it couldn't be seen in reverse. That would be wrong as well.
shareWhile it is certainly not fair that people are judged by their looks, that is the first thing you notice. I wouldn't call this aspect 'immoral', just a little saddening. Here is something to keep in mind: Emily DID NOT know that Gus looked as he did because of his battle with Hodgkins Disease when she first met him. He almost came off as a liar, due to the toupee on his bald head. He had no eyebrows. She was simply not attracted to him and their dinner conversation was very awkward and strange. She didn't feel a spark, partly because of lack of attraction and partly because it was so awkward for both them. They just did not click. While I do think that Emily was shallow and typical and that after the movie ended, it probably wouldn't have worked out, I still find this a very cute movie. Why? Steve Guttenberg. They show us his opposition to "lying" to Emily, his struggle to be accepted. In one part, he mentions how he was a timid person before the cancer and didn't want to waste any more time. He saw what he wanted and he went for it, doing whatever he had to to have it. Gus and his sister went about ensnaring Emily the wrong way, but I wouldn't call it immoral. Lobo may be a character Lizzie invented, but Gus was still Lobo. Lobo enabled Gus to do things and say things he might not normally do, but it was still him.
I'm not done--the character Emily is a shallow girl. I don't like how she met Lobo and a day later, she's breaking off her engagement to her fiance. Sure, he was cheating, but she didn't know that. This is the man she intended to be with for the rest of her life, and some mystery man changes all that in 2 seconds flat. Very flighty. She acted exactly as Lizzie predicted in her attraction to Lobo (and I think a lot of us would act the same so long as we were single and liked what he was projecting). I don't believe she loved 'Gus' at the end. She didn't know anything about him, really. You can't love someone you don't know.
Still, I choose this in my mind for what happened after the credits: Emily and Gus get to know each other at the wedding in Kalamazoo, Michigan and spend the whole weekend getting to know one another, etc. They have a strong relationship and get married, and every once in a while, they roleplay. Gus does 'Lobo Marunga' and Emily makes up her own character to roleplay.
I think your choice of the word immoral is a bit off. First, she sleeps with the man and she isn't married to him. THAT is immoral. About her not giveing him the time of day until he " became " someone he wasn't. He should have ran as fast as he could to get away from her.
shareCommon!!! If you aren't into fat girls/guys, they could be the most wonderfull person in the world, the attraction just wont be there. If you have to be physically attracted to someone, if you're not there is nothing they can do. It's so hypocritical to say that she should have given him the time of day -- really. Why wasn't he going after a larger woman to begin with? How shallow it is of him to chase after a cute petite girl with a guy no less.
shareWell I don't think its immoral....it may give a mixed message though.
People are attracted to who they are attracted to. I myself am attracted to all sorts of women on all different levels. On the level of physical attraction, I don't like a girl too skinny and I don't like a girl too overweight. However, I have plenty of friends who are girls that are one or the other (I'm either mentally or socially attracted to these girls). I don't think of myself as a hypocrite though because through experience, I've known plenty of girls that haven't been attracted to me because of my looks. They go out with guys much better looking, but who may also not be the nicest guys around. That's okay with me though because who am I to tell them who they should or shouldn't be attracted to - just like I don't expect anyone to tell me the same.
I liked this movie for its message. He wasn't changing who he was only so he could see if she'd fall for him as someone else - he was also changing himself so he could get back into society as a functioning person.
I don't think he's shallow for choosing the girl he went after. Like a lot of guys, he could've actually been attracted (at first sight) to her face and then secondly to how charming she was (albeit charming in a nervous way).
come on, he looked like an albino bubble, very creepy, he should get back in shape before go on a date. the girl is not jesus to love everybody.
shareI think Gus and Lizzie are the immoral ones. They conspire to deceive a woman and only Gus shows any remorse. And he only shows remorse after he sleeps with her. To my mind, that's much worse than what whatshername did. At least she was honest with Lizzie and tried to let Gus down gently.
shareThe whole point of the movie, and of Lizzie's slightly underhanded actions, is to show Emily that she's actually the hypocritical one - for all that Emily claims to want a decent, kind, loving guy (all of which Gus is), she's not willing to look farther than his appearances. While Emily smirks at Lizzie's romance novel heroes, she's actually pretty superficial herself, and won't consider Gus until Lizzie transforms him into one of the very over-the-top romance novel heroes Emily claims to think are ridiculous.
So the movie isn't showcasing immoral behavior, it's showing up how hypocritical we all can be, even when we think we're the most straightforward people in the world.
i think the reason why she didn't like him at first was he was a complete loser- and not because of his looks. he wasn't confident or fun to talk to, and that made him unattractive. even if he was a complete hottie i don't think she'd have been interested. but i think the movie went a little too far. if she met him how he was halfway through his transformation, where he was confident but not yet lobo, i think she would have still liked him.
shareLike it or not, first impressions count, and normally the first impression we get when meeting someone is purely from their physical appearance. Emily's reaction to Gus was no different to how the vast majority of people would have reacted in a similar situation
I am certain that everyone on this board could recall times when they have brushed someone off without trying to get to know them purely because of their looks
Has history ever recorded a case where the majority were right
It's been a while since I've seen the movie, but I think the moral is saying you must truly apply yourself in order to achieve what you want.
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