“Marriage is a business transaction” would make a great thesis statement for Celine Song’s new movie “Materialist,” starring Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal. It challenges our ideas of how love and relationships function in the modern dating market.
Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a luxury matchmaker in New York City. The film follow her through her days we get an inside on how her job works as she “does the math” on her clients’ value in the dating market “desirable education, desirable income, desirable looks–below average, above average, ect” as she struggles with her feelings for her “low value ex-boyfriend (Chris Evans)” and her rich new partner (Pedro Pascal)
The movie is not only beautifully shot and entretaining, as well as delivering amazing performances from their actors, the message of the movie makes us question how we have aproach our relationships; While we see her clients superficial takes and Lucy’s cynicism for love not motivated by financial gain the audience starts to question their own value and connections; “Are we this cynical?, are we letting the superficial deny us of real connection?, and why are we so disconnected in the first place?”
During a study, the American Psychiatric Association reported, ” Early in 2024, 30% of adults say they have experienced feelings of loneliness at least once a week over the past year, while 10% say they are lonely every day. Younger people were more likely to experience these feelings, with 30% of Americans aged 18-34 saying they were lonely every day or several times a week, and single adults are nearly twice as likely as married adults to say they have been lonely on a weekly basis over the past year (39% vs. 22%).”
Lets be honest. The modern dating market sucks; we are used to dating apps and “situationships” we are overwhelmed with the idea of the “perfect partner” that checks all of our boxes, if its not this person you went out with once dont worry! Just swipe on the next ones, we see a bit of their appearance, job, height and just like Lucy we decide their value just as they decide our own; you are overloaded with options and now the grass will always seem greener; superficial interaction and meaningless connections have become the rule.
The same thing seems to be happening to friendships. Everyone wants a Village but nobody wants to be a Villager. Convenience has killed community; “Get an Uber, don’t ask you friend to drive you to the airport”, “you don’t need to ask your neighbor for sugar, just get it delivered”, “You dont owe anyone anything, you dont need to go to your friends birthday”. We have lost our synchronisity; we all can watch completly different shows on straming services and music on streaming apps, we can have no interest in common with our classmates. We have no urge to create a community at home when there is one online and the price for it is loneliness.
As you watch “Materialist” this weekend, think to yourself: are you contributing to your own loneliness?
