Love Actually: A really bad movie, or the downfall of western civilization?

I recently saw the movie "Love Actually". How do I explain my reaction? Let's just say that I wanted to come up with new ways of regurgitation.

I had many problems with the movie, but for this post I'm going to focus on one: its simplistic portrayal of love, and how it set feminism back 300 years. (Please keep in mind that I have never considered myself a feminist.)

One of my pet peeves with media is when men fall in love with women based solely on looks. Details such as character development, getting to know a person, and developing a real relationship are glossed over or entirely omitted. In real life, when two people share a physical but no emotional attraction, their relationship lasts at most for 3 or 4 awkward dates. (Just look at "Sex and the City" -- I am totally serious.) So why do books and movies repeatedly show a man going gaga for a pretty face? For each relationship in this movie, let's look at how well the man got to know the woman before falling in love.

• Keira Knightly and her husband's best friend. It is not known if they had a conversation.
  
• Hugh Grant and the servant. They had about 2 conversations. Most of their dialog was her saying "Your biscuits, sir".
  
• Alan Rickman and his secretary. They had brief one-sentence exchanges around the office.
• Colin Firth and his Portuguese maid. They had the most dialog before falling in love, but it was in languages the other didn't understand.
• The porn couple. They had the most fulfilling relationship.

The other oddity about the relationships in this movie was how the women were in lower classes. Let's examine.

• Keira Knightly and her husband's best friend. Their occupations are unknown.
  
• Hugh Grant and the servant. A prime minister falls in love with his servant.
  
• Alan Rickman and his secretary. A managing director falls in love with his secretary.
  
• Colin Firth and his Portuguese maid. A wealthy writer falls in love with his maid.
  
• The porn couple. Again, this is the least unflattering relationship -- their social status is approximately the same.
  

What kind of message is this sending to young girls? That in order to marry a successful man, you must first master dictation or biscuit serving?

When one starts to look wistfully back at American romantic comedies because of their character development and strong females, you know you have a problem. Now, if you'll excuse me, there are some pillows that need fluffing.