Art to heart
Blond bombshell meets tall, dark and handsome. Yet another night of blind date debauchery hits the streets of Westwood, combining a leafy dinner with a short trip to the infamous sculpture garden and a movie to heighten understanding of familiar relationships.
This week our blind daters were Julia Lea and David Ghiyam. Lea, who her friends say is a charming girl whose face lights up the room, is a second-year psychology student. Ghiyam’s friends describe the first-year sociology student as suave and confident, as well as charming.
Starting with dinner at Damon and Pythius, the two talked about everything from their college experiences to their future goals and even their reactions to blind dates.
“My first impression of Dave was that he was cute and a very good height,” said Lea. “He acted like a complete gentleman when he shook my hand and opened the door for me.”
Ghiyam was most struck by Lea’s sweet and friendly demeanor, as well as her ability to keep up interesting conversation while dining on their salads.
“When I first met Julia, she struck me as extremely sweet and friendly,” said Ghiyam. “I went into the date thinking that Julia was going to be timid and shy, but she definitely kept the conversation going and kept it interesting.”
After finishing their meals, the two were scheduled to see a play. Of course, planning is sometimes off, and after running around North Campus looking for the play, the couple soon realized it wasn’t happening that night. So, instead of enhancing their theatrical knowledge, the two journeyed back to Westwood to become film critics and watch “Raising Victor Vargas.”
Though Peter Sollett’s film about love and familial relationships between main character Victor and his grandmother, brother, sister and his girl, “Juicy Judy,” won awards at the Cannes and Sundance film festivals, it did not get good marks with these daters.
“The plot of the movie went extremely slow, which made it easy to understand, but also left me uninterested sometimes,” said Lea. “There was also a lot of symbolism through the actions of the characters which gave us a look into different reactions to teenage emotions and family relationships.”
Ghiyam, a fan of movies that have interesting and convoluted plots that make viewers think, also wasn’t impressed with what the film had to offer.
“What struck me most about the film was the lack of background music,” said Ghiyam. “The dead silence for minutes – though making us concentrate on the actions of the characters – made it easier to lose interest in the movie.”
While the film wasn’t a great hit with the two, they said it had some more entertaining moments.
“The characters of the movie were extremely dynamic and realistic,” said Lea. “The (actor) who played Victor did an impressive job at conveying his emotions – his character was definitely one everyone could seemingly relate to at the end of the movie.”
Not only did the characters help to bolster the entertainment value, there were also some hilarious scenes, according to Ghiyam, that made it memorable.
“The opening scene with a larger women trying to seduce Victor and the scene where Victor is shot down by a girl all add to the human aspect of the character and make him even more believable and entertaining,” said Ghiyam.
Though the film did have some redeeming qualities, it was not an overall hit with the pair. Both commented that this was not a “first date movie” because of its seemingly profound complexity and outright bore factor.
“It wasn’t really a date movie,” said Lea. “It seems to be more for an artistic, avant-garde movie-goer rather than people who just want a relaxing evening of entertainment.”
From witnessing the coming of age of a self-styled Latino Casanova to munching on spinach, corn and carrots, the two blind daters added love and entertainment to their vast knowledge.
“The date was, overall, an awesome experience,” said Ghiyam. “I felt comfortable with Julia, and we had great conversation. I’d definitely be willing to go on another blind date in the future, but I think it’d be more entertaining if the date had twists to it – like a third person.”


