Dear Rachel,

I’m a single guy who has harbored feelings for one of my best friends for a number of years, yet I’ve never said anything to her regarding them. Recently, she has begun seeing someone and I’m happy for her, but at the same time I’m not. Should I speak up and take my chance with her?

Ben, 20

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Ben,

I don’t know if you’ve seen “The Graduate” (if you haven’t it’s been out since 1967 so there’s been plenty of time for you to grow a good taste in movies), but the glorious message of the film is that if you wait until her wedding to tell her you love her, it’ll probably work out for the best. My first golden nugget of advice to you is a simple one: be Dustin Hoffman

Sadly, that falls on deaf ears because you’re obviously not Dustin Hoffman as you had to write to me to ask for advice on this, so I have a question for you: how do you want this story to end? If I were you I’d take the sound, realistic advice from other films and apply them to your life. It can only work out for the best, I assure you. You can’t go wrong if you take drastic

measures. Women LOVE drama, even when they say they don’t. Here are some leading men who get their women that you could take notes from:

+ Lloyd in “Say Anything”: He is a super underachiever with nothing going for him except good taste in music and shoulders that could carry a boom box.

He is honest and makes his intentions obvious to the woman he loves.

+ Noah in “The Notebook”: He’s initially flat-out, WWF smack-down rejected by Allie, but he doesn’t give up.

He freaks her out by hanging from a Ferris wheel and essentially forcing her to go on a date with him. From the start, he is honest and makes his intentions obvious to the woman he loves.

+ The Phantom in “The Phantom of the Opera”: He wears a mask to cover up a hideously disfigured face. If it weren’t for his voice, he’d probably be super gross, but he still finds a way to coach and sing beautifully to Christine because he’s in love with her. In his own strange way, he is honest and makes his intentions obvious to the woman he loves.

+  Kong in “King Kong”: He is an ape. Kong kidnaps a woman, climbs up the Empire State Building and holds her over New York because he’s in love and wants the world and the U.S Army to know. He is honest and makes his intentions obvious to the woman he loves.

Ben, roll all these character’s experiences into one and go for it! Carry a boom box and play the backing track to “Music of the Night” while hanging from a Ferris wheel in a gorilla suit. The worst she can say is no, right? You could reap major benefits from being gutsy and honest for once in your life. If things don’t work out, get back to me and I’ll tell you I’m sorry.

-Rachel