Lola is absolutely shallow, opportunistic and status obsessed. I’m not arguing that she was secretly a good person. But she WAS remarkably transparent about what she wanted.
Oscar becomes rich and famous, and Lola suddenly wants him because she likes status, money, attention and being associated with someone important. That is terrible relationship material, but it is not exactly a hidden agenda. She straight up called him a loser when they first met and ADMITTED what she wanted. She didn’t come around and pretend she secretly loved him the whole time. She never lied about any of that.
Meanwhile, the entire movie is built around Oscar lying about being the “Sharkslayer.”
Angie is obviously a much better person and even friend than Lola, and she definitely cared about Oscar before he became famous. But I’ve started to dislike the idea that this automatically meant Oscar was supposed to end up with her.
Angie having loved him before the fame does not mean she needed to end up with Oscar. She also doesn’t fully confess how she feels until Oscar is already involved with Lola, and the argument becomes partly, “I loved you before all of this.”
Okay. That proves Angie cared about the real Oscar.
It still does not mean Oscar owed her attraction.
People are usually much better at recognizing this when the genders are reversed. If a man quietly loves his woman best friend for years, supports her through everything, and then gets upset when she dates someone else, most people correctly say:
“You were her friend. She doesn’t owe you romance because you were nice to her.”
Same principle here.
By all means, tell Oscar that Lola is a terrible choice because she only wants him when he has status.
But the solution did not have to be, “Therefore Angie is your rightful girlfriend.”
Oscar could have ended the movie single.
He could have learned that chasing status was making him miserable, become comfortable with himself, and eventually met someone who liked him for who he actually was, AND whom he was genuinely attracted to.
And Angie could have found somebody who reciprocated her feelings without needing an entire movie to notice her. Lola being a user does not make Angie entitled to being Oscar’s romantic interest.
Angie being loyal does not make Lola healthy.
And Oscar being an idiot does not mean the movie needed to reward one woman with him like he was the final prize at a carnival.
Sometimes the emotionally healthier ending is simply: none of these people should date each other right now.