Invisible emotional damage

I saw the movie Friends with Benefits last night, the one with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. The set-up was that he was emotional unavailable and she was emotionally damaged. Instead of trying to have a relationship, they would just be friends with benefits.

 

The movie was entertaining enough, sprinkled with good jokes. It was a bit predictable, but you know, it’s a romantic comedy. It kind of has to be predictable.

All in all I liked it.

But. I don’t quite see what emotional damage Mila Kunis’ character had.

The only reason I know she supposedly has this emotional damage, is because I was told so by herself and almost every other character in the movie. I didn’t see any actual damage. This evidently invisible emotional damage didn’t affect her life or the choices she made in any capacity, at least as far as I could discern. The way she was portrayed in the movie, she seemed like a perfectly normal late 20-something woman.

Apart from developing feelings for the guy she was supposed to only have a sexual relationship with, and then being terrible at being honest with him, she acted like a responsible adult.

What annoys me is that it really wouldn’t have been that difficult to show that she had some issues or emotional scars.*

It’s not that Kunis’ character is perfect. She has flaws like any other person. But she isn’t emotionally damaged (unless it’s a sign of emotional damage to believe in true love and that there is a right guy for you out there - which apparently is the case in this movie).

I mean, if she’s emotionally damaged, then I belong in the freaking mental institution (and maybe I do, but shhh, don’t tell anyone).

This movie was a nice reminder of the age-old adage: Show, don’t tell.

*If you want to see a female character with emotional damage in a romantic comedy, check out Cameron Diaz in The Holiday (a great movie, by the way).