A Hollywood Happy Ending

Just saw "Stealth." I know, I know. Forgive me father for I have sinnned. But it was free, and I was hyped on a coffeehouse mocha, and hey, it was fun.

But amidst the glitz of the latest Hollywood blockbusting artificial-intelligence-draining Jamie Fox and Jessica Biel vehicle phenomenon lies a short-sightedness that reveals more than just a bad script.

If you plan on seeing "Stealth" and for some reason you think that knowing a few plot points will make the movie less enjoyable, feel free to stop reading. However, for the rational among us, let me outline the issue. An artificially intelligent plane goes haywire and ends up reeking havok over Russia, former-Soviet states, and North Korea, leaving a female pilot trapped in the latter. Her male counterpart (and secret lover) is assigned to bring the A.I. knave back into the Air Force fold and eventually wins the plane over with a show of flyboy sportsmanship. The plane develops "feelings" - but then, don't they all - and "he" and the flyboy swoop into North Korea, kill about 50 soldiers, blow up a helicopter and a base, and save the girl, which consumates their flirtations - they have officially fallen in love. And somehow, that's supposed to make everything okay.

Fortuately for the viewing audience the movie ends BEFORE the inevitable start of WWWIII. When you've got North Korea, Russia, some former Soviet Republics and every terrorist organization in the world gunnin' for you, there's bound to be nothing but trouble. But we're all supposed to walk out of the theater feeling warm and fuzzy because the guy got the girl and vice versa. Who cares? They'll be dead in 48 hours!

Which brings me to another, loosely related point. It seems that the Guy and the Girl getting together is the coda of most every movie/tv show/musical album out there. Are we, as a society, so focussed on this goal that we see nothing around it or past it? Should not Guy and Girl getting together be the beginning of some greater film? Isn't it supposed to be about joint vision and mutual encouragement and symbiotic action?

The lack of such in our greatest cultural mirror (however funhousy it may be) is disturbing, disheartening.