So she gives up not only her blossoming career as a big-time fashion designer in New York, but also throws away her relationship with a JFK-type who is on his way to being a future president just so she can back to the crappy southern town she spent all her life trying to escape and end up as the wife of a redneck hick? What is WRONG with her?
shareI wouldn't be a politician's wife for all of the tea in China. I don't know why anyone would. Talk about a crappy life! The lesson is you can't escape who you are.
shareI didn't consider for second that she was giving up her career. They are both about to be rich with their respective businesses. They can afford to go back and forth. At one point in the movie she even talks about flying south for the winter. Once she is established, I think she can pretty much design clothes wherever she wants. The way I see it she now has her dream job and her true love.
shareSo there really are those who are pissed because she passed up the politician for the working man? That saddens me. The whole point of this movie is that it depicts a character who has chosen a glitzy life by turning away from everything she knew, everything she once was and everyone who loved her, for something "better". THAT'S infuriating. I love watching characters rediscovering their roots and reembracing the life they never should have wandered from in the first place. You can't give up something that's real for something that's not, just because it has a shiny appeal. That's just shallow.
shareWhy would you think she gave up her career? In the credits you clearly see her introducing her parents to her coworkers in NY and it looks like he opened a shop in NY there are shots of them walking around in the city. They probably travel back and forth like most normal people do who move away from their families, they go back and visit, that doesn't mean she gave everything up. And the fact that Patrick Dempsey's character wasn't too crushed over the end of their relationship shows that even deep down he knew it wasn't right. So they should both be in a relationship that doesn't make them happy because he is going to be in politic?. You see the engagement announcment in the paper he obviously found someone new and maybe for him the right person. I did feel bad for him because he was a really decent guy not some jerk but at least we are left knowing he found happiness somewhere else. i feel bad for the original poster if they think the only thing that matters is money and prestige especially over love. I can't help feel you are in for a lonely life if you love things more than a person.
Just a girl in the world
OP my mom said the SAME thing after watching this movie. Life isn't all about money and status remember.
shareTo Stun 04
Well stated
"Eat your cereal with a fork and do your homework in the dark."
to: youvegotyale
What's wrong with you? Watch until the END of the movie, for goodness sake! The photos are not there just for decoration. Use your brain. No one gave up anything. And JFK JR hopped right on the next candidate for political wife. Everyone is happy-ever-after... except you, who is apparently totally shallow.
"Eat your cereal with a fork and do your homework in the dark."
It's called love, funnily enough. Not having a miserable life that you only half want.
Believe me, nothing is trivial. - Eric Draven, The Crow.
That "red neck hick" was her true love who neither him, nor her, were over each other. He wasn't just a hick anymore, he had started an amazing and successful company (inspired by a moment they shared together when they were very young).
The JFK-type guy and New York city life isn't for anyone. I think she would be crazy NOT to go back to Jake after all that.
What infuriated me was that Jake still wanted her after finding out that she was engaged to someone else. I would have preferred that after signing the divorce papers he just let her go and move on. When she then stiffed her fiancé at the wedding realizing she was still married to Jake and then went looking for him I would have loved it if he told her to take a hike. No doubt she was screwing her fiancé up in New York so I would have let her squirm a little like he did then then flat out tell her " too bad honey but I'm doing real well now so see ya....". It would have served her right for not sticking it out and leaving in the first place.
shareI know I am really, really late to the party OP, but just want you to know...
GOD YOU ARE A SHALLOW JERK!!!.
The whole point of the film, (its central fact actually) is that Mel never fell out of love with Jake but couldn't stand his immature personality at that time. What she needed wasn't any new husband, but a chance to grow as a person, and by breaking out as a designer that is what she was able to do. Also, by opening his glass business Jake shows how he also grew and became a man fit for the new Mel.
You make no sense either in your condemnation of her wanting to return to her roots in the South as what is wrong in that?. It clearly showed her at the end that they both went to NY and both became a success.....
Si vis pacem, para bellum
I have to agree with the OP.
HOWEVER
I saw this movie on television. They cut off the credits. So I sat there saying "what the F was that?"
I appreciate that other posters took the time to explain that there was a happy ending. I don't appreciate the nastiness to the OP.
It must be that "Southern hospitality" I've heard so much about.
If Life gives you lemons....
throw them into a pitcher of vodka.
Yep, we are really hospitable in southern England so come on down Tim...
Si vis pacem, para bellum
Hi Hero
I didn't see your name attached to any of the negative posts.
What infuriates me are the people who need to insult a poster because they didn't understand something.
I'd be glad to visit southern England, but I won't be able to get away in the forseeable future. Thanks for the invite though.
If Life gives you lemons....
throw them into a pitcher of vodka.
Hi Tim.....
Yeah, maybe some of us were a tad harsh about the OP, we should take a time out, mellow down, and have one of your Vodka and Lemon's...
But if you extend the invite to a chilled Southern Comfort over a dash of Lemonade, then prepare for an invasion....
Si vis pacem, para bellum
No worries
The original post is five years old by now.
Is Southern Comfort and Lemonade what they drink in Cornwall, or is my geography totally confused?
We can watch the movie at the same time with our favorite beverages.
I am a little sad though.
I had a fantasy ending: The rich guy gets to be the hero. He is about to charge after them in his Lincoln Continental, when some "good ole boys" modify it with monster wheels and a Confederate flag.
Life goes on.
I periodically misspell words just to annoy the word police.
Rewatch the movie and this time pay attention to the shots in the credits. It shows what happened afterwards. We see shots of Melanie and her parents in NYC meeting her coworkers, shots of Jake opening up a store in NYC, and then some shots of them back in what looks like their hometown. So it seems they likely just commute back and forth. Melanie was establishing herself as a high-end fashion designer and Jake had opened a successful glass company as well - they weren't going to be poor and could afford to just live where they want when they want.
Melanie and Jake's issues were they got married too young and both were too immature to handle it. I think Melanie realized it first and such was why she left. Then Jake realized it when he went to NYC in secret and saw what she was doing and realized he needed to do something with his life. So the years go by and both people have grown and have made successful careers for themselves and were finally ready to be together.
"It's better to be hated for who you are than be loved for who you aren't."