The Prince and Me

Indulging in a secret passion: cheezy teeny-bopper movies..

Yup, I know it's been shown for some years now, but last night was my first time to catch a screening of the Prince and Me, staring Julia Stiles as a young college student finding herself helplessly falling in love with Luke Mably who plays the prince of Denmark. Of course, I know you know the story, so I won't go into details.

You might be wondering, "what the hell is Mark trying to say now?" Well, it might come as a surprise (or maybe not) but I quite like watching cheesy chick-flicks. Of course, hard action, car-chase-driven movies were never really my cup of tea--I mostly opt for comedies and light flicks. But well, there it is: I love watching the cheesy stuff.

For most part, the Prince and Me is quite a disappointment for the critic in me. The plot was too fast, the transitions were too sharp and I would have loved to see more of the strong dark character of the prince's mother. And I wasn't all too happy with the ending either. Yes, I know that hanging ending quite have an effect for most movies, but ending a flick with a torrid kiss doesn't seem to cut it good.

I've told this to my friends before, and once again, in true Mark Obcena fashion, I will reiterate my point: I watch love stories to feel good. Okay, I hear the laughter, but smirk and taunt you may, I do not regret that.

Many people see me as quite the intimidating, airy, know-it-all with eyebrows looking like they just finished from a plucking. No I don't pluck my eyebrows and I guess the airy intimidator look is just part of the package--and I still haven't found the section in the manual to turn that off. But a few people do know that I am not always like that. In fact, if you know the right parts to tickle, push or pinch, I display quite a number of emotions that you wouldn't find intimidating at all.

A few months ago, I had this string of text message with Shiela. We were talking about cheesy flicks, and I mentioned that the only reason I really watch stuff like that is that it fuels the fire in my head that keeps on telling me that somehow, something similar might happen in my life. I know, movies are just, well, movies, and everything is just a fantasy.

But a six-lettered phrase always keeps popping in my head: what if?.. What if these things aren't just in movies? What if someone out there is really thinking of me tonight? What if someone would really have the guts and the love to throw away everything just for me? What is love isn't just an element of a good fairy tale?

I guess everytime I see a good love story, I feel that somehow, this might become my own story. In a world where everything for me has always been wrong, can something somehow turn out right?

It all boils down to love. And as cheesy as it may sound, I'm willing to watch a thousand cheesy flicks just so I can feel that I will eventually be happy.. even if it means gaining 10 pounds from eating popcorn.