roman holiday

One of my favorite movies was on tonight. Audrey Hepburn is a runaway princess, and Gregory Peck is the reporter who hopes to make his name reporting on her clandestine experience in Rome. Only it doesn't turn out that way. I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it, but suffice it to say that it really does come from a bygone era, where the values of duty and obligation were more important that personal fulfillment -- where there was a higher calling than simply whatever makes you happy, and where love sometimes meant sacrifice.

Contrast if you will with a recent romantic comedy, You've got Mail. Now don't get me wrong, I love Tom Hanks, but he puts Meg Ryan's small, wonderful bookstore out of business, and never looks back. He's a nice guy you see, and it's "just business." Plus, he gets the girl. In this world, you can have it all. You can make a lot of money, be ruthless, be happy, and get the girl. You don't have to sacrifice anything.