Good Signs Gone Bad

When it comes to matters of the heart, people, especially women, almost always turn to signs from the heavens. People are, after all, people, and therefore feel the need to be guided by some divine intervening force when making big, life-altering decisions -- like getting married.

In Men in Trees (yes, I watch the stupid, boring, relationship-based show. Now that you've had your laugh, I'd like to get on with the post), the characters Patrick (Derek Richardson) and Annie (Emily Bergl) decide to get married. But the minute they said yes, everything started going horribly wrong. They really should have listened when the groom's black biological father's Asian wife, Mai, said that their astrological joojoo doesn't jive, which is apparently a big deal in her family's culture as that is usually indicative of a failed marriage. But the happy couple was in love, and so they push through with the marriage. And since she loves Patrick like her own son, she reluctantly helps them make it work. But then she starts having nightmares about it, and she was convinced that the marriage was going to be unlucky. Still, they all go through with it. It seemed that Mai's predictions hold more truth to them as one bad thing after the other just kept happening again and again. The priest, who works at the church they were going to have the wedding at, who was also the couple's friend, quit. Mai's treasured heirloom tea set that's said to bring forth luck to a couple who wishes to get married gets shattered to smithereens before Patrick and Annie could even use it. The wedding rings get lost when the ring-bearer, a beloved pet cat, runs away into the nearby forest during a wedding rehearsal. And when Annie was pampering herself in preparation for the big day, she waxes off her entire right eyebrow.

Still, they were all convinced that these were merely trivial setbacks that could just as easily be resolved. They were in love, after all.

And so they push through with the wedding.

On the big day itself, which was now held at a garden since the church they originally wanted to have it did not have a priest, the bad luck does not seem to abate in the slightest. In fact it seemed to get stronger. The bride's parents conveniently decide to get divorced, her sober recovering alcoholic brother gets himself drunk. And another couple decides to get engaged, totally stealing their thunder. As if that wasn't enough, fate enlisted the help of atmospheric conditions, just to put a stop to their garden wedding. Yep, a storm was headed in their direction. Now on the clock to beat the huge storm brewing in the horizon, and despite the cold, harsh winds pelting the guests, they rush to proceed with the ceremonies. And everything was going well, right up to when the bride and groom were already on the altar and are about to say their vows. Because all of a sudden, lightning struck, and the groom took a direct hit.

Now, I don't really believe in destiny, but when the heavens (literally) are so hell-bent on stopping a wedding from happening that it has to launch a direct attack on the participants, that's gotta mean something. To me, that says, no scratch that, screams that this wasn't meant to be. I mean come on, the groom gets struck by lightning? Hello, that's like the biggest flashing neon sign if I ever saw one.

But should they have not gotten married at all? Well, technically, they still aren't married since they didn't get to that part, but what I'm saying is, should they have not gone through with it when everything started going downhill? Or is the mere fact that they still pushed through with it, even when all the signs are protesting against it, enough to be considered a testament of true love?

It makes one wonder, doesn't it?

Quotable Quote:

"Jonathan Trager, prominent television producer for ESPN, died last night from complications of losing his soul mate and his fiancee. He was 35 years old. Soft-spoken and obsessive, Trager never looked the part of a hopeless romantic. But, in the final days of his life, he revealed an unknown side of his psyche. This hidden quasi-Jungian persona surfaced during the Agatha Christie-like pursuit of his long reputed soul mate, a woman whom he only spent a few precious hours with. Sadly, the protracted search ended late Saturday night in complete and utter failure. Yet even in certain defeat, the courageous Trager secretly clung to the belief that life is not merely a series of meaningless accidents or coincidences. Uh-uh. But rather, it's a tapestry of events that culminate in an exquisite, sublime plan. Asked about the loss of his dear friend, Dean Kansky, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and executive editor of the New York Times, described Jonathan as a changed man in the last days of his life. 'Things were clearer for him,' Kansky noted. Ultimately Jonathan concluded that if we are to live life in harmony with the universe, we must all possess a powerful faith in what the ancients used to call 'fatum', what we currently refer to as destiny." - Dean (Serendipity)