Stop grinning, you smug hussy.
Let me start by saying that I truly believe Nicolas Sparks thinks your relationship sucks. Seriously. He believes in his heart of hearts that because you didn’t meet in the middle of a depression, weren’t separated for years by evil parents who locked you away and weren’t torn between the love of your life and something that could be considered “epically tragic” (war, famine, drought, a screening of another Nicolas Sparks movie, etc.) your relationship is basically just so-so. So take it with a grain of salt as I try to explain how I felt about “The Notebook”, the biggest of the Nicolas Sparks sappy romance movies that began with 1999’s “Message in a Bottle” (respect to Mandy Moore, she has to eat) and most recently gave us “The Last Song” with Miley Cyrus (who’s got to be up for an Oscar for her performance….no? really? ok, nevermind.) And before you say “Well the movie wasn’t made for you” or “You just don’t like romantic movies” or “Such a typical guy reaction”, trust me that’s not it. I love romance. I’m a huge sucker for love and am a bit of a commitment junkie. I love the idea of destiny bringing two people together as only destiny can and may have teared up a time or two at a “Happily Ever After” ending. It’s the substance of “The Notebook” that I have a problem with. The actual mechanics of the story bug the hell out of me and I think they’re setting the wrong expectation level for every single woman that sees them. But before I get too far down that road…
A Brief Synopsis of “The Notebook”: In the beginning, there was Maverick and Betty Ford…the movie opens with James Garner (Maverick from TV and Maverick’s dad from the movie “Maverick”) and Gena Rowlands (Betty Ford from 1987’s “The Betty Ford Story”) meeting in a nursing home. He’s there to read a story to her and she’s there to look confused and ask questions like a third grader for most of the movie. He begins to tell her the story of Noah and Allie, two teens in 1940’s South Carolina. They meet at a carnival and they’re a wrong fit, right from the start. He immediately begins starring at her like she’s one of those posters that looks like nothing but is actually something quite complex (“It’s a pirate ship! If you cross your eyes you can totally see it!”). Instead of accepting Noah’s creepy stares as an invitation to begin the relationship that will define her and all time (suck it, Cleopatra) Allie decides to ride the ferris wheel with a random guy that will soon never be seen again. Not one to take no for an answer, Noah leaps onto the ferris wheel and ends up dangling by one arm until Allie agrees to date him. (Let me also say that in my mind, there’s nothing less safe than a ferris wheel…except for a ferris wheel in the 1940’s. I assume it was just a big erector set that the 40’s carnies moved from town to town in a series of toyboxes…but I digress.) Even though Allie still refuses to date the lumber mill worker from the wrong side of the stereotypical tracks the next day, Noah manages to get to a movie with her because of a little help in the form of Eric from “Entourage.” And apparently, one co-viewing of a Li’l Abner movie was all it took for this Juliet to fall for her Romeo. Once they’re out of the movies and laying in the middle of the street trying to get run over by cars, their relationship is off to the races. In a classic “relationship montage”, Noah and Allie go from “justing dating” to “in a relationship” and before you know it are squarely planted in the realm of “it’s complicated.” Summer’s rapidly coming to an end and (SURPRISE!) Allie’s supposed to go off to Sarah Lawrence for school, a fact that Noah only learns while attending a brunch with Allie’s parents and a long table full of other Richie Rich folks. In an effort to show just how much Noah doesn’t fit in with the others, everyone at the table during that scene is wearing white clothes…except Noah who’s wearing black (See what they did there?). It’s also during this brunch that we get to know Allie’s father, a man who’s not afraid to telegraph the fact that he’s evil by sporting a Snidley Whiplash mustache. He and her mom (Joan Allen playing evil Joan Allen from the “Bourne” movies and not understanding Joan Allen from “Pleasantville”) both think that Noah’s not good enough for their prim and proper little girl. It’s with that backdrop that Noah takes Allie to an old plantation house which he talks of someday buying and remodeling. Hearing the opportunity for future home ownership, Allie chimes in with her requests for the house (white with blue trim, wrap around porch, display case for his balls, etc.) Being co-dependent, he immediately agrees. They’re about to make love on a blanket in the middle of the rotting house when Eric from “Entourage” storms in because Allie’s parents have sent the police to look for her…and because Noah’s obviously told him of his plan to take Allie to the old abandoned house to get it on (40’s guy high five!). Allie and Noah rush back to her house where evil Joan Allen and Snidley Whiplash are waiting to tell Allie how much they hate Noah and all his poorness. Although her father wants to tie her up and leave her on the train tracks (muah-haha!), her mother instead tells her that she’s no longer allowed to slum it with Noah. Hearing the shouting from the other room, Noah heads for his truck but is chased by Allie where they fight and eventually break up…sorta. Although