"Too Young" is featured in "Shallow Hal" when Jack Black is dancing with a bevy of beauties who are actually "unattractive" women when the camera cuts away. "Shallow Hal" is one of those movies that I really shouldn't like but I do. The film is....problematic at best. It's dependent on the audience believing that someone's inner beauty can be translated into a representation of conventional attractiveness. For those who aren't familiar, Jack Black plays Hal, a man obsessed with finding a woman who meets his nigh impossible standard of physical beauty. One day, he meets self-help guru, Tony Robbins, in an elevator, who then hypnotizes Hal to only see a person's inner beauty. Afterward, he meets lady after lovely lady who, for some reason, are attracted to him, including Rosemary (Gwyneth Paltrow), his True Love. However, throughout the movie, the camera switches between what the hypnotized Hal sees and reality, which shows these women to be "unattractive," by conventional standards. In the end, Hal learns to see real beauty without being hypnotized and Rosemary carries him off into the sunset.
There are multiple concerns with "Shallow Hal," that I'm not even sure where to begin. First, there's a lot of fat jokes played off for laughs - for example, the svelte Paltrow looking at underwear in a much larger size at a posh lingerie store and then, later in the movie, she takes half of Hal's birthday cake and eats it with her hand. That shit probably wouldn't fly today. Additionally, the movie half implies that women who are kind, smart, funny, interesting, AND attractive do not exist. The only woman who is "beautiful" in reality is Hal's neighbor Jill and this is explained away that she still looks the same because Hal knew her before the hypnosis. We don't meet a woman in the movie who looks the same, regardless of whether or not Hal is hypnotized. But isn't that what would happen? If, hypothetically, an attractive woman who is as wonderful as Rosemary existed in the Shallow Hal universe, she would be her authentic self and the hypnosis wouldn't do anything. Or would the film makers feel compelled to make her more beautiful? How would you even do that? I fully realize I'm ranting now but, as someone who had to overcome some major insecurities regarding my appearance, I have concerns about how people perceive inner beauty. Is it something that can be quantified, qualified, and depicted on screen? I don't think so. It's hard enough for women to avoid comparing themselves to each other, now we have to compare ourselves to some idealized version of "inner beauty?" Thanks, Hollywood. This was supposed to be a short post about an awesome Phoenix song and now I'm just a tad pissed off.
I can't lie on my bed without thinking I was wrong
But when this feeling calls this world becomes another
Nighttime won't hold me in your arms again
I got a very good friend who says he can't believe the love I give
Is not enough to end your fears
I guess I couldn't live without the things that made my life what it is
Anyway, "Too Young" is about this guy who just broke up with a girl. He thought she was the one but it's over because they wanted different things and he's trying to get over it. Because he's too young, too young to settle down. He still has adventures to have, parties to attend, people to meet, and he's not ready for that to end. The girl in question - I'm assuming she wanted to get married and was tired of him going out at night. Afraid he wouldn't come home or would find someone else. There's a lot of insecurities and fears that are triggered when you discover you love someone who doesn't want the same things as you. Unfortunately, love is not enough in this situation and each of them have to do what's right for them. He understands this, that life will go on without this girl. It's okay to feel sad about it for a moment, but in the end, you have to keep on dancing.
"Too Young" Video
