Runaway Boyfriends

Earlier today I watched the pilot episode of Friends and something strange struck me. An awful lot of today’s media focuses on women who leave men at the altar. Think about it. Jennifer Aniston touched our hearts as Rachel Green when she left her fiancé Barry at the altar. Julia Roberts was nominated for about a million awards after she starred as a woman who just can’t seem to follow through with a wedding in Runaway Bride (1999). Reese Witherspoon charmed the world in Sweet Home Alabama (2002) when she decided to remarry her first husband at what was supposed to be her second wedding with a different man. The list of other fictional women who run out on their weddings could go on and on.

While those movies and TV shows certainly do entertain us, they also bring up an interesting question. How many women do you know who would actually walk out on their wedding day? Personally, I can’t think of a single woman who would do such a thing. Maybe I just have a weird circle of friends, but we all strive to get married someday. Hell, some of us are already armed with wedding planning books. And if the time and place were to arise where we could marry the man of our dreams, you can be certain that none of us would ever call it quits – especially not while we were already wearing our perfect wedding dresses.

As women, we can’t help but dream of our white wedding, even if there should be nothing white about it. The idea of marriage excites us to no end and we would do anything for the men in our lives to share in our excitement. Unfortunately, most men could care less about declaring their love in front of 200 people. And much like the farfetched women that we see in the media, there is such a thing as a runaway boyfriend.

The problem with boyfriends who run away is that they often run far too quickly for us to catch them – especially if we’re trying to charm them with our $150 heels. When our boyfriends leave us, we don’t find their decisions to be nearly as forgivable as the women who leave in the movies. On the contrary, any boyfriend who leaves is automatically labeled as a slug that should be burned – as well he should be.

If one lesson can be learned from all of the runaway brides in the media, let it be this: Movies are not reality. In the real world, one partner cannot bail out on a relationship and leave everybody involved wearing a goofy grin. In the real world, women would not leave their men at the altars while everybody they know is watching. In the real world, breakups do not end happily ever after. But the important thing to note is that they could.

When men leave us, our mental home movies will undoubtedly become tearjerkers for at least a little while. However, there is no reason for our films to end on a sad note. If you find yourself heartbroken over a runaway boyfriend, take a cue from Hollywood. There is always room for a sequel. Your sequel may not star your ex as the leading man, but there will certainly be some other hunk to take his place. So if your ex decided that it’s a wrap, remind yourself that you are the director of your life. You hold your own destiny in your hands, and you will eventually recast for the next male role in your life’s saga. And if your life is anything like Hollywood, he will probably be tall, dark, and handsome with a British accent. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with dating the stunt man, either.