Darling,
Do you know that sometimes, especially when it happens through watching art, crying your eyes out is a good thing? You are allowed to sob sometimes.
In ancient Greece—and beyond!—they called this emotional reaction catharsis. Playwrights of tragedy actually sought out stories that would make the audience cry, for their own well-being! This is so good for people who can’t really feel their own feelings, or are afraid to feel. Cause the feeling has to come out in some way, and art that activates the tear ducts serves as the catalytic converter in the human nervous system.
I think…?
So if you are scrolling on Amazon Prime for something to watch, you may think Sitting in Bars with Cake is a romance about sweet foods and friendships. And you would be right! Yet is also the kind of movie that may surprise you with a big 'ol dose of catharsis, matched with positivity and fearlessness of its characters in the face of pain, alongside the power of intention to live a full life no matter what.
(Oh, and that main guy from Office Space is in this movie, too. The one who was the leader of all the office rebellion. He has aged well. Ron Livingston is the name of the actor, but it also seems that should be his name in Office Space too. Such a Ron ron doodley dude, that guy is.)
Therefore, ma cherie, Sitting in Bars with Cake can be classified as cute, sweet, and savory. It is well-written, well-acted, and has emotional depth and poignancy. The lead actress, Yara Shahidi is beautiful to watch at the same time as she portrays the strength of a best friend who is called upon with what seems enormous weight and responsibility. The writing is excellent, and the screenwriter Audrey Shulman also wrote the book by the same name, based on the story of her and her best friend deciding to bake cakes to meet single men in Los Angeles.
Not long ago, I wrote in a post that I wanted to see a great love story, and here one is! Only, instead of focusing on romance and the traditional fairytale, it was the love story of best friends whose bond is so tight it can never be broken.
Isn’t it rejuvenating to find the story of hope of unbrokenness in this wild, futuristic world where we often can’t tell AI from humanness? Some humans are even convinced that acting like artificial intelligence is the way to be successful in life. And if we keep shutting off our hearts and only acting from our minds, which we mistakenly think is superior—well, then we do become robots, and too easily used for someone’s nefarious cause.
So watch this film, my little cherub, and let’s also make a list of other movies that cathart-us for rainy days? (I made that word, “cathar-us” up. You get it, right?) We must include other movies that star Bette Midler as well, please. Like that little known Stella that I always dearly loved.
I would just love to sit with a cute, fun, special person as we eat popcorn and wiggle our toes and watch heartening films and take breaks by dancing. Let’s have our cake and eat cake too. All we have to do is get two cakes—one to look at for a while and admire, and one to cut into and eat and enjoy. We can have all the cakes and none of the beheading. I think it is 2023—they don’t allow those anymore. Even if you have the name Marie.
I could be wrong about this, because you never what is going to happen in this crazy world. But if we gotta go, let’s go with chocolate icing?
Just make someone else do the dishes.
Bisous!
Ms. Wonderful
*Sitting in Bars with Cake is streaming on Amazon Prime, directed by Trish Sie.