Ruby

Good evening,

As I am writing this the clock has already struck past midnight well over 35 minutes ago. So my magical pumpkin has left me, and the guards have turned back in to mice. I am however glad to share that I did not attend a ball tonight, but instead I had yet another night of magic and slight mischief at our local theater.

The day took a turn towards fun and adventure at 18:36 pm today. When one of my lifelong friends gave me a call, asking me if I was up for some drinks at one of our favorite bars in Amsterdam (a bar called "de Prael", we have grown quite fond of this place because of a certain area within the bar which has a setting that is designed to give out a 'living room' kind of vibe. This is just the kind of vibe in which we feel incredibly comfortable wetting our whistles.) The proposal went on to suggest that we go see a movie afterwards. Originally starting off with The Bourne Legacy, moving on to The Dark Knight Rises, but me having seen both of these, we finally settled upon a newly released movie called Ruby Sparks. My friend informed me that he was already settled at our favorite 'living room' in Amsterdam, together with another friend I know from my hometown.
So, after I obviously agree to see them later on (I still had to eat dinner), I find myself a backpack and fill it with beer. Because I had a feeling it was going to be one of those nights where getting drunk in the cinema was appropriate. About an hour and a half later I am sitting next to my two friends in our make believe living room, beer in our hands, and music in the air. This goes on for a while, until the fourth and final friend joins us. We finish our delightful beverage and jump on our steeds. The journey from the bar to the cinema was swift, uneventful, yet adventurous. A description that only fits a bike ride made in Amsterdam.

Anyways, this was the prelude. I'm half a page further and the movie hasn't even started yet. As some, or many, have observed, I get more chatty after a beer or two, or three.
This particular movie was about a writer who starts writing about a girl he first envisions in a dream. Although he has never met her, he becomes incredibly intrigued by her and can't stop writing. Until one day, she appears in his life, just as she had been described by him in ink.
To me, I don't really care if this is meant as just a casual case of "the magic of love" or one of those cases of, don't take things too literally. For me, what I found very interesting, was the internal moral debate that the writer is facing. Do I influence (control) her, or should I accept her the way she is?
To me this can be loosely translated to, if I find someone I love do I take her the way she is, or should I try to "fix" her flaws in order to fit her inside my mold. At what point does she lose what makes her the person I fell in love with. And how do I make sure she isn't just a copy of what I feel the perfect woman would be like.
I am a painter myself, what would happen if one day, one of my female nude paintings would separate themselves from the page and materialize into a woman made of flesh and blood. Would this be a mere representation of my fantasy, or would this be a self-aware person, capable of decisions and free will?

Personally, I don't know the answer to these questions just yet. But I'm very glad that I found a movie tonight that was capable of making me ask myself these questions. Although the alcohol may have played a part in this.
This is probably one big incoherent mess, but if this in some way has interested you, go see Ruby Sparks.

As always,
Live long and prosper,

Teun