she tries to see him one last time before being dragged off to the city, Allie and Noah part ways that night for years. But distance can’t stop a love like theirs! Noah writes a letter each day for 365 days to Allie professing his love and adoration for her. His light of his love knows no bounds and cannot be tamed by the miles that are between them…but totally gets c***blocked by her mom who intercepts all 365 letters and makes sure that Allie never sees them (told you it was evil Joan Allen). World War II breaks out (as it does) and Noah goes off to war with Eric from “Entourage” while Allie stays behind to go to college and work as a nurse. It’s during one of her nursing shifts that she meets Lon (played by all around handsome guy James Marsden) who, once he recovers, sweeps her off her feet. Lon’s charming, sophisticated and filthy stinking rich. In evil Joan Allen’s eyes, it’s a match made in heaven and Snidley can’t stop twirling his mustache, he just so excited. Noah returns from the war (where Eric from “Entourage” was randomly exploded during a battle…sorry E!) to find that his father has sold their house so Noah can buy the old plantation house and restore it. He takes a random trip to Charleston where he randomly sees Allie and Lon through a restaurant window and goes from stalker eyes to sad eyes in a matter of seconds. He returns to his dilapidated house more determined than ever to remodel it in just the way Allie would have wanted. Meanwhile! While out for a night of drinking and dancing…with her parents…the charming Lon drops the engagement bomb on Allie and she gladly accepts. As Allie plans for her wedding, Noah’s dad dies (way to kick a man while he’s down, Sparks) but Noah still manages to complete his remodel (including painting it white with blue shutters and building a wrap around porch <squeal!>). Noah’s accomplishment is so great that his picture is run in the paper under the headline “Local Sad Sack remodels house in attempt to woo woman that’s totally moved on.” But! Allie sees the picture in the paper while trying on her wedding dress…and promptly passes out. She hatches a plan and tells Lon that she’s got some “business” to take care of back in the town that she and her parents used to summer in. He plays right into her manipulative hands and eagerly allows her to leave for a few days. She makes a B-line for the restored house, finds Noah and scopes out this house that he’s constructed just for her. Two days, a few beers and one trip to some sort of duck orgy later, Noah and Allie have that one great kiss and are right back where they were rudely interrupted by Eric from “Entourage” all those years earlier. They spend a few days in bed and socializing with Noah’s “friend” that he’s been sleeping with when bored from a few towns over (who, instead of being hurt or upset or angry about finding Noah with someone else instead praises their relationship as something that she strives to have in her life in the future….whuck?). But alas, all good things must come to an end and when Allie awakens to discover that Noah’s created a room just for her to paint in (see, he supports her painting while Lon totally didn’t…even though he had no idea she liked to paint), evil Joan Allen shows up to tell Allie that 1. Snidley’s let slip that she’s returned to their vacation town to hook up with her ex-boyfriend to her fiance, 2. she also once had a summer love (with whom she had a blast) who was from the wrong end of the tax bracket who she abandoned in order to marry her the much more socially acceptable (read as: RICH) husband and 3. that she totally intercepted all of the letters that Noah sent to her years before…but instead of destroying them she kept them nicely bundled together in the trunk of her car. She gives Allie the letters so Allie can show them to Noah and then leave him to face Lon….who she unceremoniously dumps. Cut to the car pulling up to her dream house and Allie shrugging her shoulders as if to say “Does South Carolina have a joint property law?” and they live happily ever….WAIT. Remember, Maverick’s been telling this story to Betty Ford the whole time. Aside from a few “Princess Bride”-style cut ins here and there, we’ve not seen a whole lot of the genial geriatrics but we do know that they’re married, they have children and Betty Ford remembers none of it. You see, Maverick is actually Noah, not a scoundrel poker player with a heart of gold and Betty Ford is actually Allie, not America’s favorite rehabilitated First Lady. Noah’s been reading Allie the story of their love (which she wrote for him in a “Notebook”) in an attempt to turn back the clock on her debilitating memory loss. He’s been reading it to her day after day hoping to catch tiny glimpses of the woman that he built a house for and is rewarded with five minutes here or there of true lucidity from Allie. As he concludes the story this time, she flashes back to sanity long enough to tell him how much she loves him, ask about their children and begin to dance to their favorite song…before slipping back into the frightening fog that is something like Alzheimer’s. She flips out, has to be sedated and is secluded from Noah…who promptly has his third heart attack. When he’s finally able to return to the nursing home, he’s allowed to sneak into her room and has one more real conversation with Allie before they fall asleep in each other’s arms…and both die. Roll credits.
