The Silver Linings Playbook Guide To Sex

For a romantic comedy, Silver Linings Playbook is a wonderfully complex portrayal of mental illness, family dynamics, compulsive gambling, and dating but let’s just focus on the sex.

Having An Affair? Keep Your Lover Away From Home

The male lead, Pat, played by Bradley Cooper (nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor) ends up in a psychiatric facility after he returns home early one afternoon to find his wife in the shower with another man. No private investigator needed here, no subtle tell-tale signs of an affair, just the classic scene that gets played out over and over again and not just in Hollywood.

Given how often we’ve seen this plot it’s a wonder that anyone dallying in a clandestine romance even thinks of meeting in their own home. Love or rather the pursuit of sex may be blind but it can also seriously cloud your judgment.

Dating experts don’t typically recommend infidelity but if you’re not willing to confront the issues in your relationship and you can’t stop yourself, keep your lover away from your home.

Looking For Casual Sex? Keep It Out Of The Workplace

Tiffany, played by Jennifer Lawrence (nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress) is a woman with a history. She’s a young widow whose husband died recently in a car accident. Grief-stricken, she responds by having sex with her coworkers. ALL her coworkers. Both men and women.

Not surprisingly, that doesn’t work out too well since she ends up getting fired but it does prove Your Tango Expert, David Matthews’ point that booty calls don’t turn into relationships. Admittedly at this point we’re not even sure if Tiffany wants a relationship but still, being gainfully employed is always a plus.

Looking For Love? Don’t Have Sex

When we meet Tiffany in the movie she isn’t entirely over her casual sex fascination and offers it on a plate to Pat on their first date, a meeting which Pat has tried very hard to make a non-date.

This is the point when Pat wins over the heart of every female in the audience by turning her down and proving that not all men want sex on a first date or non-date.

Since Pat and Tiffany are the lead characters in the movie it obviously doesn’t end there and their relationship continues to evolve. They don’t actually date but they do make a pact which means spending lots of time together and that means getting to know each other slowly, a lesson right out of the Fit4love playbook.

Of course this wouldn’t be a romantic comedy if the guy didn’t get the girl in the end and that’s the silver lining to taking it slow. As Your Tango Expert Nina Atwood puts it: The longer you date before sex the more likely you are to get an emotional commitment.

Master Coach, Sheila Paxton is the creator of the Fit4love dating program, designed to teach singles how to find the love of their life. Discover the three secrets to making yourself more attractive to the opposite sex in the Fit4love Singles Report available FREE when you subscribe to the Fit4love newsletter.