Laura Donovan's Blog

I’m one of those people who has loved The Notebook since it came out in theaters in 2004. I’ve memorized all the lines, and far too often, I’ve compared my high school relationship to the couple in the film.

But I’ve recently noticed a huge problem with the Notebook relationship. As I’ve said before, I’ve experienced something similar, so the film is cute. That being said, I know how frustrating the one-dimensional Notebook relationship actually is, and I know that it usually doesn’t last forever if there is no intellectual depth between the two. I dated a guy for a really long time in high school, and we had excellent chemistry, but we couldn’t talk about things. I’ve always considered myself a thoughtful, curious person, and he was intelligent, but he refused to talk about more than the events of his day-to-day life. We couldn’t discuss things that matter, and eventually, I got tired of talking to a guarded wall who underestimated my intelligence.

The relationship is the same in The Notebook, only Noah never tells Allie that she isn’t good enough. Even so, the couple doesn’t have anything in common. They just like being intimate and having light conversation. Sounds a little bit too familiar. Of course the characters love each other, but the movie doesn’t tell you that love only goes so far when two people don’t have anything to talk about.

A stronger romance movie is Adventureland. The leading male is fascinated by Kristen Stewart’s character. They get to know each other on an intellectual level before dating. The same physical chemistry is there, but the conversational connection gives the relationship more substance, which is crucial to keeping the couple eternally happy. Trust me, you need both aspects, and I wouldn’t want to be deficient in either.

I don’t want to bash The Notebook, it’s still a great movie that I’ll re-watch for many years to come, and some people don’t mind having a slightly shallow romance, but I’ve learned through experience that there’s more to dating than chemistry. If you have nothing to talk to your significant other about, you’re going to get bored.