YOU'D BETTER SHOP AROUND
By Carrington Vanston - January 14, 2004
http://www.carringtonvanston.net/archives/shop_around

Romantic comedy is the genre of movies that begin with a helicopter shot of the New York city skyline and end with the formerly brusk man kissing the formerly aloof woman on a park bench. The middle bits don't matter too much, but the bench is important.

One example of the genre is You've Got Mail, written and directed by Nora Ephron. It stars Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan as Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, respectively. If you enjoy this movie and would like to continue to do so, you should skip this week's column. I'm going to go to a dark place with this one. Don't say I didn't warn you.

In most ways You've Got Mail is much like every other romantic comedy: after their "cute meet" the leads are at first attracted to each other, then they can't stand each other, then they fall in love despite themselves, then they go look for a bench.

When first we meet Tom's immediate family, we learn that his father is a serial groom. Pops is preparing for his fifth (or so) marriage, this time to a younger lady named Gillian. Just after the 15 minute mark of the film, the boys discuss the local book shop competition:



**TOM**
A children's book store,
Shop Around The Corner.
It's been there forever.

**GRAMPS**
Cecilia's store.

**TOM**
Who's that?

**GRAMPS**
Cecilia Kelly. Lovely
woman. I think we might
have had a date once...
or...maybe we just
exchanged letters.



Gramps' evasive story is not very convincing, and it's reasonable to assume he got a leg over. Shortly afterward, he tells us a bit more about this Cecilia hottie who used to own the book shop:



**GRAMPS**
She was too young for
me, but she was
enchanting. Her
daughter owns it now.



Aha, so now we know that Cecilia was Meg's mom and that Tom's grandfather had a fling with her. Portents abound. (This information is repeated at 30:10 when the Fox gang walks through their newly opened store and Gramps pines on again about his "enchanting" lost lady in case we missed it the first time.)

Early on, Tom spends the day with two little kids, Annabelle and Matt. At 21:31 they're met by Gillian, the gal in line to become Tom's pop's latest wife. She greets Tom by saying "kiss me, I'm going to be your wicked stepmother," though she says it less like a greeting than a come-on. When Tom goes to kiss her on the cheek she moves her head at the last second to kiss him on the lips. More portents of inter-family naughtiness.

Tom spends the day with the two little kids, and at 25:27 they bump into Meg at her book shop:



**ANNABELLE**
My dad gets me all the
books I want.

**MEG**
(Looking at Tom)
Well, that's very nice
of him.

**ANNABELLE**
Oh, that's not my dad.
That's my nephew.

**MEG**
I don't really think
that he could be your
nephew.

**TOM**
No no, it's true.
Annabelle is my aunt.
Isn't that right aunt
Annabelle?

**ANNABELLE**
Uh huh, and Matt is--

**MEG**
Wait, let me guess.
(To Matt)
Are you his uncle?

**MATT**
No.

**MEG**
His grandfather? His
great grandfather?

**MATT**
I'm his brother.

**TOM**
Matt is my father's
son. Annabelle is my
grandfather's daughter.
We are...an American
family.



Meg and Tom go on to discuss her mom, who raised Meg alone while running the shop. Tom is obviously drawn to Meg, and he equally obviously recognizes her name from what Gramps had told him.

Why give all this family history? If we are to grant Ephron the benefit of the doubt and assume she is in control of what she writes, then this is all here for a purpose.

So what do these details tell us? First, they reinforce the earlier idea that Tom's father and grandfather got it on throughout their years. Second, since Annabel is still a little girl we know that Gramps was still getting some during, and after, his time with Meg's mom. Third, they let us know that this is a family (and a movie) in which strange cross-generation connections are made.

We have established that these wolfish Foxes fathered (but did not play father to) multiple kids with multiple gals across generational divides. We have established that Meg was raised by her mom without a father around, and that each Fox was raised by nannies because their mom's weren't around. Plus we have established that Gramps was heavily involved with Meg's mom during a time when he was very much sexually active, and that she was much younger than he (thus if they had had a child, she would now be around Meg's age).

These are carefully established points detailed in repeated scenes, not casual items tossed about offhand. It is therefore reasonable to infer (in fact, I'd argue it's an inescapable conclusion) that Gramps got it on with Cecilia and fathered Meg.

Thus, Meg is Tom's aunt. More to the point she is his blood relative.

There is additional corollary for this theme throughout the movie. For instance, Tom's family gathers for an in-home recital by one of the unidentified children (could be a daughter, or in this family it could be somebody's great grandmother). At 44:19 Tom's future stepmother Gillian moves to sit down beside Tom and puts her hand on his thigh. (In the end we learn that Gillian has taken up the Fox tradition and run off with the nanny.)

Another example comes at 1:34:23, when Tom talks to his Pop on one of the Fox boats. Both of them have just broken up with their respective gals. Pop lists some of his recent exes, most of whom were Tom's nannies, and then he asks:



**POPS**
Who did you say you broke
up with?

**TOM**
Patricia. You met her.

**POPS**
Would I like her?



There are more examples spread throughout the movie, but I leave them to you to ferret out. Part of the fun of the film is finding one more reason to make a face when somebody says something that at first seems innocent but which on second thought is kinda gross.

Every romantic comedy has one moment around which the whole film revolves emotionally. In Never Been Kissed it's Drew Barrymore standing alone in the baseball field. In Truly Madly Deeply it's the hopping scene. In Tremors 2 it's when the scientist strikes her October 1974 Playmate pose for Fred Ward. And in You've Got Mail it's when Tom says to Meg, "Don't cry, shopgirl." It's okay for you to get a little misty when he says that, but it's also okay for you to say "ewwwww."

You've got mail, alright. And it's from prison.

Carrington Vanston
carrington@carringtonvanston.net

[This article is released to the public domain.]