“To have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.”

Oh, where to begin? I really enjoyed this film: the acting, the plot, everything, especially the sheer amount of humor. The deeper message at play was, can you truly love someone for better or for worse, and I, for one, believe you can. The same goes for Emma and Charlie.

Emma’s “big” secret tearing the whole wedding apart completely misleads everyone from the fact that she caused the least drama in The Drama. It was everyone else who couldn’t stop themselves from gossiping and being dramatic the entire rest of the film. Call me the heartless one instead of Emma for thinking that the fact that she grew from her past self and flaws still makes her deserving of love. The real character here, who never grew and clearly proves to still be an awful person, is Rachel, continuously treating her friend like shit and also actually committing an evil act that was quickly overlooked. Even when asked if the boy was okay, her first instinct was to say, “I don’t know.” What might that imply even if she says he was found?  

Charlie, on the other hand, supposedly the “better” one in their relationship, breaks under the knowledge of one detail in Emma’s past and literally almost has sex with someone else right before their wedding, and not to mention, ruins his vows, totally embarrassing Emma. Regardless, Emma is the one to see past this and still chooses to love him, showing that she is actually the most empathetic one in this film. Still, Charlie loves her, even though it takes him the whole film wrestling with the thought of what she almost did, to accept it. This is what it’s truly about, though — the deep devotion they share, no matter the drama and opinions of others around them.

The question of ethics, though —a moral dilemma if you will — is also an interesting aspect of the film. While Emma’s confession was deeply disturbing, the other characters did so many worse things.  She is looked upon as evil for just the thought of it. This also points to gender stereotypes: a man is excused for a bad act, but when a woman even thinks about it, she is the one judged. This is not to minimize the alleged act itself; however, I think there is a double standard at play, because really, no one’s perfect, and almost everyone is hiding something.