Why is it a PCBS? The 2004 released of “The Notebook” was the biggest romantic movie to hit theaters since 1997’s “Titanic” (another movie about star-crossed lovers from two different ends of the wealth scale that ended in death) and firmly established Nicolas Sparks, Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams and the return of the curled handle-bar mustache (ok, maybe not that last one). McAdams went on to star in big hits like “Wedding Crashers” and “Sherlock Holmes” while Gosling chose smaller art films like “Lars and the Real Girl” and “Half Nelson”. The two even dated for a time in real life but broke up for good in 2008…I assume that he’s dealing with their breakup by remodeling her dream home and drinking. But really, “The Notebook” flew into the zeitgeist as the new measuring stick for romantics. As a rule, 8 out of every 10 women who saw the movie left the theater in tears with 2 of those needing to have others drive them home because of vision impairment. Being a guy who enjoyed “The Notebook” became a badge of honor used to scam on chicks who were left emotionally raw by it’s pure emotiony emotions (ironically the basic premise behind McAdams “Wedding Crashers”). In particular, one scene transcended the movie and became a touchstone for women everywhere. That kiss in the rain on the dock when Allie realizes that she’s still madly in love with handy Noah which was immortalized on the movie poster became the latest in a long tradition of Hollywood uber-romantic moments (“Here’s lookin’ at you kid.”, “I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”, etc.) that become the gold standard for “true romance.” McAdams and Gosling even won the “Best Kiss” award at that year’s MTV Movie Awards and re-created the kiss live for the 35 people that actually still watch the MTV Movie Awards. It became the true definition of “romantic” almost overnight thus forever elevating it into the popular consciousness. Except for, apparently, mine.
How does it look in the rear view mirror? Well, if you hadn’t guessed by this point, I wasn’t a big fan of this movie and here’s why: WHO ACTS LIKE THAT?!? Here’s the thing, over the past 30 years (since Ali McGraw told Ryan O’Neil that “love means never having to say you’re sorry” in a movie that I’ve still got to watch for a future PCBS) we’ve suffered from a bit of a crisis of romance in America. Look at the way that Allie treats the guys in this movie. She leaves town without saying goodbye to Noah (yes, she leaves a message with Eric from “Entourage” but really, if you love him you should stay regardless of what your parents say) and then decides to forget about him and move on because she never receives a letter from him. It’s later revealed that he’s sent her 365 letters which totally makes up for all the time that she spent thinking that he didn’t write to her…but wait…what makes up for all the time that he spent thinking that she didn’t write to him? Oh right, she didn’t. So on the big relationship scoreboard that’s 365 for him and 0 for her. Next, she finds a nice guy in Lon and yet at the first sign of Noah in the paper, she leaves town and hops right back into bed with Noah. Hell, when her mom shows up it’s not like she’s pacing the floor trying to figure out what she’s going to do about her fiance at home and her personal contractor named Noah. No, when her mom shows up to drop the bomb on her she’s getting ready to paint…topless….on the wrap around porch that Noah built for her. Feel free to use the comments section to attempt to defend her actions, btw. So she’s confronted, caught cheating on her fiance and yet STILL doesn’t really know what she’s going to do or who she’s going to pick. So she leaves Noah, AGAIN, and heads to town to “talk” to Lon. It’s only in conversation with Lon that she realizes what she really wants and heads back to Noah. Don’t even get me started on the fact that in the present day she’s left a Notebook for Maverick to read to her every day in the hopes that it will “bring her back to him.” Why not say “this is going to be really painful for you, why don’t you live with our children, be happy and occasionally visit my crazy ass?” Finally, in one last masterstroke of control, Allie’s the one to suggest that they “go together”. Now I’m not saying that she killed him….but I’m totally saying that she killed him. When all was said and done, were Allie’s choices more or less hurtful to others than evil Joan Allen’s? For me, Allie’s actions leave women with two very terrible lessons:
- “It’s totally ok to jerk guys around as long as you’re crying about it”: Allie manages to hurt the same guy twice and break off an engagement before she finally ends up with Noah. Yes, she’s terribly conflicted about it the whole time, but if the movie were about a guy doing the same thing he’d be burned in effigy from the highest dogwood tree in Charleston.
