The Object of My Affection

Just watched this touching movie: The Object of My Affection (1998)

The plot is simple: girl (Nina played Jennifer Aniston) meets guy (George by Paul Rudd aka ‘Mike Hannigan’ in Friends); they become great friends and move in together. Girl gets pregnant unexpectedly from a fiancé who she doesn’t really love. Girl in truth is in love with the guy. Girl wants to raise the child with guy. One catch: guy is gay.

But even such a simple, and at times cliché, chick-flick managed to move me to tears. The relationship entanglements, the unspoken feelings of affection, the wrangling and choosing between loving one and not hurting another. And all so real, all so human.

Personally I experienced something very similar when I was taking care of my pregnant friend in France. It was as if I saw myself as that guy, and could very well imagine myself in his predicaments. Though my friend and I didn’t kiss or verge on having sex, there were feelings there I felt from her that went beyond feelings for the ‘gay-uncle-taking-care-of-my-child’. Once we even joked about getting married.

Some wonderful lines from the movie:

Nina to George: “I don’t want to look at you and feel so hurt by you”

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“One shouldn't be too hard on oneself when the object of one's affection returns the favor with rather less enthusiasm than one might have hoped.”