Now just for the sake of everyone who may not have seen the Ladies Man starring Tim Meadows, this is the official SPOILER ALERT for the the movie!

While I couldn’t sleep the other night I stumbled upon a forgotten gem of a movie from my adolescence called The Ladies Man (2000), which stars comedian Tim Meadows as the great lover of women Leon Phelps, who for the lack of a better term, is an African-American 1970’s version of Casanova, living in contemporary Chicago.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking, totally ridiculous right?  Well it is, but in the best way.

As I wrote this post, I found it almost impossible to describe Leon Phelps in any way that would convey him accurately, so instead, I’m just going to drop the trailer here to give you a little insight(by the way, his voice is the best part for me, haha):

Let me know when you’re done laughing…….

Go ahead, I’ll wait…..

Okay, all set?  Perfect, back to the post.

Now as you can see, Leon is what I would call, an odd duck.  Not only is he clearly hilarious, but at the same time I want to talk about something the trailer doesn’t quite touch on.

In some weird, demented and hilarious way, all of those crazy things that Leon Says in the movie about love, sex and romance, ACTUALLY makes sense.

You see, so often we think of a man who has a lot of luck with women looking a lot like this:

Now what I love about the very character of Leon Phelps is that he’s a very extreme and necessary example that, as ridiculous and strange as you may be, your looks have very little to do with romance, whether it be for a one night stand, or a long-lasting relationship.

Granted, Leon is equally as put together as James up there.

If you heard his voice in your head when you read that caption, let me know in the comments, haha.

In all seriousness though, the man comes making points.  It may be wrapped in a ridiculous 70’s package, but at the end of the day his romantic conquests were all based on one thing.

Communication!

He simply figured out what those women wanted/needed from their partners and gave it to them.

Now, some may say this is manipulative, but I always thought that any kind of relationship was fostered because of some kind of mutual satisfaction of needs and desires, platonic or not.

Before entering into some kind of romantic relationship, we should have that same idea in our head.

1. Do our sexual preferences match?
2. Hobbies?
3. Interests?
4. Desire for romance in relationships?

These are the things we need on a checklist before we get into a relationship.

So many people worry about careers, wealth, amount of debt.  It’s no surprise we have so many divorces in our country today.

We’re worrying about the wrong things!

And that’s what I love this character.  He instinctively realizes this, and gives those women all of those things they crave.

He delivers a solid message, albeit wrapped in a very strange presentation, but at that point who cares?

That’s what makes him engaging!

That’s what makes his message stand out and hit home!

And more than that, that’s what made his message able to save his life!

So, I dare you to be inspired by The Ladies Man (2000), whether it be in your own love life, or in your writing.

What kind of message can you think to wrap up in a counter-intuitive package in your story?  Have you done this already?  Are you thinking that I’m an insane person who should never blog again?

Whatever your thoughts, leave your reactions in the comments below and let me know what you think.  I can’t wait to hear from you below.

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