- “Guys who really love you will build you a house, no questions asked.”: Seriously, where were Noah’s friends to tell him that he was being completely insane when he was building an entire plantation house with the singular goal of getting Allie to return to him. That’s not love, that’s just crazy.
In the end, I feel like “The Notebook” has doomed us to a generation of maladjusted expectations all in the name of “romance.” Thanks Sparks!
Final Thoughts: While this is probably the most vitriolic PCBS that I’ve written, my feelings about “The Notebook” are just that. I feel like it’s a movie with two main characters that learn absolutely nothing from beginning to end. Noah goes from obsessed with Allie at first sight to dying beside her in bed after sneaking into her room. Full crazy town circle. Allie’s allowed to float through the movie, changing her mind on the turn of a dime and fully expecting the men in her life to deal with her eventual decisions. Life doesn’t work like that. Love has consequences and Sparks manages to gloss over absolutely all of them in the name of “epic romance.” We’ve made great strides in the mechanics of relationships since the 40’s and Sparks really tries to turn the clock back on them all with a story that rings incredibly hollow. As a very smart English teacher once hammered home for me, Nathaniel Hawthorne put it best: “Perfection cannot exist in an imperfect world.” And by writing a story without real consequences, Sparks tries to make the love between Allie and Noah “perfect.” Love is perfect only when it’s flawed because then it’s only perfect for the two people involved. If life were like “The Notebook” we’d all be searching for ducks and docks instead of finding the beauty in the lives and people around us. It’s not that I hate “The Notebook” it’s just that I’m disappointed in it’s lack of true heart. Love songs and slow motion shots of birds do not a romantic movie make.
I found The Notebook especially frustrating because it felt like ‘forced emotions’, and you felt for the characters even while thinking about the exact things you mentioned, such as lack of consequences.
Dear John-
Let me start by saying I think The Notebook is a decent movie. I saw it with my mom when it first came out, and she liked it so much I bought her the DVD for Christmas. I guess you can call me a typical woman in that I am a sucker for a good romance, even though I rarely admit it. Because you suggested that I take your review with a grain of salt, as I do most of your writings (i.e shark jarring), I will attempt to keep my opinions lighthearted. I found your review somewhat harsh, particularly of the female character, and it got me thinking about life and love, so here’s my retort.
First things first- this is a fictional movie based on a fictional book. Most people watching a movie have an understanding that the events in said movie will likely not happen to them in real life. Just as some people like to watch films depicting unrealistic car chases and loads of explosions, there are people, both men and women, who enjoy watching overly dramatic love stories. I suspect most women watching The Notebook don’t actually expect their significant other to hang by one arm from a ferris wheel or to arrange a canoe ride through a lake full of ducks. The average audience member isn’t that dumb, and for those women who think that real life love is like the movies, well, they have bigger problems than can be solved by reading this blog.
The reason The Notebook was such a widely popular movie is because it’s all about the Big Gesture. The Big Gesture is the stuff good romance is made off. It’s the moment when someone sets aside their pride, pulls out all the stops and says “I love you and I’m not afraid of the consequences.” Almost all romantic movies have a Big Gesture in them, and The Notebook has a few. How many times have we watched a movie where someone is running through the airport to catch a plane in the name of love? Or standing up in front everyone to profess their feelings no matter how inappropriate the timing? That’s what makes for good romantic drama. Noah restoring the mansion for Allie, including a room to paint in? Classic Big Gesture.
