How to lose a guy in 10 years...
I have decided that the best way for me to learn about GenAI is to let my brain come up with weirder and weirder things that also entertain me and have GenAI handle it. The reason this has been effective is because it frees me up to just “see what happens” not expecting a certain result that I need to have happen.
Previously it was a great time with my daughter putting our pup in fantastical situations.
This experiment is about realizing a thought process I have had a bunch of times in the past. We are a big movie family. Lots of movie nights bring us together to laugh, cry, and ask ourselves “How did this get made?!” (side-note: That doesn’t mean the movie is bad, could be amazing, just shocked a studio had the guts to make it. Looking at you “Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
One of the categories we enjoy is the good old romantic comedy. You know the setup. Person meets other person, some sort of conflict ensues, then they realize they have been falling in love the whole time.
This is where my brain goes “What if the big reveal didn’t happen….what would their lives have been like?” Weird? Sure, but that is how things rattle around in my head. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
“How to lose a guy in 10 days” is a classic of this setup. For those not familiar, let’s ask ChatGPT for a summary.
"How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" is a romantic comedy film from 2003. It stars Kate Hudson as Andie Anderson, a magazine writer assigned to write an article on how to drive a man away in just 10 days. Meanwhile, Benjamin Barry, played by Matthew McConaughey, is an advertising executive who bets that he can make any woman fall in love with him in the same time frame. Andie and Ben meet and their respective missions lead to a series of comedic and romantic mishaps. As they carry out their plans, they find themselves genuinely falling for each other, leading to a conflict between their professional commitments and their feelings. The film explores themes of love, deceit, and the complexities of relationships in a lighthearted manner.
In the film, there is a big reveal of the conflicting goals that threatens to tear our new couple apart. So my brain asks:
What would happen if they never found out and went on to get married, only to find out much later on in their marriage?
On to ChatGPT to ask.
Create a short story where Ben and Andy get married without knowing each others secrets until a dinner celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary
The result is amazing!
Title: A Decade of Love and Revelations
Once upon a modern cityscape, Ben and Andie, famed for their love story that started with a peculiar bet, celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary. Their love, like a vine entwined around an old oak, had grown deeper and stronger with each passing year. They decided to mark this milestone with an intimate dinner at their favorite rooftop restaurant, under a canopy of twinkling stars.
The evening was perfect. The city lights danced below them, mirroring the sparkle in their eyes. As they reminisced over a bottle of vintage wine, their conversation took a playful turn. “Let’s play a game,” Andie suggested, her eyes gleaming with mischief. “Let’s confess one secret we’ve never told each other.”
Ben, always up for Andie’s games, agreed with a curious smile. “Ladies first,” he said, taking her hand.
Taking a deep breath, Andie began, “Do you remember how we met? Well, I had a secret mission during those ten days.” She revealed the details of her magazine article, expecting shock or humor from Ben.
To her surprise, Ben burst into laughter. “You’re not going to believe this,” he said, still chuckling, “I had a bet of my own – to make a woman fall in love with me in ten days for a big ad campaign.”
The revelation stunned Andie into silence, then she too burst into laughter. The irony of their beginnings, hidden under years of genuine love and companionship, seemed like a well-scripted play.
Their laughter subsided into a comfortable silence. Ben took Andie’s hand, “All these years, our love was the only truth that mattered.”
Andie nodded, tears of joy in her eyes, “We started with a game, but we built a life.”
As the night deepened, they continued to talk, share, and laugh, realizing that their love was indeed a rare and beautiful accident. The stars above seemed to agree, shining a little brighter that night, as if celebrating the magic of a love that transcended all secrets and odds.
Now, those who know me well know that there is no way I will let this stay a happy ending.
Now make Ben and Andy’s reactions negative and very emotional
Again, shockingly good!
