Friends With Benefits

I've never given much thought to the idea of friends with benefits (FWB). Simply because I do not think that a relationship like that will ever really end well for either party. I feel that the only 2 possible outcomes are either, you fall in love, or you lose a friend because one person is more emotionally invested than the other. Sometimes both parties are strictly just in it for sex, and they both leave happy and stay friends and are with their new significant other.

I found that Hollywood did a beautiful job in catapulting the concept of friends with benefits into the limelight. In 2010 there was Love & Other Drugs (starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway), and in 2011 there was No Strings Attached (starring Natalie Portman & Ashton Kutcher) and then there is my favorite, Friends with Benefits (starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake).


All three of these films are based solely off of a relationship revolving around just sex and nothing else. The only difference is in how they were delivered to the audience. Two films delivered it to the audience with one of the characters having ulterior motives and only one of the three movies remains true to the definition of FWB; friends having sex with no emotions invested.

Love & Other Drugs (2010)
So pretty much this is how it goes, Jakes character meets Anne’s character and he expresses interest, but she turns him down because she doesn’t feel like she should be with anyone (because she suffers from Parkinson’s disease). He continues to try to win her over, but they end up just having a FWB relationship (Jake goes into it wanting more, while Anne just wants sex). In the end they are in love and all is well.

No Strings Attached (2011)
The premise of this movie is simple. Ashton and Natalie’s characters knew each other from their teens, and the timing and their location was never right even throughout their early adult lives when they would run into each other occasionally. Then when they are both in the same location, Ashton's character wants to have something more with Natalie’s character (after an awkward process) but she wants nothing but to have sex. Of course Ashton agrees, and they carry on a sexual relationship. Naturally, feelings start to develop from both parties but only Ashton will admit it. After a long Hollywood styled push and pull they finally end up together and happy.

Friends with Benefits (2011)

Photo By: Fiona Ho

This is by far my favorite movie, so I am a tad bit biased on this but still fair! So Justin and Mila's characters have no previous history and they meet each other (due to their work overlapping) and they instantly hit it off... as friends. They soon become great friends and after a late night of drinking and sappy romantic movies (and being super mega lonely) they decide to propose a friends with benefits deal. Their deal works for the greater half of the movie (because they really just went into it wanting sex!). After an emotional night Mila's character realizes that she really has fallen for Justin’s character (they both subconsciously fell for each other throughout the process of sleeping and hanging out with each other). Justin’s character gets scared and ruins it by opening his mouth. Eventually they find their way back to each other after a long period of ‘friends offing’ each other.


Basically, in my opinion, friends with benefits at its core are two lonely friends who at the beginning agree to just have sex and no emotions are to be involved. If by the end something is to happen then good for them. I personally wouldn’t really consider the whole ‘let’s do friends with benefits thing (but omg!! secretly I am soooo in love with you, and I am desperately hoping to manipulate and trick you into falling in love with me via lots of sex!), let’s just have sex, and stay friends!’ thing to be a REAL friends with benefits deal.


I think that the 2011 the Friends with Benefits movie did the best job in showing (in my opinion) the best example of a FWB relationship. There were no ulterior motives involved, and things just happened... Whereas Love & Other Drugs and No Strings Attached both began with an ulterior motive.