My husband and I were watching a movie last night entitled It’s Complicated, starring Alec Baldwin and Meryl Streep. The movie revolves around a rekindled dating sites relationship between Alec and Meryl, who play a divorced couple that begin having an affair. During the movie my husband made the comment “Why would you do that?” and I said “Greener grass.” He shook his head in disagreement and said “No, it’s the forbidden.”

I’ve written about the perils of greener grass before, but his statement and indeed the plot of the movie got me thinking that about this different kind of greener grass, Forbidden Greener Grass. Like a new species, I began quietly in my mind to consider the genus and species of this new grass. I would call it “Forbideenus Screwdus”, as it’s forbidden and would leave you screwed (and not necessarily in the good way). I do think the movie makes a good point though. It’s easy to wonder “What if I made a mistake?” when you leave a long-term relationship, even if you’re the slighted one. But how often does it happen that a person cheats on their spouse/significant other in search of the original greener grass and ends up, years later, hopelessly attracted to the person they were originally with? I’ve heard so many people remark “People CAN change” or “Maybe they learned from their mistakes”, but what if they didn’t change and they didn’t learn anything, what if they just bought themselves a new place in life with a spectacular view of Forbidden Greener Grass? In the movie Alec Baldwin’s character remained enamored with Meryl Streep’s character for the entirety of the movie, even leaving the woman he’d cheated on her with and later married in pursuit of another relationship with her. I’m not saying that happiness can’t spring from this scenario, but I am saying that it may do well to be weary of those who tend to covet greener grass, of all types.