While there is nothing wrong in reading a chick flick for relaxation, we must be mindful that this may be an unrealistic fantasy story. To quote First Things First (by Stephen Covey, Roger Merrill, Rebecca Merrill): ... we live with the rescue fantasy ... that someone or something "out there" is going to magically solve all our problems ...(page 57).
There is a place for fairy tales in childhood as many such tales actually teach about core values that underlie many different cultures around the world. In Malay (a language close to Indonesian), there is a genre of old literature which I really enjoy. One example is Pak Pandir, here we have a simple man who somehow had a series of wonderful luck that against all odds, he inevitably came out much better than more industrious and intelligent fellow neighbors.
In "Can You Keep a Secret?" I find Emily as the victim of Kerry, an orphan who usurped Emily's rightful place in her own nucleus family. It took her new boss millionaire boy friend to reveal how mean Kerry was in refusing Emily's application of an internship in Kerry's firm which Emily's parents financed as a start up. I know what it is like to be side lined in one's own family for a cousin. I was lucky that my cousin only turned up during school holidays. If things had been different, I would have probably worked abroad or out of the city just to avoid such a petty, conniving and mean female.
I may sound unforgiving, but truth be told: as soon as my cousin started earning good money she came to visit us less and less. I am very fortunate that she has her own parents and siblings to fuss over her. This is like forty five years later, I am actually one of the only three people in my clan who are on easy speaking terms with her. The rest no longer answer her phone calls, nor do they welcome her in their homes. It is very sad! But self-centerness coupled with expert acting skills could not fool everyone over a long period of time.
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