Anne or Annie?

With finals over (and without the guilt that accompanies anything fun while that ominous stack of books sits on my desk), I spent a good part of my first free weekend with my girlfriends and, typical to the girl's night stereotype, we ended up watching romantic movies. Within a few days I watched two very different films, both about girls named Anne: the deliciously romantic, innocent, and humorous Anne of Green Gables and the coarse, funny, but more often perverted Bridesmaids.

I was struck immediately by the differences between the two films.

Enter Anne Shirley (spelled with an "e" of course), the hopeful, witty, proud, romantic orphan, who captures the hearts of the people of Avonlea with her compassion and spirit. Her relationship with Gilbert Blythe is sweet, if frustrating (one can't help feeling sorry for Gil each time Anne turns him down). It's a story of school chums who fall in love, but it's also a story about family and friends, about dreams and imagination, about home.

Now enter Annie. From the start, if she's not saying something sarcastic or crude she's doing it. And it's not just her, but all the other characters as well. I'll just say there's a scene with all the bridesmaids sick from both ends-and that's not the worst of it. I'll admit there are some funny scenes, but most are ruined by crass sexual comments (often with pictures to go along). Annie's love interest is a nice guy (one wonders why he went for her), but any redemption their relationship might bring is lost beneath a pile of trash.

Yet, for the second week in a row Bridesmaids ranks second in box office sales. It's bothersome to find this is the kind of film producers make. It's even more bothersome to find this is what people want to watch. If I were you, I'd leave Annie in an empty theatre and bring back Anne from that dusty VCR.