Keeping the Love Alive

In the media, relationships seem to be romanticized and idealized. Who doesn't want to watch a love story of two people falling madly in love? What many media leave out, is what happens to these couples in the long-term. The movie Sex Tape depicts this issue in an extremely comedic manner.

Upon the first time they meet,  Annie Hargrove (Cameron Diaz) and Jay Hargrove's (Jason Segal) physical chemistry is almost instantaneous. They start having sexual relations, and it's easy to understand that they really enjoy having sex with one another. Ten years later, everything changes when they are no longer single, but instead married with kids. As a result, their sex life suffers, and Annie and Jay are desperate to get it back. In order to do so, they decide to make a sex tape, but only mean for it to be seen by their own eyes. This unfortunately is not the case when Jay accidentally forgets to delete it, and it ends up in the wrong hands. 

While extremely funny and entertaining, this movie brings up a lot of interesting points about long-term relationships. According to Lippman et al in "Isn't it Romantic," the media consistently focuses on the "falling in love" phase of a relationship, "such as the giving of gifts and compliments and exaggerated romantic gestures, such as scattering rose petals." (Lippman et al, 2014). It is easy for a media company to romanticize a couple falling in love with each other, because viewers thoroughly enjoy a love story. Sex Tape does just this; from the start, Annie and Jay have an instantaneous connection that is very entertaining to watch. At the same time, this romanticized ideal is slightly dangerous for viewers. Lippman states, "although heavier total amount of TV exposure predicted lower levels of idealistic marital expectations, heavier exposure to romantic TV predicted higher levels of idealistic marital expectations" (Lippman et al, 2014)). The media may romanticize falling in love, but relationships are not always glamorous forever. In Sex Tape, Annie and Jay's relationship is not always hearts and flowers, but they do indeed run into problems after being together for many years. 

Lippman's research shows that viewers truly pay attention to the media and the messages it sends on relationships. Although the circumstances in Sex Tape are slightly unconventional, the movie shows that those in long-term relationships run into obstacles that they must overcome. Annie and Jay love each other and the family they have created, but with their crazy lives, they need time to themselves to get their relationship back to to where it was when they first met. While the media should make individuals excited about falling in love, there should also be a balance of revealing that love does have ups and downs in the end. Couples should not make sex tapes, but they should definitely focus on spending time together and keeping their chemistry alive.  

References: 
Lippman, J. R., Ward, L. M., & Seabrook, R. C. (2014). Isn’t it romantic? Differential associations between romantic screen media genres and romantic beliefs. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(3), 128-140. doi: 10.1037/ppm0000034 

Sex Tape Official Red Band Trailer (2014, March 31). Retrieved November 11, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF6IXw86iSQ.