Time Sep

◁

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$&R

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