Lars and the Real Girl

• Warning! This blog post contains a sex doll...and spoilers! I just had to say it, because I honestly know a lot of people who would turn down this movie just because of that fact...and I didn't want people who haven't seen it to get upset!! Signs and Wonders never disappoints, and I'm actually surprised that I haven't heard of this movie, considering it had Ryan Gosling, a pretty famous actor. Anyways besides the point this was a fantastic film. The story of Lars and his transformation was very well executed. In the beginning Lars is this extremely socially awkward guy, to the point where people make bets to see if he'll come to breakfast with them. All is changed however, when Lars orders this sex doll named Bianca, and pretty soon the small community has to adapt to this newcomer in Lars' life. Eventually Bianca is a town regular and is even taken away from Lars one evening to volunteer at a hospital. Enough of the synopsis, what I really wanted to say was about something that was said during the after discussion. The topic of the small community came up, and the famous expression "what if..." happened to pop up. What if this movie took place in a bigger city? This movie has a ton of imagery, but what I enjoyed the most was how the community took in this big hunk of plastic designed for disgusting purposes and at the very end of it all, ended up throwing a funeral for it. I could've imagined how different the movie would have been if it had taken place in New York City. Obviously not a lot of people would have been impacted by the doll, and if that really were the case, I honestly think this movie wouldn't have been as great. What really gets me about this film is how real Bianca is at the end. She is a real person, not literally, but by everyone's standards in the movie she was real. In the earlier parts of the film, Bianca came off to me as "hilarious" "awkward" and mostly "weird", and a lot of the earlier scenes with Bianca definitely portray those thoughts. That first scene with Lars, the brother, the sister-in-law and Bianca at the dinner table, was just the correct mixture of uncomfortable and zany humor. My initial thoughts eventually melted away as Lars becomes more and more social with this doll, and ultimately other people. Towards the end I was actually pretty upset that Bianca was dying. I ALMOST cried, which is tough to admit, but hey, we all have emotions alright? cut me a break! Anyways, I would have reacted differently if the community didn't care as much as I did, and if this movie did take place in a busy city like New York or Phoenix, then who knows? The movie probably wouldn't have been better if it had taken place in a large city, rather than the small town it actually took place in, but I'd still be curious to see how it would turn out if there were somehow a way.