So why do so many women like The Notebook? It’s because everyone wants to feel that level of love. Everybody longs for a partner that really gets them. Everybody wants the guy that says “no matter what, I’m gonna stick around for you.” Is that realistic? Maybe, maybe not. In real life Big Gestures are few and far between. Real world romance quickly gets replaced by work, bills, and what’s for dinner. Add life’s daily stresses, and it’s no wonder many people head to the movies for a mushy-gushy helping of fictional love.
As for your two terrible lessons for women, I think you were intentionally taunting your female readers. Pretty much all women, at some point in their lives, have had a guy jerk them around, and he was most certainly not crying about it. And if you really love someone, you should be willing to build them a house no questions asked, symbolically speaking of course.
And being that we had the same English teacher, I’m pretty sure you skipped that class as much as I did. I get the whole perfection/imperfection thing, but I don’t think Nicholas Sparks was trying to portray Noah and Allie’s love as perfect. True love is not perfect. It’s messy. And at times “it’s complicated.” It can make us freak out and wanna slap somebody. And it can definitely lead to bad decision making. But without it, what else is there?
Fortunately neither of us are old enough to have personally experienced the harsh realities of life. However I have seen the devastating effects families of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia must face on a daily basis. The emotional affect of your spouse not being able to remember the life you shared together, maybe even your name, is probably worse than having them die. I’m pretty sure they would do anything for just a glimpse of recognition, more less five minutes. Love that has survived a lifetime and is challenged by sickness and disease, hangs on until the very end. The ultimate Big Gesture.
My last thought- Anyone over the age of thirty has to know that life and love both have consequences. If you ask a room full of thirty-somethings, “who in here has had a broken heart and felt the bitter sting of love gone wrong”, pretty much everybody would raise their hand. I don’t need a movie to tell me that love can wreck you or that poor decisions might have a lasting outcome. I need a movie to remind me that love can also feel crazy good and that sometimes Big Gestures are in order.
While it’s great to know that you’re reading the blog, it’s sad to see that you’re totally wrong.
Even though I’m a longtime fan of “The Big Gesture” as both a plot point and a real world thing, I don’t think that this movie is a great example of it. Harry running into the party to tell Sally that he loves him is a great big gesture. Meeting on top of the Empire State building even though you barely know each other is a big gesture. Hell, even Homer flooding the streets of Springfield so Marge has something to paint works as a big gesture. Randomly coming across a picture of your old boyfriend and the house that he built for you doesn’t count as a big gesture, it’s just random chance.
My bigger problem is that if you switched the gender roles in this movie so that Allie was a guy jerking around two women then it would be burned in the streets. You can’t have it both ways. Either nobody can treat people like this or everyone can.
Love and life are about choices and consequences and “The Notebook” seems to gloss over both. The only person who’s allowed to make choices is Allie and she suffers zero consequences for them. That’s just bad writing.
Here is some required reading:
http://www.workingauthor.com/romcoms-and-romdrams-are-ruining-our-love-lives
I’m totally with you PCBS. Keep it up.
I think you guys are all wrong.
This book and movie aren’t about insane gestures for love! That was a result of Noah’s love for her, (call it craziness if you want but I think the Titantic is insane – falling in love with someone you met 3 days ago, now that’s bullshit). And what do you mean no condequences? You don’t think seeing Noah is a consequence (having to listen to her parents – it hurts to hear that about someone you love), having a broken heart over him, being tore between real love and comfortable love – BECAUSE OF THE CONSEQUENCES, or even her choice didn’t have conseqinces? And by the way, this movie is meant to capture true love. It’s beautiful. And Allie is not jerking around two men…she thinks that Noah has broken off their relationship by not returning her letters for SEVEN YEARS. So she tries to move on! She never forgets him, but when she finally sees his picture in the paper all those suppressed feelings come flooding back. And she goes to find him. She never got closure and she goes looking for it. Instead she finds true love again. Yeah she dumps Lon, and goes to Noah, because she loves Noah in a different passionate way than her simple boring way that she loves Lon.
This movie doesn’t given woman false ideals, it gives them a love to find. Because someone who will read to you when you have dementia and don’t remember their name…yeah that’s LOVE. Noah’s building of the house and remodeling of her painting room is certainly over the top, but that’s how he shows his love to her. Yet, the simple things in the movie are the most beautiful. The letters, the scene where they are swimming, the cheesy first sex scene…these are things everyone can relate to in love. They show appreciation and dedication, and that’s what love is. Not a giant stage of gestures, but loving someone through and through.
