I remember an old Catholic joke about a man who spent his whole life going to a church every day, and prayed to the statue of a great saint, begging, “Please, please, please, let me win the lottery.” Finally, the exasperated statue comes to life and looks down at the begging man and says, “My son, please, please, please, buy a ticket.
Eat, Pray, Love (2010)
I have a history of making decisions very quickly about men. I have always fallen in love fast and without measuring risks. I have a tendency not only to see the best in everyone, but to assume that everyone is emotionally capable of reaching his highest potential. I have fallen in love more times than I care to count with the highest potential of a man, rather than with the man himself, and I have hung on to the relationship for a long time (sometimes far too long) waiting for the man to ascend to his own greatness. Many times in romance I have been a victim of my own optimism.
Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
girls, if you’re looking for a movie that will help you escape from your troubles for two hours and thirteen minutes to Italy, India and Indonesia, then don’t see Eat, Pray, Love. you’ll find yourself facing them head on. and alone. yes, it’s a visually stunning movie that spotlights gooey pizza from naples and brazilian lovers in bali. however, though set and shot all over the world, it somehow sparks a self-examination and leaves you with an unsettling appetite that you may not have expected during a leisurely evening at the movies. so if you aren’t ready to take a hard look at your priorities, personal relationships and the many mistakes we make as women and americans and american women, then buy a ticket for the expendables, or the other guys, or see inception a third time on the big screen. but if you’re craving lessons on italian hand gestures, a peek inside an ashram and insightful paragraph after insightful paragraph that will fill your tumblr queue with photos of food and quotes about love, then grab your best girlfriends for the movie’s next showtime. you’ll leave the theatre with a hint of enlightenment compressed from Gilbert’s best-selling memoir; you embark on a journey to countries with dirt roads and swarms of mosquitoes while sitting on your ass in an air-conditioned theatre, thus saving your own credit card bill from wasted vacation charges and your heart from new pain. because you may already have plenty of either or both, which means this movie was made for you. tips: try to sneak gelato into the theatre. the half hour in italy is practically a national psa for carbs&calories, after which i ate three slices of pizza at 1:30am this morning. and just remember: the healing powers arent actually in the generous servings of spaghetti, bottles of thums up and bandages made from banana leaves…but they definitely help!
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girls, if you’re looking for a movie that will help you escape from your troubles for two hours and thirteen minutes to Italy, India and Indonesia, then don’t see Eat, Pray, Love. you’ll find yourself facing them head on. and alone.

yes, it’s a visually stunning movie that spotlights gooey pizza from naples and brazilian lovers in bali. however, though set and shot all over the world, it somehow sparks a self-examination and leaves you with an unsettling appetite that you may not have expected during a leisurely evening at the movies. so if you aren’t ready to take a hard look at your priorities, personal relationships and the many mistakes we make as women and americans and american women, then buy a ticket for the expendables, or the other guys, or see inception a third time on the big screen. but if you’re craving lessons on italian hand gestures, a peek inside an ashram and insightful paragraph after insightful paragraph that will fill your tumblr queue with photos of food and quotes about love, then grab your best girlfriends for the movie’s next showtime. you’ll leave the theatre with a hint of enlightenment compressed from Gilbert’s best-selling memoir; you embark on a journey to countries with dirt roads and swarms of mosquitoes while sitting on your ass in an air-conditioned theatre, thus saving your own credit card bill from wasted vacation charges and your heart from new pain. because you may already have plenty of either or both, which means this movie was made for you.

tips: try to sneak gelato into the theatre. the half hour in italy is practically a national psa for carbs&calories, after which i ate three slices of pizza at 1:30am this morning. and just remember: the healing powers arent actually in the generous servings of spaghetti, bottles of thums up and bandages made from banana leaves…but they definitely help!