The System

Each evening, across America, a battle takes place in living rooms, on sofas, and between recliners. The battle for the remote.

Okay, that was a little bit dramatic. I'm just saying, most men and women tend to like to watch different types of television. Hubster and I are the same. However, we don't fight over the remote. I actually like football, and Hubster is slowly coming to appreciate Survivor and cooking competition shows. And then there are the things that we both agree on: 30 Rock, Office, and Mythbusters.

But when it comes to movies, we're not on the same page.

There is definitely shared territory. We both love Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, the Borne Trilogy, and Spiderman.

But I also love movies like Pride and Prejudice and Finding Neverland. If I'm going to rent a movie, I tend to choose something like The Time Travelers Wife, or Eat Pray Love. In other words, movies that Hubster has branded "depressing."

Given his own devices, Hubster picks movies like Grown Ups or McGruber. Movies that I resort to calling "juvenile."

So, when you have such different taste in movies, how do you make it work so that when the weekend comes around and there is time for a movie, things don't come unraveled and you end up watching The Fellowship of the Ring for the umpteenth time?

That's where the system comes in. The movie system.

We trade bad movies.

I rent Revolutionary Road. I cry during the movie. Hubster loudly proclaims the movie to be disturbed and depressing. I agree and I owe him a movie. He makes me watch The Informant. And now we're equal. (Okay, The Informant was really good. Don't tell him that.)

He makes me watch McGruber. I spend the entire movie shaking my head about how terrible it is. Hubster has a moment of embarrassment over his middle school sensibilities. And he owes me a movie.

And I'm taking my time, trying to decide between Eat Pray Love or Love and Other Drugs.

Movies we both like don't count towards the score.

Technically, I think that I'm actually behind, since I've submitted him to countless chic flicks that he always hates and I end up liking many of the action movies he chooses.

Now, if only we could find just as good a system for who gets to take out the garbage now that it's 10 degrees outside.