Why Emily and Jeff are like Sarah and Chuck

Are you part of a couple who argues over whether to watch the action movie or romantic comedy? Well, if you haven’t checked out the show Chuck, you should, because it’s a great way to compromise and both be happy. It's got action, romance, and comedy all in one. The leading characters are Chuck and Sarah. 

While watching the show last week, it occurred to me, this couple reminds me of Emily and her husband Jeff. You’ve gotten a glimpse into who Emily is as a person, I thought you might like to get to know her married-couple-self. So I’ll share with you a few reasons why Emily/Jeff are like Sarah/Chuck, besides the fact that both couples belong in the OC:

1)   These couples can move! I don’t exactly know Emily and Jeff to be charging into danger on a regular basis. But there’s certainly a parallel between how Chuck and Sarah have great fighting moves and the way Emily and Jeff can cut a rug on the dance floor. Their first dance at their wedding was leg-en-dary folks. Legendary.

2)   Sarah is slim, tall, and beautiful. Emily is slim, tall, and beautiful. (well a little less so on the slim right now as she has an adorable baby bump!)

3)   Chuck is tall. Jeff is tall (Emily was not about to marry a guy shorter than her, so that narrowed the pool of potential mates significantly).

photo by zoe

4)   Sarah starts out working in a yogurt shop under cover. Emily used to scoop ice cream at Coldstones – I wonder if there was more going on there than I knew?

5)   Chuck is handsome. Jeff is handsome.

photo by zoe

6)   Sarah is very close to her dad – I LOVE stories about Emily and her dad – there is a sweetness to that relationship that I really feel privileged to both hear stories about and get to witness first hand [yes I am facebook friends with Tim Boyd, points for me!].

7)   Zachary Levi [the actor who plays Chuck] is also the voice of a singing Disney prince [in the movie Tangled]. Emily grew up just miles from Disneyland and is one of the biggest fans I’ve ever known. Jeff is also and actor. And if you heard Jeff sing, you might agree with me that Emily indeed found herself a Disney prince!

8)   Sarah is not a girly-girl. Neither she nor Emily are ones to over-share their emotions [foil to Chuck who is always on the verge of compromising a mission because they "need to talk"]. Furthermore, --SPOILER ALERT-- Her soon-to-be sister-in-law, Ellie, has to strong arm Sarah into doing anything to plan her wedding – she’s just not the kind of girl who grew up dreaming of that day and practicing it with little dolls. But, once Sarah gets into it, she rocks it – we haven’t seen the wedding yet, but I’m sure its going to be fabulous. (see my intro to Emily for more on not being a girly-girl) But it probably won’t beat Emily’s wedding, because that was one of the greatest events I’ve ever attended in my life. Really, you’ve got to get her to tell you all about it, it was amazing!!

9)   Chuck is an evolved man. He is big on sharing his feelings, communicating when things are going well and when they are going wrong. Jeff too can be very in tune to what’s going on emotionally both with Emily and the people around them. I think this comes out in his artistic sensibilities – both his craft of acting and his ability to analyze art he perceives. I also know him to have great courage for entering into difficult conversations for the sake of showing Emily he loves her and helping their marriage to be stronger. 

10)                   Sarah is a weak female character. Ok, you’re probably feeling offended for Emily right now, just like when people hear me call her “Pig,” but when I do that, I am actually calling her “Pyg” as in “pygmy owl,” which was her camp nick name and the name she selected when I asked her what she preferred to be called. But still, Emily is probably a little confused right now, because she’s never asked to be thought of as weak. So, I will ask you to refer to this article for a complete explanation of what I mean, (and some interesting food for thought). I’ll try to summarize: with feminism came a demand to see leading ladies that were more than damsels in distress, so enter characters like “Mikaela Banes” (Megan Fox), the love interest in Transformers. She’s a “strong female character” because she is a woman who can fix cars and fight aliens. But she’s a flat character – ultimately she’s still up there as a sex symbol, we’re just lulled into compliance by the manly skills she has. Sarah on the other hand can kick some booty to be sure, and she has more experience than Chuck in the spy world [parallel to the fact that Emily is slightly older than Jeff], but there’s more than one dimension to her character. Male heroes in literature have significant flaws they have to overcome to win the day, where as many modern day female characters are just there as eye candy. The writers of Chuck dignify Sarah by giving her flaws and difficulties – hence the term “weak” female character. She might be hot, but she is also working out her own stuff that makes her a true hero as she overcomes her own challenges. Like Sarah, Emily is complex.  You can’t just size her up at first glance. As you read this blog, you will come to know her and keep saying to yourself, “huh!” as she surprises and delights you with the way she reveals her own challenges and hidden talents.

Wow, I didn’t even realize how similar they were until I wrote that all down. In conclusion, if you haven’t seen Chuck, you might want to check it out. Also, you might want to follow this blog so you can get to know Emily (and Jeff) even better!