The notebook is a beautiful depiction of love, and for you cynical people – you OBVIOUSLY don’t get this.
I agree with you! As a mother and wife, I feel this is a great movie for young people to watch. Its about what true love REALLY is.
Simply, one of the best article l have come across on this precious subject. I quite agree with your suppositions and will eagerly look forward to your forthcoming updates.
Your analysis is completely sexist. You express frustration at the female protagonist and miss that her depiction as overemotional, irrational, and weak is a reflection of our cultural attitudes about women, not about women themselves. To make matters worse, your review almost seems to mock all women who enjoyed the movie. Maybe women enjoyed it not because they are vapid and prone to believing unbelievable things (I digress: I’ve never met anyone who seriously thinks that Hollywood’s depiction of love is a 100% accurate portrayal)– maybe women enjoyed it because it showed a strong male character who was emotionally expressive in his heterosexual relationship. That’s the most unrealistic thing about this relationship. (side note: I am personally married to a wonderfully expressive and loving man, but I and the women in my life are no strangers to the struggles that come with heterosexual relationships with men who are afraid to commit and/or emotionally repressed).
Hi Monica! No, the most unrealistic thing about this movie is that Ryan Gosling doesn’t just put on his cobra jacket and drive away the moment he realizes just how vapid and shallow Rachel McAdams is.
I’m also comfortable being emotionally expressive in my heterosexual relationship…but I wouldn’t let her use and abuse me the way Allie does in this story.
Thanks for reading!
how is she shallow ? wasn’t Noah the one who wanted to end the relationship first when she asked him to come with her to New York and when she offered to stay he said no as well? yes i know that she was in a relationship with Lon when she decided to see Noah but look how things ended between them she needed closure (the mother awful woman) i have been a relationship when things sort of just ended and i would give anything to know why and to see him I just don’t understand why you think she is shallow? if you still think Allie is Shallow Noah is too wasn’t he having sex with another making that women fall in love him with and when she tried to get close to him he continue to push her away he was a bit of an ass too her I wouldn’t dare put up with Noah’s crap because he couldn’t get over a love but yourself in that situation you are a with a girl and you are trying to love her and she won’t stop talking or thinking about her ex but yet she still doesn’t want you to go?
so maybe both allie and noah are both shallow that’s what happens when you are in love but if you are going to call out Allie call out Noah for his crap too
This movie is so popular because it shows how a guy doesn’t give up on love you know how rare that is today I’m so sick of hearing the excuses it’s harder for men you have to be patience it’s harder for men to open up bull crap love is hard for everyone open up your mouth and say how you really feel
How does Allie use and abuse Noah because once again i could point out other ways Noah was just as shallow and who said love was easy and a walk in the park
“This movie is so popular because it shows how a guy doesn’t give up on love you know how rare that is today I’m so sick of hearing the excuses it’s harder for men you have to be patience it’s harder for men to open up bull crap love is hard for everyone open up your mouth and say how you really feel”
No Sandy, the movie is so popular because it reinforces the delusional ideas that some people have about love and relationships.
Had to chime in to say that I loved this article. I’ve always thought the notebook was contrived, overly sappy, and completely unrealistic and your article does a great job of articulating my thoughts. It’s hard to imagine that a movie that relies on the same overly used tropes could be so popular. 1. Rough around the edges and impulsive bad boy meets proper good girl. 2. Girl doesn’t like boy and she rejects him. 3. Boy continues to hit on girl and obsess over her in a way that is not only creepy but also degrading to men in general. 4. Girl is eventually worn down after rejecting him over and over and comes to love his crazy, “on the edge” demeanor and lifestyle. 5. Girls parents disapprove of said boy and split the couple up. 6. Boy and girl go their separate ways but unable to stop obsessing over her does some grand gesture to win her back. 7. Girl falls in love with boy again and they live happily ever after. This exact script is used over and over in countless “romantic” movies and people rush to them year after year like pigs to a trough. They never seem to consider how completely unrealistic this story line is or how degrading it is to both men and women. The man degraded by his psychotic obsession with the girl and willingness to suffer the way she treats him. And the woman degraded by being portrayed as some passive, unintelligent person that bases all decisions on wild emotions that might change by the scene.