Christina Deconstructs the Fantasy of Something Borrowed

The movie Something Borrowed (based on the book by Emily Giffin) is about a very toxic friendship that never should have lasted past high school. Rachel (Goodwin) is miserable in the relationship because Darcy (Hudson) makes her feel insignificant. Darcy is essentially an alcoholic with no regard for others' feelings. And in all fairness, Rachel isn't honest with Darcy, so she kind of brought much of her misery on herself. She probably doesn't feel safe enough to speak up because this is a toxic relationship, as already stated.

Early on, Rachel has a fling with Darcy's soon-to-be-husband.  But it's revealed over the course of the movie that Rachel met Dex first and even had a crush on him in law school before casually introducing him to her friend.  One could potentially make the argument that Darcy, in fact, was the one who initially created this precedent for overstepping boundaries in their relationship by assuming that it was OK to date her best friend's hot guy friend just because her friend didn't beg and plead with her not to steamroll right over her by going after him herself.  At the same time, it's interesting that Rachel didn't do more to discourage the relationship and all but handed Dex (Egglesfield) over to her "friend" on a silver platter because a woman like Darcy does not need permission to go after what she wants. If this was a real life scenario, I could see Rachel confiding her feelings to Darcy and Darcy going after Dex anyway. But that's not the story we got. For whatever reason, the screenwriter (and from what I've read of the book, the author as well) holds back when it comes to revealing just what kind of emotionally abusive person Darcy is capable of being, probably so we can continue to buy the premise that there's a real relationship at stake here, even though, on a deeper level, we must know there's something rotten in Denmark. This unease is important because of what comes later. But in the meantime, a friendship at stake provides conflict.

Ideally, Rachel would have told Darcy that their friendship was stifling her. Dex would have told Darcy the same. They would have severed ties with the woman they never really cared about and been free to pursue a relationship with each other in a more honest fashion. If it had gone like this, the movie would have been over in ten minutes. Maybe twenty.

This is a movie that thrives on phony conflict. And on a fantasy of a guy who liked the lonely, insecure girl all along. And all because this is what the average female viewer wants most to hear. Most girls know what it's like to feel threatened by other women who seem to have everything go their way; this movie is a gift to them. It's the validation they crave. It tells them, "That guy you like always liked you back and only formed a toxic relationship with that drunk, perky blond because he didn't realize you were interested. If only he'd known, things would have worked out better for you." Isn't that a nice thought? I can enjoy watching a shy, insecure girl get her dream guy after years of not feeling good enough, but, at the same time, I see this movie for the fantasy it is. Yeah, it's awful that Rachel had to get her happy ending by stepping on another's toes. Even though Darcy is a completely unsympathetic character and not much of a friend. And even though I never could figure out why Dex was engaged to her either because he doesn't even seem to like her! That's not surprising, though. This movie isn't meant to show people acting logically. 

Once again, it's a nice fantasy with a fake moral dilemma that's only a moral dilemma if you buy the premise that these characters should feel any loyalty to the person who clearly doesn't belong in their lives to begin with and whom they would be so much happier without. And that's why we can feel satisfied by the ending when the ending finally comes around after an hour and a half of posturing. At the end of the day, nothing really important was lost. Everyone is better off.