Phooey to 2012! Movie SPOILERS!!!

SPOILERS below...if you haven't seen the movie 2012 please be warned that I am giving away a huge plotline below. If you aren't going to see the movie or don't care if part of the plot is spoiled, keep reading. If you do care, stop right now.

My level of disgust about this has led me to cross-post this on several stepmom forums I read, so if you're seeing this for the 2nd or 3rd time, please accept my apologies!



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So my husband and I saw the movie 2012 last night. Very briefly (it's a loooong movie, 158 minutes!) the plot revolves around a divorced dad (Jackson, played by John Cusack) and how he tries to save his two kids, ex-wife, and her new husband as the world is coming to an end. Throughout the movie is an interesting subplot about how the newly configured family is trying to figure things out...the little boy Noah adores his new stepdad and while he loves his dad, is clearly angry and confused towards him. The little girl Lilly just loves them both. Stepdad Gordon is portrayed as a genuinely nice guy who loves these kids.

At first it was refreshing to see a realistic portrayal of realistic people just trying to figure things out, instead of the stereotypical evil stepdad, or even worse, the stereotypical bumbling incompetent (sometimes slimeball) dad competing with perfect stepdad (a la Jim Carrey in Liar Liar). The little boy in particular seems to be struggling with the fact that he really likes his stepdad, and maybe feels like he shouldn't, out of obligation to his dad whom he also loves. I thought it was very touchingly portrayed.

Until...HERE'S WHERE THE SPOILERS START...we get to the part of the movie where lovely ex-wife Kate (Amanda Peet) confesses to Jackson that she only loves Gordon "enough"....and at one point when their plane is about to crash Kate, Jackson, and the two children huddle together chanting a mantra "we're a family, we stick together, we're going to be together" while poor Gordon looks on....I saw the writing on the wall for Gordon right then and sure enough, by the end of the movie he gets killed off (albeit rather heroically).

This has been bothering me since last night and I finally realized that it actually really ticks me off....because they ruined a realistic and interesting portrayal of genuine people with genuine confusing feelings, and gave in to the stupid cliches of "true loves brings real families back together." On behalf of nice stepdads like Gordon everywhere, I am ticked at this movie!!! I think ultimately it's because the unspoken message here is the fulfillment of the wish we all know lies deep in the heart of every child of divorce: that their parents would get back together, if only this person wasn't in the way, even if they are a nice person and a good stepparent and we love them. Sheesh, it's just sickening to see this miserable, unrealistic cliche trotted out once again! How much more interesting and heart-warming this story might have been to me, if they had all survived to continue on the difficult path of figuring out their new dynamics, learning how to relate to one another and love one another well amid imperfection and sometimes conflict: just like every stepfamily (and non-stepfamily!) I know. Sigh.

By the way even if it weren't for the idiotic turn this stinker of a movie took, I still wouldn't recommend wasting your money OR 158 minutes of your time.