DON JON
I feel like for this film, I need to thank Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Thank you Gordon-Levitt , thank you for this film.
Don Jon is a response to all the rom coms out there, an antidote if you like. It is both a rom-com and an anti rom-com. It is film for all you men out there. Maybe , just maybe this is a film you should drag your partners to and let the film do the talking for you.
Jon (Gordon-Levitt), known here as the don (cos he is just so good with the ladies) , is a man’s man. He sees his target (woman), he makes his move and he scores. Jon is a good-looking, smart, charming, young man. He does typical guy things like, eat, work out, go out clubbing, pick up girls, watch porn, eat, go to church, watch porn, see his family, watch porn, hang out with his friends. So yes, he likes to watch porn, and my oh my he watches a lot of it. Like I mean a lot. So much that he prefers it to the real deal. But in a typical rom-com fashion, he meets that one girl. The one girl, who is different, who is a challenge, who won’t go to bed with him just like that. No, no. To earn that, Jon needs to prove himself to Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), a beautiful young woman, who is in fact like at least a hard 9, probably 10. Barbara represents the rom-com brain washed girl. She believes in true love, in the notion that a man should change for a good woman, for the sake of love. Jon is charmed and in a way manipulated by her beauty and confidence. The two become a couple and we are invited to see just how false expectations portrayed by films and porn alike, can influence relationships.
I find the storyline very relevant to our society, and of course in particular relationships. The satirised depiction of the characters really does provoke you to question how exactly you view relationships. If you’re anything like me, then you probably would feel ashamed seeing similarities in the character’s traits in your own personality. Just to make it clear, I am talking about the girl here. But I mean what can we expect if we are raised in a society where such things are drilled into our mind.
Finally a film that gives relationships and the sexes a reality check! Of course, Don Jon is a little bit one sided in what it is trying to portray. However, overall I think there is somewhat of a balance between the two sides of the spectrum. Gordon-Levitt cleverly uses characterisation to portray these views.
On the one side we have the view that porn has influenced and distorted men’s (and some women’s, lets not be sexist now) perception of sex. So as a result, some men find themselves disappointed with the women they sleep with, feeling that it is just not like that in porn. I mean one does not simply wear a business suit to go to work, no no. Clearly one wears a suit to be spanked and then engage in a sexual adventure. And remember, one always wears naughty lingerie underneath this naughty, naughty suit. Ok, so basically, what Jon is showing here that porn has the capability to delve so much into the viewer’s mind that he cannot simply view things as they are. Or, for that matter enjoy intimacy for what it is in reality. In a way, Don Jon shows that men can be as much victims of false expectations as women are. I am not claiming the film is saying porn is poison, because hey everyone should be allowed to express or discover more about sex in the way they want to. I guess it is saying that an extreme appreciation or belief in what is portrayed in TV, film or the Internet can lead to disappointment and give an unrealistic representation of reality. Therefore, Jon is here to represent the porn influenced male.
The other character employed here to portray the other side of the relation is Barbara. She is in my eyes, a psychopathic rom-com lover, control freak of girlfriend. That’s right, ladies, whilst she does portray an exaggerated version of this type of woman, I am sorry to say, but some of things were just too realistic. Whilst rom-coms do give women this false sense of hope of what love should be like. I also think that society has made it okay for women to expect more of men in a relationship because of these rom coms. Suddenly, women feel it is acceptable to tell men that they should change. Because, in that film that man changed for that woman and well , why can’t your man do the same?. “Why can’t you just tell me you like me the way I am like Mark Darcy does?! Or you know do a big romantic gesture like that guy from that film? Why? Just why?”. But why, just why can’t we expect to like men just the way they are. It feels like rom coms rely on trying to tell the man he should change and adapt to fulfil the woman’s expectation. But it does not seem to apply to women as much does it? I cannot think of many films where the woman has to change. At the top of my head I can think of Sandy in Grease, but ultimately it is Danny who says he wants to change. Unfortunately, I still think Women need to fight for equality in society and the way they are viewed. But maybe we should also look at the other side too. I was actually disgusted at how much Barbara wanted Jon to change. She used her sexual power to manipulate him, saying “Baby” (I now hate that word), “don’t you think you need to get a better job”. Excuse me, Barbara, but Edward accepted Pretty Woman as a prostitute, so just calm down.
