This is a really cheesy article I wrote for my university's newspaper (of which I am the Entertainment Editor). Cupid keeps telling me to post a journal entry. FINE.

Let's shed a bit of Lumiere brothers on this.

I find that most people I talk to have a tendency to either scoff or wistfully sigh at the romantic idealist movies that claim Paris as their backdrop. These responses are especially common for films that feature an American in said city, which almost guarantee romantic trysts and kissing (not to mention singing and dancing) at the top of the Eiffel Tower. While my first year experiences at AUP didn't involve any Michael Curtiz-esque montages and I seldom spontaneously broke out into song, I still like to think Humphrey and I will always have this fabulous city.

Stepping off the plane my first day I half-expected some gorgeous accent-sporting guy to sweep me off my feet and, well, you know the rest (or you would if you'd seen French Kiss, even though Kevin Klein isn't French and a lot went on before the sweeping). I quickly realized that it was better this didn't happen, however, because I felt so jet-lagged I could've died and had the worst case of plane hair anyone has ever seen. How the cast of Funny Face ran around the city the moment they arrived still baffles me. I guess it's better to leave the mise-en-scene to the professionals.

That is not to say that movies featuring Americans in Paris are that far from reality. What they do best at capturing, implausible story lines and the suspension of disbelief aside, is (try saying this without sounding cheesy) the spirit of the city. One night eating dinner at, or just walking by the Eiffel Tower and you'll feel just like Audrey Hepburn or even Carrie Bradshaw from those final episodes of Sex and the City. Hopefully you won't feel like Cary Grant in Charade, because that's just weird. And dangerous.

They also seem to grasp the problems that can arise when you visit or live in a foreign place. I believe I, just like Kay Thompson, have uttered the phrase, "I can't hear myself think, and I'm trying to think in French!" Additionally, these films masterfully illustrate the problem that seems particular to this city, that is, the moment you are out of a relationship everyone around you is excessively twitterpated. (Yes, this is a personal vendetta. Please stop holding hands--my boyfriend and I just broke up this morning. You're so insensitive).

Just one final thing. If anyone chooses to"express themselves" in the same manner as Audrey in that nightclub (Funny Face)--please invite me, it's just something I've yet to see happen here. Hey, after a few drinks, I might even join you.

Movies to check out: An American in Paris, Au Bout de Souffle, Before Sunset, Casablanca, French Kiss, Charade, Funny Face, and "An American Girl in Paris" Sex and the City episodes (season six).