Jerry Maguire ♥ Dorothy Boyd

Recently in class we watched clips of the movie Jerry Maguire. I admit, I haven't seen this movie before and understand that this likely puts me in the minority. Of course, I do know of the famous quotes: “Show me the money!” “Did you know the human head weighs 8 pounds?” and “You complete me”/“You had me at hello.” I am, after all, in a pop culture class.

Anyway, we were directed to discuss how Jerry defines love, what he feels love to be. As we jumped around from scene to scene, I noticed something, something that Jerry himself plainly stated when, later in the film, Rod Tidwell asks why he married Dorothy Boyd:

                                  TIDWELL
                        Then why'd you get married?  I'm
                        asking you as a friend.
 
                                  JERRY
                               (shaking his head)
                        You're jabbing at me.

                                  TIDWELL
                        I'm sorry I asked.
 
                                  JERRY
                        No, I'm going to answer you.  You
                        want an answer?  I'll give it to
                        you.
                               (beat)
                        Loyalty.  She was loyal.
                               (unconvincing)
                        Everything grew from there.
 
                                  TIDWELL
                        That's an answer.
 
                                  JERRY
                        Damn right.
 
                                  TIDWELL
                               (jab)
                        For loyalty, you buy a dog.  For
                        love, you get married.

Earlier, when Jerry is speaking to his soon-to-be ex-fiancee Avery, he foreshadows his decision:

                                  AVERY
                        So honesty is outlawed here, I
                        can't be honest?
 
              She turns and exits again.  He follows.
 
                                  JERRY
                        Tell you what -- I'd prefer
                        loyalty..

So to Jerry, love is defined as loyalty, hence his decision to marry Dorothy after he breaks up with his fiancee, Avery. During Jerry and Dorothy's marriage, Jerry is highly affectionate to Dorothy's son, Ray, but is fairly distant and aloof to her. The two begin to fight and eventually wind up separating, as Dorothy loves Jerry but feels as though he doesn't return her feelings. Jerry's conversation with Tidwell however, eventually makes him reassess how he feels about Dorothy and what it means to really love someone. Jerry's business relationship with Tidwell eventually blossoms into a full-blown friendship after Tidwell's breakout football game and Jerry comes to the realization that he truly does love Dorothy and that his romantic feelings, while initially developing from loyalty (especially after she stayed loyal to him by going out on a limb and leaving Sports Management International with him after he had been fired) eventually grew into something beyond loyalty and into love.

Jerry's concept of “love” stemmed from the relationship he had with his fiancee, who was materialistic and brutally honest (though she added the “brutality”). His concept of love was certainly given shape with an influence from his line of work, where people back-stab and gossip and double-cross on a daily basis. Jerry certainly did have feelings for Dorothy and married her as a sign of loyalty in return for hers. He viewed the marriage almost as just another business deal, though obviously with more attachment. Luckily, though, Jerry was able to discover, with the help of Tidwell, that love is not just loyalty, and that it goes beyond just sticking by someone.