I Stan "The Matchmaker" starring Janeane Garofalo.

This is a final essay I wrote on "The Matchmaker" in my first semester of grad school.

“The Matchmaker” is an incredible 90’s comedy, which not only has an intelligent, powerful female protagonist who thinks she’s just doing her job but discovers through the course of the movie what she actually wants, but it also has an incredibly silly, dumb tightly constructed plot. As I rewatched the film, I followed along for both things. Something I’ll point out is that this narrative could have easily become “a workaholic woman goes to Ireland on assignment to save her boss’s career but ends up arriving in the middle of a matchmaking festival and realizes that what she really needs is a husband”. This could have been a thin misogynistic narrative. Instead, “a driven woman who has climbed the ranks of the political machine goes on assignment to Ireland to save her boss’s career is asked to compromise her integrity but through the authentic relationships she cultivates with the locals, including her future partner, Sean, she realizes that she deserves far more than the treatment she’s accepting from her boss and his shitty boys’ club. Through this journey, she gains the courage to walkaway from a toxic situation and finds in its place a life filled with integrity and support from real relationships.” “The Matchmaker” envisions a definition of success contrary to the American dream. By marooning this “Mary Tyler Moore” in a society that values something other than material success and legendary status, our protagonist is forced to interrogate her moral compass and lack of self worth and ends up coming up with her own definition of success through the support of those who ultimately truly show up for her as a human being. Sean wants to be with her, not because of social status, but because he’s in love with her as a human being. This is a great contrast to his ex-wife Moira who’s match made with the senator and jumps into a relationship with him for the chance to be an American Senator’s wife. This point is really driven home when it turns out her maiden name is “Kennedy”. In the past year, I have grappled with a lot of these same issues that Jeannine Garofolo’s character faces. I have looked back at my old work and noticed that I had a tendency to end things tragically or with a pessimistic, downward tone. As I move into the 2^nd semester of my MFA in screenwriting, I’d like to declare in writing that I strive, moving forward, to believe in the power of love (not necessarily just romantic love but the power of love, care, respect, and the determination of people to support each other through all sorts of obstacles and circumstances), and the power of hope in the end. I absolutely believe we should make all of the bad things happen to our characters, but why can’t we also really give them the strength externally from their community to get them through that dark night of the soul? Can we rewrite the American narrative from a “dog eat dog world” to a world that thrives in communities that are small, large, intersectional, and global? How can everything I do be a part of that narrative of triumph rather than simply naming the pain and injustices that I and those around me have experienced up until this point? What is the point of rehashing our trauma over and over again?

During this month, I’ve also read “All About Love” by Bell Hooks. Something she points out that struck me is that we never really see depictions of love in action on screen. In romantic relationships, things are either falling apart or blossoming for the first time primarily around humor or sex. This is something I feel like I can really hang my hat on. You’ve pointed out that I am quite good at depicting dysfunctional relationships. In this next chapter, I’d like to grow in the art of depicting how people get through this or forge and grow real, long lasting relationships that we all aspire to. Anyway, back to “The Matchmaker”.

The engine of the plot is Senator McGlory has been accused of pretending to be Irish for his image, so he and his douchebag campaign manager played by Denis Leary send Jeannine Garofolo to Belinagrah in Ireland to find McGlory’s “ancestors”. Jeannine spends a majority of the film pulling out all of the stops trying to complete the assignment. She is thrown a number of great obstacles: she’s happened to come to Belinagrah the same week as their annual Matchmaking festival, Sean, the brother in law of the hotel owner, who keeps trying to come in and question the ethics of her entire purpose for being there, and Dermott, a local Matchmaker, who offers to help Jeannine actually find the McGlory’s, but who ends up having an agenda of his own (fixing up Jeannine and Sean) thanks to his rivalry with the other local Matchmaker. Jeannine or “Marcy” perseveres until the very end when her Boss and Dennis Leary’s character force her to hire fake McGlory’s to meet the Senator on camera. This choice shows Jeannine the Senator’s administrations true colors and calls into question her own integrity, should she go along with it. Jeanine then has to choose whether or not to return to her old life in Boston and continue working for the Senator or stand up for her beliefs, leave her job, and potentially, though it is never a sure thing until the very end, start a new life with a life partner who has the same set of values. Jeanine chooses bravely to walk into the unknown. She abandons her mission and puts in her two weeks notice essentially. In the final scene of the film, Jeanine finds out that McGlory was never Irish in the first place. She learns that she was right to trust her gut. Also, Denis Leary’s character finally gets outed publicly for being a prick when he accidentally shit talks the Senator to Jeanine while he’s still wearing his mic at the reelection victory party. The film ends with Sean showing up in America, singing a terrible song to get her attention, and the two of them finally end up together.

“The Matchmaker” maybe a comedy, but it is also a spiritual awakening for Jeannine Garofalo’s character. She’s spent her whole life becoming the shining example of the independent career minded woman because society told her that she had to choose. Through the course of this movie, she realizes that her life doesn’t have to be like that. That perhaps having quality personal relationships allow you to see the toxicity that you were putting up with at work. In the end, Jeanine stops accepting far less than she deserves. I believe this character, after this ending, would go on to find a more fulfilling job that recognizes all of her and appreciates her. She’ll also go on to cultivate great relationships and actually have a personal life. Ultimately, Jeannine Garofolo, with this story, sets herself up on a path to having it all. These are the kinds of stories I also want to tell.