What Classic Movies Have Taught Me About Love

Okay, before we dive in I have two PSA’s to put out there. Number one: I am a huge romantic. I love old movies, old music, and just the aura of time periods like the 30’s through 50’s. I know they are far from perfect, but I am naturally drawn to them. Number two: I am going to spoiler some fantastic movies up ahead, so know you have been warned.

I can’t remember exactly the first time I saw the movie Casablanca, but I have madly fallen in love with it. A story of war and romance, betrayal and trust, it has so many great themes, not to mention the amazing music and acting. I think I first fell in love with the movie when I saw how it ended for the first time. For those that haven’t seen it, the movie is about a bar owner in Northern Africa during World War II who is caught between a renegade independence fighter from France and Nazi pressure. The freedom fighter is married to a woman that the main character once was in a relationship with, and at the end of the movie, he sacrifices his own freedom and security for the woman and her husband. I remember watching the scene where it happens and just thinking of how amazing this decision was. The main character would have faced potential death had he not escaped, and just so willingly gave that up to protect others.

That movie, in all honesty, was one of my most impactful experiences with what love ought to be versus what it ends up being. I think this is important because I would venture to guess that many of us learn what love means from unconventional sources. Whether they be music, movies, TV, friends, or role models, maybe we learn about love from sources outside of our families.

I remember other movies, like Roman Holiday, which showed me the need for creativity in a romantic relationship. Or the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, teaching me how important every single person is, especially to other people.

I bring all this up because our world teaches us what the world is like. Movies teach us about love, music teaches us about heartbreak, TV teaches us about dating, and social media can teach us about friendship. We need to be careful with this though! Too often in my own life, I have had my view of the world shifted dramatically because of how it was portrayed somewhere. As the old saying goes, you are what you eat. We often become the things that are portrayed in videos or music, and often that person we become is someone we never want to be. 

So what’s my recommendation? Watch an old movie sometime. They are far from perfect themselves, but a lot of them are pretty good. Think about what you are taking in and how it may be changing the person you are. Some of those might be great changes, but others might be holding us back from reaching our fullest potential.