Singles Country

Every time I watch the movie “Singles”, it changes. Depending on where I’m at in my life when I watch it, the way that I perceive the movie changes. I watched the movie again this week and realized that I had swung back into the like range of my love/hate relationship with this film.

Warning: there are spoilers ahead. I’m going to mention parts of the movie that if you plan to see it and don’t like plot points revealed in advance, you may want to stop reading now.

If you don’t care, plunge ahead…

It is not the deepest film. It’s fluff about relationships among cis het white individuals. Individuals who aren’t struggling with the crushing weight of financial debt or other problems. I think the closest the movie comes to angst is after Steve pitches his train idea to the mayor and somehow he loses his job. There is an attempt where he expresses a bit of insecurity as he stares at his fax machine, waiting for a reply to his job queries.

However, I wasn’t tempted to shoot my television. Or in this case my computer screen.

Pro tip: watching free movies on Vudu from the website yields surprisingly fewer ads than when I stream it from the app and cast it on my TV.

I felt for Linda (Kyra Sedwick), as she processed the emotional roller coaster of a miscarriage and her fear that Steve only proposed because she was pregnant. Now in my life, I can relate. She did the healthy thing and walked away to take care of herself. Did I think she should have rolled back to boring Andy and his nasty ponytail? No. Even she knew he was void. 

When I watched the film a few years ago, when the divorce was a lot fresher, I hated this movie and wondered what I ever saw in it. I loathed the characters and wished none of them a happy ending, pissed off in general. I was uncomfortable for Janet (Bridget Fonda) because Cliff (Matt Dillon) gave her body issues and she considered changing to make him happy. That hit too close to home for me. 

I just got out of a 15 year relationship where I changed myself in some way or another wondering if that would be the key to make him want to stay. I finally had enough and when I no longer knew who I was, I filed for divorce. There’s a whole lot more to that, and if you’re interested you can read about it  or . 

This time I looked at Janet and thought, “Oh, honey…You stupid, naive butterfly. Why do you settle for Cliff who doesn’t know what the fuck he wants from life when you’ve got Dr. Jamison who values you just the way you are?” Damn she dumb. Back when I was in high school I thought Janet had it made. Working in a coffee shop, dating guys in bands. What the fuck did I know? So, yeah, there was some growth.

Now, watching Linda’s breakdown didn’t make me want to ugly cry. I could also watch Steve’s breakdown and just shake my head at him instead of wanting to scratch his stupid eyes out. I wondered if he had a large savings account? Or did he get a severance package that was seeing him through his mental vacation? Like, how does he afford all that delivery since he never leaves his house?!

I remembered the other better reason to watch “Singles”. I give you: Chris Cornell & Soundgarden performing Birth Ritual.

Even though Eddie Vedder, and most of Pearl Jam, were members of the band , they don’t perform as “Pearl Jam”. But Chris, in all his long haired and lithe beauty, is writhing around the stage for a good four minutes. Takes me back to my mosh pit days of old.

Thanks to the random dude on Youtube who edited this video. I could have done without Janet’s bit at the end, but it is what it is.