Mix a boy from New York whose favorite food is pheasant with a
Korean-born girl who loves Mexican food. Stir in the
“artsy” new movie “Till Human Voices Wake
Us,” and add a sprinkle of a casual coffee. Such is the
recipe for another “Art to Heart” blind date ending
with lukewarm results both in the movie theater and on the love
scale.
This week, the two blind daters were J. Charles Hay, a
25-year-old design and media arts student and Jessica Jung, a
fourth-year sociology and Asian American studies student.
“People would describe me as a wacky and eccentric kind of
guy, with bouts of intelligence,” said Hay. “I can be
smart but I choose not to be most of the time.”
Jung describes herself as outgoing and extroverted ““ the
kind of person that doesn’t hide anything, from her feelings
to her opinions.
“I’m the kind of girl that lives by the motto
“˜what you see is what you get,'” she said.
The date started out with a romantic gesture from Hay, who
brought Jung a bottle of wine wrapped in newspaper and adorned with
a flower. Then the two proceeded to go on a very traditional first
date, seeing a movie followed by coffee at a cafe on Sunset
Boulevard.
The film the two saw was “Till Human Voices Wake
Us,” a cerebral thriller telling the story of a man (Guy
Pearce) who returns to his hometown after the death of his stoic
father. The film cuts between Pearce’s memories with his lost
friend Sylvie from his childhood and the present in which Pearce
encounters a woman (Helena Bonham Carter) mysteriously resembling
Sylvie. The title is taken from T.S. Eliot’s poem “The
Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” and the movie examines
human consciousness ““ the state of dreaming and waking.
“The movie was too much of a head-trip for a first date.
It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting because all the
previews were comedic and romantic,” said Hay. “It was
like if you were going to grab a glass of water and it turned out
to be vodka.”
Though the two share differing movie tastes, they both agreed
that this movie wasn’t exactly first-date material.
“It was definitely a thinker,” said Jung. “It
took me a while to understand what was going on. It would be more
for intuitive moviegoers rather than for people who are gong on a
first date and need something more light-hearted and casual to
watch.”
Hay’s movie taste lies in cheesy flicks such as
“Conan,” “Meet the Feebles,” and other,
according to Hay, really bad B-rated and sci-fi horror movies. On
the other side of the spectrum, Jessica claims to be a sucker for
romantic comedies.
Throughout the date, the two learned more and more about each
other and how they differed in more than just movie taste. They
differed in everything from music to entertainment.
“Charles reminded me of one of my closest friends, he was
witty and humorous so it wasn’t hard to keep conversation
going,” said Jung. “But we really didn’t have
that much in common.”
While Charles likes to occupy himself by going to clubs, dancing
and DJing, and going to barbecues, Jung has more fun doing relaxed
things with her friends such as hanging out in Westwood, having
dinners, and going to movies.
Though the one thing they agreed on was that they were complete
opposites, they both said they had a fun time getting to know each
other. There weren’t any earth-shattering vibes of
lovin’ going on between them, but the two still might hang
out again.
“The date was definitely something I’d do
again,” said Hay. “She was a great girl ““ we
connected on like polar opposites ““ she was really personable
and approachable.”
Jung, while still trying to figure out what the two had in
common, also had a really good time.
“Just being able to meet someone new is a fun
experience,” she said. “Because UCLA is such as large
school, after a while the only people you meet are through your
friends. It’s an interesting experience to be in a situation
where you really don’t know the guy at all.”
Well, you can’t say the Daily Bruin didn’t try to
introduce people to new things. Jung likes the type of
smoochy-woochy flicks you might find on TBS on a Friday night and
Hay likes movies that you would, well, find in a back room of a
creepy video store. And while the movie didn’t pan out for
the crazy kids, they still got to meet someone completely out of
their niche, and they may even meet again.
We know you’re all frantically itching to go out on a
blind date. Send your name, major, year and a brief bio to
ae@media.ucla.edu to test the torrid waters of UCLA love.