"God of Love"

“GOD OF LOVE”

“You can’t control who you love. You can’t control who loves you. You can’t control how it happens, when it happens, or why it happens. You can’t control any of that stuff”

            This passage, the first words that Ray speaks, is the most profound and philosophical passage in the entire movie. These words resonate with me because Ray describes exactly what makes love unique to anything else. People have learned to control almost every aspect of their lives. They control what time they work up in the morning to go to whatever job they want. They control where they live, and what job they choose to work at. They can control what emotion they are feeling when they watch the sunset on the beach or eat disgusting food. Life is made up of a million choices every single day. Love is not one of those. People, in a sense, do not control whom they go home to at the end of the day. Marriage is a decision. Staying committed to someone is a decision. But whom you fall in love with is not up to you.

            I do not like the idea of somebody like Ray traveling around on his bike, shooting arrows at people and hoping they survive for the long run. To me, that is too random, too insane. I would like to think that there is a plan for everybody. I believe that everything happens for a reason. I find comfort in the notion that you are where you are for a reason and nothing is left to chance. I want to believe in a greater plan or purpose but I don’t want to believe that somebody has control over that. This is what makes love tricky. Who designs these plans?

            This film bothers me because I do not want to think that somewhere a misguided young man is riding around shooting arrows in the dark at other people because he has given up on his own love life. Was he chosen because he gave up on love or because he has good aim? That being said, I do not think there is one soul mate for everybody. I think that notion was created for fairy tales and happily ever afters. Ray gave up on love because he couldn’t make Kelly fall in love with him. This is sad, however, Ray understands that Kelly is in love with Fozzie. When Ray throws the love dart at Fozzie, he controls love.