I honeslty think High Fidelity and Unfaithful are the films that have the most powerful exploration of the subject, particuarly the former.
In the case of unfaithful the subject is treated with a sense for the addictive and destructive nature of the affair. In sharp contrast to Hollywood's usual "tragic love story approach" which makes me sick it is so unaccurate.
In the case of High Fidelity, the affair and cheating of the guy's girlfriend was treated somewhat comically. There is a scene with him imagining his girlfriend having sex with the creep and he was clearly having a panic attack.
The scene is offered comically, but all i could do is feel sorry for him cowering in bed with pillow over his face trying to block out the images. High Fidelity does explore the subject well, I just wish it was more sensitive to the hurt that is caused.
Anyhow, I think those two films really are landmark films in that they portray affairs as wasteful and destructive rather than just tragic love stories. I really hate it when a film introduces infidelity and merely offers it up as some romantic bad timing thing. It is so inaccurate. Affairs are hurtful, destructive, and cruel, they aren't love stories. I wish more hollywood writers would figure this out and start telling the truth.
