Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, as the title suggests, is patterned from the classic A Christmas Carol with Ebenezer Scrooge turned into Connor Mead, a guy who gets a wakeup call to change his w
omanizing ways when he gets visited by four ghosts - his womanizing uncle whom he idolized, and the past, present, and future. Very much like the Christmas story indeed.
The story happens during Connor's younger brother Paul's wedding, where he is the best man and his ex Jenny is a bridesmaid. As he sets out on yet another woman conquest, he instead finds himself face to face with a ghost of his past in the form of one of his exes, who brings him to his past while riding his bed ala magic carpet. There they dig into the reason why he transformed into this guy who believes that "Love is magical comfort food for the weak and uneducated. Yeah, it makes you feel all warm and relevant but in the end it leaves you weak, dependant and fat!" He rediscovers the kid who loved Jenny right from the start and when heartbroken (because he was too damn slow in moving), turned to his womanizing uncle for advice on how never to feel that way again. His uncle told him that the power in a relationship lies in whoever cares less, and from then on, he always made sure to carry the power. He eventually finds his way back into Jenny's arms but on the day that he found himself falling again, he remembered the words of his uncle and heeded them: "One day you're going to wake up with some chick spooning and thinking about love and at that moment you have got to get up, not walk, you don't get your shoes, you run the hell out of there because someday you're gonna get crushed!"
Back to the present, the second ghost in the form of his assistant makes Connor see what people really say about him when he's not around. He makes a mess of things and just as he tries to fix them, he gets asked to leave, then he meets the unspeaking third ghost, who shows him the future where Jenny gets married to another guy, while his wailing goes unheeded. Then he sees his sad brother and follows Paul as he goes to someone's funeral. It turns out to be Connor's funeral, and the only people present are the priest and Paul. This is what awaits the man who runs away from love - he dies alone. This is the powerful message of the movie right here. Connor sums it up in the words he used to convince his brother's fiancee not to run away: "You've got to risk love Sandra! I didn't and look at me, I'm a lonely ghost of a man. It doesn't mean that you're never going to get hurt but the pain you feel will never compare to the regret that comes from walking away from love."
Did I really have to watch this on the day that I started reading Tuesdays with Morrie again? Tears all around. That is so it. My running away days are officially over.
