1. Lies Hollywood Told Us: Love and Romance Edition Abbey, Sana, and Kadesia

2. Personal Reading: Our Opinion

3. The Thoughts of the Speaker ● Speakers: individuals who are -knowledgeable of the romance movies and shows -However, view it from a different perspective ● Context: blunt, honest, and straight to the point, which are characteristics of the speakers themselves. ● Purpose: Stop believing everything you see! ● Audience: people who read fairy tales, romance novels, or subject to the romance entertainment industry.

4. Rom-Com Genre: Fantasy vs. Reality ● Rom-coms are known for having happy endings ● Effect: People relate with the characters so much that they place themselves into this movie and this is where we get twisted expectations ● In a rom-com, you can find serious elements (sickness, marriage, parenthood), or extreme situations (catastrophic weather, super villans and crime fighting, the end of the world) that help develop the love story

5. Think Like a Man: The Movement ● Often times, Hollywood romance is the hope of women ● Men indirectly fall victim as well ● Example: -Think Like a Man & Think Like a Man Too ● Romance is not gender associated

6. Discussion Questions ● Why do we put our trust in the hands of Hollywood?

7. ● What is so appealing about Hollywood love stories that we emotionally invest ourselves in them?

8. ● What point in the piece can you admit to falling victim to/ wishing ______ would happen to you? (share your story)

9. ● Because we are aware of these cliches, does this make it harder to believe the authenticity of a person when they do “hollywood-like actions” towards you? (too good to be true)

10. ● Why do we live in a “realistic” world, but when it comes to love, we go after fantasy?