7th March 2009 - You've got mail

Yesterday and the day before were apparently the most boring weekend of my life. I’d rather do something I don’t like, than be left with time on my hands but no purpose. This “idle” state of mind drives me crazy and heck, I do not even get devilish thoughts when idle!! I just go nuts and retire into some cocoon that doesn’t exist at other times..

To consciously come out of my cranky mood on saturday, I saw this beautiful flick I’ve seen times without number now – You’ve got mail..

“You’ve got mail” is undoubtedly one of the finest films I have seen. I adore the Tom Hanks–Meg Ryan combination as much as I love the inimitable SRK-Kajol pairing. For those of us who love books, this movie touches a special chord.

I’m not exactly a romantic (hopeless or otherwise) but a few aspects of the film that appealed to my temperament make me wish I was Katherine Kelly myself and I go back to the film over and over again!!
1. The fact that the story revolves around books and a book shop. Books truly mean a lot more than just pages with info sewn together.
2. Joe Fox respects Katherine Kelly for being the professional she is and despite ruining her business, he does not insult her by offering her a job at Fox Books.
3. NY152 encourages Shopgirl to speak her mind when she encounters someone very unpleasant but warns her that she will be filled with remorse later not finding a convincing excuse for her behavior.
4. Joe hates to “stand her up” when he realizes his chat friend Shopgirl (who is waiting for him at a café) is none other than his arch rival Kelly. He stays with her the whole evening without divulging his virtual identity that she was expecting to meet.
5. NY152 cannot lie as to why he never came to meet her at the café despite having no compulsions to be truthful. He promises to reveal the truth later but does not disclose that NY152 is Joe Fox himself and he did keep the date.
6. Joe realizes Fox Books can never mean as much to him as The Shop Around The Corner means to Katherine. The note on her door "We are closing our doors after 42 years, we will miss being a part of your lives" was too touching.
7. Joe goes to see Katherine with a bunch of daisies when she is ill and for the first time, each one creates the right impression on the other.
8. Joe does his best to befriend Katherine rather successfully and even banters about her anonymous chat friend NY152. He realizes he has fallen in love with this spirited woman!
9. Joe asks Katherine how she can forgive someone who stood her up on a date but hate him (Joe) for the smallest mistake of putting her out of business. (The subtle whiff of romance here is mind blowing! Its even wonderful that she has a trace of tears, I did too..)
10. Joe’s words “Don’t cry Shopgirl” when they finally meet, gave me a lump in my throat and for once I even wondered if I was wrong in my belief that romance is best left to books and films.
Hmmm… Lastly, to wrap it up, I came out of the hang over soon and realized that romance seemed so magical precisely because this was a film and my life is way too realistic. I'm no schizophrenic to believe in wanting drama and fantasy in my everyday reality. But for giving me a beautiful outlet to momentarily escape to utopia, I must say -
Three cheers to “You’ve got mail”!!!!