I’ve never broken up with anyone over their failure to fall in love with a film that I hold in extremely high regard. That would be a form of attempted tyranny. You can’t muscle people into being the kind of person you might want them to be. You have to respect their journey and their choices.

I’ve shown Tatiana several classic films that I love with all my heart, and some she’s either been bored by or dismissed as a turn-off. She loved Twelve Angry Men. She applauded Casablanca. She embraced Heaven Can Wait. She expressed a certain muted respect for Notorious. But there are also some indisputably great films that she won’t even watch.

If I had gotten kicked out for showing my live-in girlfriend a certain film that she hated, I would probably take that as a premonition of things to come. What other liking offenses will I be ejected or otherwise attacked for? Will it just be about films or also books, plays, political candidates, choice of clothing, etc.?

I nonetheless chuckled when I read about The Woman Who Hated Requiem For A Dream Too Much. She felt totally overwhelmed by the fact that her newly-moved-in boyfriend worshipped a impressionistic, jagged-edge nightmare film about drugs and addiction and electro-shock treatment that she found nothing short of revolting. I found Requiem difficult to watch the first time, and I can’t say I’ve been eager to see it again. Then again I adore the ballsiness of mother, The Wrestler and Black Swan.