Ok, I am getting way to emotional about this and I realise I sound like I am ranting. But it is because I feel that Don Jon has outted the truth we are all too afraid/blind/shallow/selfish to say. He gives a balanced argument of relationships that are tainted by the media today. Friends With Benefits, attempted to touch on that aspect. But big surprise, the film ironically gives a happy ending and guess what, it is the man who chases the woman. Out of My League, does have the woman chasing the man, sort of. But that film was not so much about men changing and false expectations, it was about superficiality and this whole “league” thing. That is another topic I feel we should address, what is this whole rating thing we are all obsessed with now? And I say we, because I am not innocent of this. “If I am a 6 then I cannot go lower than a 5, but higher than a 7”. Seriously? Why are we bringing maths into love?
Anyway, back to Don Jon. Ultimately, this film satirises rom coms and porn at the same time. It shows how both cloud our judgement when embarking on relationships and demonstrates how we need to be more open minded, less concerned about what we want and expect and concentrate more on how we feel with the other person. Yes, relationships are about compromise, but we do not have the right to surgically change someone both in sense the physical and personality sense.
I found this film rather interesting and I think Gordon-Levitt did a brilliant job. If could critique a few things, it would be Barbara’s character. I felt it was not developed enough and was rather superficial. Therefore, it showed that spectrum of the relationship in an extreme and almost villain like format. I think more could have been done to create a three-dimensional character so that we can sympathise with her more. But then maybe the harsh truth of how we see rom-com female protagonists, would not have hit so hard. For some reason, and this is purely personal preference, I did not warm much to the use of put-on Jersey accents. It felt a little unnatural and made it slightly harder to watch. These are of course amazingly talented actors, but I would have enjoyed it more if it was more authentic. But again perhaps this was all intentional.
I feel like a lot more could be said about this topic and I am extremely happy that such a film was produced, to show that not only rom coms distort expectations but so do other “genres” of film.
Much love to all. Hope this did not sound too much like a rant.
Don Jon is a response to all the rom coms out there, an antidote if you like. It is both a rom-com and an anti rom-com. It is film for all you men out there. Maybe , just maybe this is a film you should drag your partners to and let the film do the talking for you.
Jon (Gordon-Levitt), known here as the don (cos he is just so good with the ladies) , is a man’s man. He sees his target (woman), he makes his move and he scores. Jon is a good-looking, smart, charming, young man. He does typical guy things like, eat, work out, go out clubbing, pick up girls, watch porn, eat, go to church, watch porn, see his family, watch porn, hang out with his friends. So yes, he likes to watch porn, and my oh my he watches a lot of it. Like I mean a lot. So much that he prefers it to the real deal. But in a typical rom-com fashion, he meets that one girl. The one girl, who is different, who is a challenge, who won’t go to bed with him just like that. No, no. To earn that, Jon needs to prove himself to Barbara (Scarlett Johansson), a beautiful young woman, who is in fact like at least a hard 9, probably 10. Barbara represents the rom-com brain washed girl. She believes in true love, in the notion that a man should change for a good woman, for the sake of love. Jon is charmed and in a way manipulated by her beauty and confidence. The two become a couple and we are invited to see just how false expectations portrayed by films and porn alike, can influence relationships.
I find the storyline very relevant to our society, and of course in particular relationships. The satirised depiction of the characters really does provoke you to question how exactly you view relationships. If you’re anything like me, then you probably would feel ashamed seeing similarities in the character’s traits in your own personality. Just to make it clear, I am talking about the girl here. But I mean what can we expect if we are raised in a society where such things are drilled into our mind.
Finally a film that gives relationships and the sexes a reality check! Of course, Don Jon is a little bit one sided in what it is trying to portray. However, overall I think there is somewhat of a balance between the two sides of the spectrum. Gordon-Levitt cleverly uses characterisation to portray these views.
