Tuesday 24 July 2012

What warms your heart?


This morning, my daughter was watching the same romantic comedy film for the fiftieth time. I asked her why bother wasting her time with the same film instead of doing something more useful. By the way it’s not that I don’t do it too. I have my favourite films that I watch many times and then always feel guilty for watching them. They are mostly romantic comedies. My favourite one is Roman holiday. I love the beautiful scenery of Rome. I also love the chemistry between Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. Audrey Hepburn is one great woman who lived a horrible life with dignity during the Second World War and managed to survive all the other odds in her life.
When I analyse my favourite actors I realise that all of them have a kind of depth in their lives which gives them the opportunity of being a role model. They inspire the people around them.     
I have read a lot of criticism about romantic comedies. Most of them were about how these films gave wrong expectations to women, raising their standards to a platonic or utopic level. Others condemned the predictability of their endings. Most romantic comedies end happily and we all know too well that life is rarely like that. There are many ups and downs as well as sad endings and disappointments. I admit that some of the plotlines can be often quite repetitive and tedious.
Still, we continue watching them. My daughter’s answer gave me the main reason why people including myself may watch them. She said: “I’m watching it because it warms my heart.” I am very lucky to have such an intelligent daughter who teaches me something new everyday and never fails to impress me with her wise words.  
Yes, finally I get it. There is so much negativity in our lives that we need things to warm our hearts. Innocence and love warm our hearts. This is why we like reading romantic novels too. Only if our hearts are warm, we can stay sane to help other people, because we listen to our hearts more than our brains. A warm heart is tolerant, accepting and respectful. Of course there are other things which help such as art, drama, music, poetry, literature, friendship and family. I have never doubted that they are the main factors to having a stable and compassionate personality.
In conclusion if one has a warm heart there is nothing unachievable in life…