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Diggs and Liu
star as bad
bosses who fall in
love in Netlix’s
Set It Up(Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell)
conspire to set up their worka-
holic bosses (Lucy Liu and Taye
Diggs)—and lighten their own
workload in the process. Liu’s
Kirsten is a demanding editor
who yells for pitches through a
bullhorn. At one point she lec-
tures her assistant on the perks
of being picky: “I could be thrice
divorced by now.” Another ilm
might cast her as desperate. But
she teaches her assistant to reap
the beneits of putting ambition
before love.
Then there’sCrazy Rich Asians,
which, at irst blush, looks like an
opulent Cinderella story. A profes-
sor named Rachel (Constance Wu)
stands to secure a life of luxury
if she marries her überrich boy-
friend Nick (Henry Golding). But
her career ambitions stand in the
way: Nick’s mother would prefer
that Rachel give up her job so Nick
can return home to run the family
business. Rachel refuses to com-
promise who she is—even for love.
These ilms don’t get every-
thing right.Juliet, Nakedcan por-
tray women as baby-crazy.Crazy
Rich Asians still culminates with
a giant engagement ring. And
Set It Up has a retrograde counter-
part on Netlix:The Kissing Booth.
That movie centers on a romance
between two teens: a possessive
guy with anger-management is-
sues and an insecure girl who’s
constantly being slut-shamed—
including by her school principal.
The girl tries to tame the boy, and
he lures her onto his motorcycle.
Netlix doesn’t release viewership
numbers, but its execs sayThe
Kissing Boothis a massive hit. Its
popularity speaks to a desire, even
among today’s progressive teens,
to watch a good girl break the
rules for an infatuated boy—like
leather-clad Sandy smoking a ciga-
rette at the end of 1978’sGrease.THERE’S A REASONwe’re ad-
dicted to these toxic clichés. Who
wouldn’t want a boyfriend will-
ing to run after them through an
airport, especially in an era when
people can ind another potential
partner with just one swipe?
But movies likeSet It Up should
remind writers that a better for-
mula exists. The best romances,
modeled on Jane Austen’s clas-
sicPride and Prejudice, empower
women: two equals argue with
each other until they overcome
their respective egos and fall in
love. Spencer Tracy and Katha-
rine Hepburn built careers on this
model, and nobody ever doubted
Hepburn’s power. Great ilms like
His Girl Friday andWhen Harry
Met Sally share this DNA. The cou-
ple’s bickering serves as necessary
tension to move the plot forward,
and the heroines are considered
attractive because of their opin-
ions—not despite them. That is a
worthy idea, even if the execution
isn’t always perfect. But then again,
no one ever said love was easy. .HOORJJ1$&RBIG FOOD
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