After nearly a decade of going back and forth and it never being the right time, they finally found one another on New Year's Eve. How irritating would it have been to have had tinny cell phone ringer strains of "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" or "Straight Up" by Paula Abdul invading the moment that they finally realize they're right for one another? I'm guessing on the song choices -- but both of those songs were in the top 100 for 1989. :)
The Notebook
What if, during the boat scene where the ducks/swans are surrounding the boat, Allie Hamilton was texting her friends about Noah's ruggedly handsome good looks instead of taking it all in? What if instead of gazing at Noah over dinner the night before, she tried to beat her high score on Angry Birds? In every scene, it is clear that each was fully invested in the presence of the other.
Grease
Instead of hanging out with her friends after school, Sandy chooses to Facebook her friends about her summer fling. She tweets about staying out until ten o'clock, drinking lemonade and strolling with Danny Zuko. Thus, she and her poodle-skirt wearing, scarf-clad friends are deprived of multiple opportunities to burst out into spontaneous song and dance in public places. Anti-social Sandy might have missed the chance to stage a casual run-in with Danny if she had waited to see where he had last "checked-in" on Facebook.
You've Got Mail
So you're wondering how this fits with the premise of this post? BETTER technology would have ruined the beautiful progression of the love story between Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly. The archaic AOL instant messaging technology they used for real-time chatting was not developed enough that they were able to check one another's profiles or video chat. Nor did they have Twitter or Facebook accounts linked to their AOL account information, as that would have likely led to one of them realizing that they were inadvertently falling for the competition. Better technology would have kept them apart. Sometimes not knowing everything is better . . .(unless you're meeting men on Craig's List).
Sleepless in Seattle
I'm just realizing that I have, quite suspiciously, listed three Meg Ryan movies. I guess I'm implying that she has the market cornered on romantic comedies.
This is a good one. Technology was just beginning to connect us all beyond landlines and snail mail. If the newly-widowed Sam Baldwin had really wanted to meet someone on such a large scale, Match.com, eHarmony, or one of the other websites would have surely been perfect for him. Never has a lack of technology been so effective at bringing two people together. Sam's son, Noah, calls into a radio show in an attempt to find his father a new wife. The two of them sift through tons of mail, suggestive photos, and the like, to no avail. With the ease and wide availability of e-mail, the two would have been inundated with digital communication, possibly preventing them from ever reading Annie's letter. One day, Noah discovers that Annie has written to his father. The rest is history.
She does a background search on Sam (on a prehistoric DOS-based computer) and begins the process of tracking him down. (I'll admit that technology would have resulted in far fewer near misses by both parties). Noah, pretending to be his father, begins to communicate with Annie. They borrow a page from an old love story, "An Affair to Remember," and plan to meet at the top of the Empire State building on Valentine's Day. Noah flies across the country to, in turn, prompt his father to follow him. The story is a little complicated but is overall less complicated by the noticeable absence of advanced technology.
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