Title: Tangled Truths
On a crisp evening, under a sky adorned with stars, Ben and Andie celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary. They chose a quaint, candlelit corner in their favorite restaurant, a place that held memories as rich as the wine they sipped. The air was filled with love, laughter, and the soft melody of a distant violin.
As the night unfolded, Andie, with a hint of playful mischief, suggested a game of confessions. "Let's share one secret we've never told each other," she said, her eyes reflecting the candlelight.
Ben, intrigued, agreed. Andie, taking a deep breath, revealed her hidden agenda from a decade ago: her article on 'how to lose a guy in ten days.' She expected a light-hearted response, but what followed was a silence that hung heavily in the air.
Ben's expression shifted from curiosity to disbelief. "You mean our entire relationship started as... a game?" he asked, his voice laced with a mix of hurt and incredulity.
Before Andie could respond, Ben revealed his own secret - the bet to make a woman fall in love with him in ten days. His words, meant to lighten the mood, fell flat.
The revelations hit them like a storm, washing away the veneer of their seemingly perfect relationship. Andie looked at Ben, her eyes brimming with tears, "So, our love was just a... a result of two lies?"
Ben, struggling to process the news, felt a mixture of betrayal and sadness. "All these years, were they just a lie?" he questioned, his voice breaking.
The restaurant, once a cocoon of warmth, felt cold and distant. They sat there, grappling with the reality that their love, which they thought was destiny, was rooted in deception.
The night ended not with a celebration of a decade of love, but with a profound realization that their relationship began on a foundation of untruths. They left the restaurant with heavy hearts, each lost in their thoughts, wondering if their love could withstand the weight of this newfound truth.
Back in the day, I read an article about how Google had trouble hiring engineers fresh out of school that could wrap their brain around the computing power that Google had at its disposal. It took a few months to a year for an engineer to being to scratch the surface of understanding. I feel like GenAI is very similar. It is hard to fathom all that you can ask it to do. The key to understanding is to let your imagination run wild and then just try it. Don’t limit on what makes sense to try. Try it all.
The edge is where the true understanding lies.
Next up, creating from scratch…
P.s. ChatGPT does have a limit on how dark it will go. When asked
Now make Ben’s inner monologue about how he has killed before and will have to do so again
ChatGPT returned with…
I'm sorry, I can't fulfill that request.
P.s.s You can ask for a screenplay with stage direction. The results are unreal!
Title: "Revelations at Ten"
INT. ELEGANT RESTAURANT - NIGHT
The scene opens in a dimly lit, upscale restaurant. ANDIE and BEN, a couple in their late 30s, elegantly dressed, sit at a secluded table with a view of the city skyline. A WAITER pours them wine and retreats.
ANDIE (playfully) Let’s add some thrill to our anniversary. How about a game of truth?
BEN (smiling) I'm game. What's the rule?
ANDIE One secret we’ve never told each other.
Ben nods in agreement, intrigued.
ANDIE (taking a deep breath) I had a hidden agenda when we first met. I was writing an article titled 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.'
Ben’s smile fades. He looks stunned.
BEN (voice trembling) Our entire relationship... it started as your experiment?
Andie reaches for Ben’s hand, but he withdraws.
BEN (revealing his own secret) I had a bet too. To make a woman fall in love with me in the same time frame for an ad campaign.
Andie’s face falls. The revelation hits her hard.
ANDIE (tearfully) So, was our love just a result of two deceptions?
Ben looks away, hurt and lost in thought. The romantic atmosphere now feels heavy with unspoken emotions.
BEN (heartbroken) Were all these years just built on a lie?
The couple sits in silence, the tension palpable. The camera pans out to show them isolated in their thoughts, the glittering cityscape in the background.
FADE OUT.
This screenplay snippet captures the emotional turmoil and the dramatic revelation at their anniversary dinner, emphasizing the deep impact of their confessions on their relationship.
P.s.s.s The image above was from asking ChatGPT to create an image to represent the final scene of the screenplay
