I must be missing that gene....

It's hard to go anywhere or watch anything on TV without seeing advertisements for the new Julia Roberts flick, Eat Pray Love. The other day I was watching something and a commercial for the Home Shopping Network came on. It appeared that they were trying to shill the Eat Pray Love experience (which apparently includes ugly handbags and necklaces that can be pretend prayer beads) on a "very special" Saturday showcase.

I was talking to my friend Emily this morning about how I just don't understand the obsession with this book. A few years ago, Adam handed it to me to read and it was the most painful two-thirds of a book that I've ever gotten through. It's not very hard to figure out that this book is a three-parter. I managed to get through the "eating" and the "praying", but screw the "loving". I put it down and never picked it back up. When I heard that it was going to be a movie, I thought it would be one of those straight-to-DVD situations. Apparently not. Apparently it's going to be the biggest movie of the summer. Dang.

I was happy to hear that Em didn't understand the greatness that is Eat Pray Love, either. She pointed out that it pretty much boiled down to a woman who was whining about her life and wanted to make everything about her. In the spirit of full disclosure, neither of us could finish the book...so our judgements really lie in the first two-thirds of the book.

I get the fact that people want to take a year off and "marvel at something" (I feel like I'm going to puke every time I hear Julia...errr..."Elizabeth" say that in the previews). I also get the fact that some people have enough funds to be able to take a year off of work and go discover themselves. What I don't get is that someone would think that the rest of the world cares about their journey to self-discovery. Do your friends care? Sure...they know you. Does your family care? I certainly hope so. Do complete strangers want to spend $14.99 on a paperback book and read it in their bathtubs? Well, apparently Emily and I are the only people on the planet that are saying "heck no!" to that offer.

What about you? Do you have any desire to see Julia Roberts discover her inner self??
I promise, this is a safe space. I won't lay down any hammers of judgement on you if this movie is the best thing in your book since the fine people at Nabisco decided to offer peanut butter filled Oreos. I really want to know what you think...