March is back, and that means we’re leaning into the mess with the return of Love Stinks! Month - our annual deep dive into the "Not-So-Love-Love-Stories" that make us cringe, cry, and question everything. We’re kicking things off with the ultimate manifesto for the death of romance: Roger Avary’s 2002 chaotic collegiate trip, The Rules of Attraction. Grab a drink try our Emotional Vampire cocktail - as we head to Camden College, where the only thing more plentiful than the drugs is the total lack of genuine connection.
This week, we tackle the polarized reactions between us, as Mackenzie struggles with the film’s relentless nihilism while Lemar holds onto his nostalgia for this mid-aughts time capsule. We examine James Van Der Beek’s aggressive pivot away from Dawson's Creek as the "sexual vampire" Sean Bateman, Shannyn Sossamon’s doomed pining for the absent Victor, and Ian Somerhalder’s heartbreakingly misdirected search for intimacy as Paul Denton. We also break down the film’s flashy, hyper-stylized techniques—from the famous split-screen hallway encounter to the dizzying European montage—and debate whether the movie’s bone-deep cynicism is a truthful portrait of youth or just "directorial masturbation."
If you’ve ever loved someone who didn't even know you existed, or if you just want to hear us argue about whether these characters are "horrible people" or just tragically human, this is the episode for you. We’re mixing our conflicting perspectives with our usual casual banter, making this a perfectly messy start to our month of cinematic heartaches. Just remember: at Camden, the party never ends, even when the romance is long dead.
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