Breakups are awful. There's no other way to put it. You've invested so much time and emotion into this person who you thought you were going to be with forever, and it's all come crashing down. In these circumstances, I think many of us have turned to our TVs and computers to find something to watch to distract us from how we feel, so here I'm going to be giving a few suggestions of what to watch. Although amount of truth there is to the 'Five Stages of Grief' is debatable, I'll be using them to categorise the recommendations according to how you feel and where you're at with your recovery. Denial- How I Met Your MotherSpecifically the last episode, and only really if you've seen the whole show before. So, SPOILERS FOR HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER! Now that you're only reading if you already know this, in the last episode of the show Ted finishes telling his children how he met their (now deceased) mother, only for them to point out that he's in love with his friend Robin. With their permission, he goes after her with a romantic gesture, which is received positively by her. I personally like to pretend that the last couple of episodes don't exist, because to me they feels so strange. The show spends nine entire seasons building up to Ted meeting the love of his life, and then basically puts across the message that 'oh yeah, she doesn't actually matter, Ted's still in love with the woman he's been unhealthily unable to move on from for decades.' Robin's relationship with Barney, with which so much setting-up time was taken, is completely dismissed. But if you're in a place where you need to spend a bit of time indulging in the belief that unrequited love can work out and you'll get that person back eventually, it's perfect. Just make sure to move on from that notion. How I Met Your Mother is currently available on Netflix UK. Anger- Legally BlondeThe premise of Legally Blonde is that a ditzy blonde sorority queen is dumped by her boyfriend (when she thought he was proposing) for not being 'serious' enough. To prove him wrong, she gets into Harvard Law school ('what, like it's hard?') and succeeds there, finding happiness and empowerment as an individual and helping others to find theirs. This film is a wonderful 97 minutes to shout 'what a dick!' at Elle's ex, and if you're angry at your own ex, whether they genuinely did something wrong or you just need to be angry as a step in your process to recovery, this film can be helpful. Again though, just make sure you move on from anger. Bargaining and Depression- Parks and Recreation (or anything else funny and optimistic)This is the point where the films and binge-watching come in most useful, because you need a distraction. I've only just started watching Parks and Rec (I've just finished the first season, which is six episodes), but it's already such a wonderful little distraction from life, and Leslie Knope's endless optimism and fearlessness is infectious. I'd also recommend Miranda Hart's sitcom Miranda, although the focus on the title character's attempts at romance may be less than helpful. Anything optimistic and funny is perfect. Also Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which is hilarious: just avoid the final episode of season one, in which a character recovers from a breakup. How I Met Your Mother can be good here again, just avoid the many breakup or sad episodes. Parks and Recreation is available on Amazon Prime UK, and Miranda on Netflix UK. Acceptance- La La LandSPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS FOR LA LA LAND!!! So, we've all seen La La Land. Some of us loved it, some of us didn't. I for one did love it, despite acknowledging its problems. I don't feel like I need to explain much about why I've paired it with 'Acceptance'- the ending is bittersweet, and you can see that although they loved each other and it was heartbreaking when their relationship didn't work out, they still achieved their dreams and had happy lives without each other. The moment in Sebastian's jazz bar where they smile at each other, silently acknowledging this, is a poignant one. La La Land is currently available on Netflix UK. If you have any agreements or disagreements with these or recommendations you think I missed, let me know!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
"After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world."- Philip Pullman Archives
January 2018
Categories
All
Follow the blog on Twitter to catch new posts every Thursday |