Reality vs Archetype — The Two Types of Romcom

The Living Philosophy

In this palette cleanser we are going to talk about the philosophy of romcoms for a change. I reckon this should remove any accusations of important work being done on The Living Philosophy. We'll be looking at two romcoms — the classic Norah Ephron When Harry Met Sally and the lesser known Just Like Heaven starring Reese Wetherspoon and Mark Ruffalo.

One is reflective of a type of art that strives for psychological accuracy (Dostoevsky, When Harry Met Sally) category — while the second category (Just Like Heaven, Alexander Dumas's The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo) dispense with reality and works at the hyperreal level of the archetypal underworld.

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Damien's YouTube channel: "Science Fiction with Damien Walter": https://www.youtube.com/@DamienWalter
Patreon interview with Damien Walter:

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📚 Learning Resources:

• When Harry Met Sally. (1989). [Movie] USA: Columbia Pictures.
• Just Like Heaven. (2005). [Movie] USA: DreamWorks Pictures.
• Dumas A (2014) The Three Musketeers. United States: Shine Classics.
• Dumas A (2004) The Count of Monte Cristo. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics.
• Dostoyevsky (1993) Notes from Underground. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

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💬 More from The Living Philosophy

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🎼 Media Used:

1. Anguish — Kevin MacLeod
2. Juniper — Kevin MacLeod
3. Overture — Pyotr Ilyich tchaikovsky
4. Fresh Air — Kevin MacLeod

Subscribe to Kevin MacLeod https://www.youtube.com/user/kmmusic

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⌛ Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
2:30 The True vs the Fantastic
3:15 Just Like Heaven
3:56 When Harry Met Sally
6:12 The Unrealistic Just Like Heaven
7:31 The Fantastic As Archetypal Dynamism
10:52 The Power of Archetypal Storytelling