Sweet Home Alabama

Recently, I watched the romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama. The movie starts off with a southern-raised New York fashion designer named Melanie who is proposed to by a distinguished man named Andrew. There's one problem: she's married to her high school sweetheart from Alabama who refuses to divorce her. His name is Jake. Melanie is very ashamed of her poor Southern roots so she has not gone back to her home in years. She finally goes back to get things straighten out once and for all. As the movie progresses, she learns to accept her roots and falls back in love with Jake.

The movie teaches that an individual should embrace themselves. It sounds simple, but it is hard for people to truly do that. In the beginning of the movie, Melanie constantly told Andrew that she did not want him to meet her parents. She was embarrassed of where she spent her childhood. In fact, when Melanie was in Alabama and news reporters found her in Alabama, she told them that she came from a lot of money. The truth was she didn't: her dad's job was portraying reenactments of the civil war. Throughout the movie, it is shown that Melanie always loved Alabama. From laughing with her old high school classmates to going to her favorite places growing up, Melanie loved all of it. Melanie chose to go to New York because she wanted to grow and be somebody outside of her tight-knit community. In fact, her Mom constantly pushed her to get out of Alabama so she would not turn out like her. Also, Andrew comes from a family of wealth so it was hard for her to be fully herself and tell him everything. The movie also teaches to not underestimate individuals' capabilities. Besides the reason that Jake would not sign the divorce papers, Melanie always hated the reason that he had no ambition and wasn't doing much with his life. When Melanie went back to Alabama, she still thought that. It wasn't until she found out that Jake owned and ran a successful business. The movie shows that people change and are not always stagnant in their ways.

I think comedy is a meaningful art form because like this movie it can teach simple but effective life lessons.