Chapter 25

Animosity, Feuds, and War

At least one of them hates the other.

In the classic Shakespearean romcom Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and Benedick loathe each other. Until, as a joke, their friends start telling them that the other secretly loves them. Even though it’s a lie and a prank, this idea begins to work into B&B’s consciousness causing them to rethink each other and eventually fall in love. This play was adapted into a film in 1993 by Kenneth Branagh who co-starred with his then-wife Emma Thompson.

The two divorced single parents in One Fine Day (mentioned under Cute Meets) played by George Clooney and Michelle Pfeiffer hate each other from the first minute. He forgot to make the phone tree call at the nursery school so both their kids miss the field trip and they are stuck with them on a day they both have career making or breaking things they have to do. So they are forced to team up and trade child-care hours in order to make it work. And they drive each other crazy, until by the end of the day, the idea of the two of them seems somehow a lot less crazy.

In You’ve Got Mail, Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) hates Joe Fox because his mega Borders-type book store chain put her little book store out of business.

In As Good As It Gets (1997, written by Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks), Jack Nicholson’s OCD best-selling novelist Melvin is the bane of Carol’s (Helen Hunt’s) waitress’s life.

In Pride and Prejudice, Lizzy thinks that Mr. Darcy is the most arrogant snob and she can’t bear him for most of that movie. Or miniseries. Or novel.

I’m sure you get the idea. Even if the path starts at hate, or maddening irritation, it can still lead to love.

Warring Factions

When young lovers happen to be on opposite sides of a feud or war, the obstacle is powerful and clear. The classic example of this is Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet which includes the musical adaptation West Side Story. And it doesn’t have to be literally a feud or war.

In The Big Easy (1986, written by Daniel Petrie, Jr.), Ellen Barkin comes to town as a police agent in Internal Affairs looking for dirty cops. And she falls for Dennis Quaid, who happens to be exactly that.

In Out of Sight, George Clooney is a convict in the middle of a prison break when he is stumbled upon by a U.S. Marshall. A female U.S. Marshall. Who looks a lot like Jennifer Lopez. Next thing you know they are locked in a car trunk together so of course, love ensues.

When two potential lovers are caught on opposite sides of warring factions, the need for an obstacle won’t be a problem.

War

Even when two people are on the same side, war itself can be a huge obstacle.

In Raggedy Man, (1981, written by William D. Wittliff) divorced mother of two played by Sissy Spacek is tied to working a telephone exchange out of her house twenty-four hours a day. It is 1943. World War II is in full swing. When she meets a handsome young sailor who has recently lost his own girl, they fall in love. But since he has a four-day liberty pass, War, though unseen and unheard, is the force that will very shortly be tearing them apart. WWII is also the opposing force in Enemy at the Gates, Diary of Ann Frank, The English Patient, etc.

In Cold Mountain it’s the Civil War. And in Gone With the Wind as well. Whether Jude Law is kissing Nicole Kidman goodbye or Rhett is kissing Scarlett as he leaves her to go and fight, the obstacle problem is solved.

The Russian Revolution worked great in Reds and Doctor Zhivago.

Any time there is War, anywhere on earth, there are stories of young lovers torn apart by it.