Anyone who can come up with an accurate, all encompassing, universal definition of love should be elevated to the highest place imaginable in society because they will have accomplished the impossible. In my best attempted, I came up with, “Love is the absence of hate.” One some level, it’s pretty true. My new friend Evan tried to challenge me on it:
Evan: How would you define love?
Me: As the absence of hate.
Evan: But… what about like? That’s not hate or love.
Me: Sure it is. It’s platonic love.
Evan: Fine then what about lust?
Me: That’s selfish love, which might as well just be hate.
Soon after having this conversation, Evan and I went to see the movie Paper Heart.
If you haven’t already seen the movie Paper Heart, I recommend seeing it. It’s a good one to see if you’re in a relationship, or if you’re single, or even if you’ve just recently gotten dumped. (I promise it’s not one of those make-you-want-to-slit-your-wrist romantic comedies that rubs salt in the wound). I was in a terrible mood when I saw it and yet I laughed the whole way through.
There were a few scenes in the movie that I thought were a little contrived but if you’re able to look past those, it’s a cute story (staged to be a documentary) about a girl whose experiences of “love” have turned her into a modern-day skeptic (Hey! That’s me!). The film tells the story of her trip across the country to find the answer to her question: Does true love really exist? …only, she didn’t really find an answer, unless the answer is that she’s the problem… so… yeah.
Why didn’t I think of this first?
The Love Shoebox 