On the one side we have the view that porn has influenced and distorted men’s (and some women’s, lets not be sexist now) perception of sex. So as a result, some men find themselves disappointed with the women they sleep with, feeling that it is just not like that in porn. I mean one does not simply wear a business suit to go to work, no no. Clearly one wears a suit to be spanked and then engage in a sexual adventure. And remember, one always wears naughty lingerie underneath this naughty, naughty suit. Ok, so basically, what Jon is showing here that porn has the capability to delve so much into the viewer’s mind that he cannot simply view things as they are. Or, for that matter enjoy intimacy for what it is in reality. In a way, Don Jon shows that men can be as much victims of false expectations as women are. I am not claiming the film is saying porn is poison, because hey everyone should be allowed to express or discover more about sex in the way they want to. I guess it is saying that an extreme appreciation or belief in what is portrayed in TV, film or the Internet can lead to disappointment and give an unrealistic representation of reality. Therefore, Jon is here to represent the porn influenced male.
The other character employed here to portray the other side of the relation is Barbara. She is in my eyes, a psychopathic rom-com lover, control freak of girlfriend. That’s right, ladies, whilst she does portray an exaggerated version of this type of woman, I am sorry to say, but some of things were just too realistic. Whilst rom-coms do give women this false sense of hope of what love should be like. I also think that society has made it okay for women to expect more of men in a relationship because of these rom coms. Suddenly, women feel it is acceptable to tell men that they should change. Because, in that film that man changed for that woman and well , why can’t your man do the same?. “Why can’t you just tell me you like me the way I am like Mark Darcy does?! Or you know do a big romantic gesture like that guy from that film? Why? Just why?”. But why, just why can’t we expect to like men just the way they are. It feels like rom coms rely on trying to tell the man he should change and adapt to fulfil the woman’s expectation. But it does not seem to apply to women as much does it? I cannot think of many films where the woman has to change. At the top of my head I can think of Sandy in Grease, but ultimately it is Danny who says he wants to change. Unfortunately, I still think Women need to fight for equality in society and the way they are viewed. But maybe we should also look at the other side too. I was actually disgusted at how much Barbara wanted Jon to change. She used her sexual power to manipulate him, saying “Baby” (I now hate that word), “don’t you think you need to get a better job”. Excuse me, Barbara, but Edward accepted Pretty Woman as a prostitute, so just calm down.
Ok, I am getting way to emotional about this and I realise I sound like I am ranting. But it is because I feel that Don Jon has outted the truth we are all too afraid/blind/shallow/selfish to say. He gives a balanced argument of relationships that are tainted by the media today. Friends With Benefits, attempted to touch on that aspect. But big surprise, the film ironically gives a happy ending and guess what, it is the man who chases the woman. Out of My League, does have the woman chasing the man, sort of. But that film was not so much about men changing and false expectations, it was about superficiality and this whole “league” thing. That is another topic I feel we should address, what is this whole rating thing we are all obsessed with now? And I say we, because I am not innocent of this. “If I am a 6 then I cannot go lower than a 5, but higher than a 7”. Seriously? Why are we bringing maths into love?
Anyway, back to Don Jon. Ultimately, this film satirises rom coms and porn at the same time. It shows how both cloud our judgement when embarking on relationships and demonstrates how we need to be more open minded, less concerned about what we want and expect and concentrate more on how we feel with the other person. Yes, relationships are about compromise, but we do not have the right to surgically change someone both in sense the physical and personality sense.
I found this film rather interesting and I think Gordon-Levitt did a brilliant job. If could critique a few things, it would be Barbara’s character. I felt it was not developed enough and was rather superficial. Therefore, it showed that spectrum of the relationship in an extreme and almost villain like format. I think more could have been done to create a three-dimensional character so that we can sympathise with her more. But then maybe the harsh truth of how we see rom-com female protagonists, would not have hit so hard. For some reason, and this is purely personal preference, I did not warm much to the use of put-on Jersey accents. It felt a little unnatural and made it slightly harder to watch. These are of course amazingly talented actors, but I would have enjoyed it more if it was more authentic. But again perhaps this was all intentional.
I feel like a lot more could be said about this topic and I am extremely happy that such a film was produced, to show that not only rom coms distort expectations but so do other “genres” of film.
Much love to all. Hope this did not sound too much like a rant.