Love your take on what a dude’s assessment of Laura says about him, and it was a definite plus to see a strong female who can get vulnerable and cry onscreen without a complete devolution into ladystereotypes or wanting a browniehusband. Sending you some ex-KVRXer feminist luv.

What I always appreciated about the film (and the book) was the way in which it systematically undermined all of Rob’s sexist generalizations about the women in his past. The audience learns (or should learn) that Rob has been harboring self-aggrandizing assessments of his break-ups that don’t jibe with reality.

I will have to ask the dudes in my life what they think about Laura. I don’t recall ever hearing a bad word spoken about her–she’s awesome! And I think that the film works hard to make her seem supportive and cool.

More often, I see people misinterpretting the film as an unabashed celebration of taste-based relationships and rock snobery. This could be partially the result of the adaptation, which cuts out some important moments of realization for Rob. I remember an episode in the book in which Rob and Laura double-date with a couple that has a music collection that Rob loaths, but rather than dismiss the pair, Rob decides they’re worth befriending. Again, realizing that taste-affiliations do not make (nor taste-disaffiliations break) relationships seams vital to the character’s transformation from boy-child to mature adult.

Thanks for the wonderful post! Love it!

btw – i also can’t help but think of High Fidelity in relation to Broken Flowers – less so for the incorporation of records and knowledge than the way in which women are categorized and listed by the male protagonists in the hopes of uncovering some truth. also Broken Flowers has an interesting soundtrack in terms of race and ethnicity.