I want my life, and everyone else’s lives, to be like the movies. I want to live in New York City and window-shop all of the top designer stores every chance I get like Audrey Hepburn in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” I want to have the summer of my life like the kids in “The Parent Trap” and “The Sandlot.” I want to make amazing friends that, regardless of “social standing,” will be there for me forever like the unlikely friend group in “The Breakfast Club.” I even want to lead a school-wide feminist revolt with a mini magazine when I and others like me don’t feel heard, like Vivian in the brand new Netflix movie, “Moxie!” I want my friends, family and every other person in this world to find a love so pure and so deep that they feel as though they don’t need anything else to live, like every single romance movie out there. Finally, I want the boys in this world to act like the hopeless romantics in movies — I want them to be gentle, strong, honest and kind — but boys in real life are nothing like that. 

I was 13 years old when I came up with the hypothesis that honest boys are a specimen almost impossible to come by in “the real world.” It turns out I am still correct over four years later. When I tell a boy that I value honesty more than anything, I don’t think they believe me because every boy I’ve ever trusted has lied to me. No matter how honest, caring and selfless you are, boys lie about their feelings and they lie even more about their actions. I’ve found that they behave in this way because of their inability to control temptation; they weaken when faced with “tough” decisions because feeling good in a quick moment is more important to them than any other emotion that takes time. So, my dream of a perfect boy in the perfect romance story is crushed. Permanently. 

My friend was 15 years old when she realized that boys in real life aren’t like the ones we see on screen. She discovered that boys are just selfish, manipulative actors. Boys do not care about their recklessness and they hardly even try to prevent it. They do not notice girls’ feelings, let alone act accordingly. Boys see skin and think it’s free reign. Boys take an invite to lunch as an invite under clothing. Boys take a kiss as a go-ahead and never think to pause. They take advantage of any body they can so that they can be satisfied. They paint a fictional masterpiece in a girl’s head simply to use her for all she’s worth to them. So, my friend’s dream of a kind, gentle boy is crushed. Permanently. 

Movies set inspiring expectations for life. They’ve taught me to reach for my dreams even if they seem like far away fantasies. So, as soon as I graduate high school, I’ll move to New York City and live like Audrey. I’ll have the best summers of my life with my closest friends like the Sandlot team. Hell, I might even start a feminist revolt by the time I throw my graduation cap in the air. However, the expectation that I will find a beautiful boy to love me honestly and selflessly will never become reality no matter how badly I want it to, because that fruition is not up to me.