By: Lauren Higginbotham
Leap Year is a 2010 film, starring Amy Adams as Anna Brady, and Matthew Goode as Declan O’Callaghan. Frustrated with her long time boyfriend’s lack of a marriage proposal, Anna decides to travel to Dublin and propose to him on leap day, while he is there at a conference. She hits a few bumps in the road on her way to Dublin, and ultimately finds a travel partner in a surly Irish innkeeper, named Declan. By the end of the film, Anna comes to realize Declan is the person she wishes to spend the rest of her life with, as opposed to her long time boyfriend, and the two are married in Cork.
Aside from the cheesy love story and abundance of clichés used throughout the film, the underlying plot centers around an old Irish legend, which allows women to propose to men on leap day. Supposedly, the tradition began when St. Brigid struck a deal with St. Patrick, in order to balance the traditional roles of men and women, similar to how leap day balances the calendar. Despite the folklore’s romantic undertone, according to The Huffington Post’s Stephanie Hallet, “The roots of the Irish tradition are dubious…St. Brigid was just 9 or 10 years old when St. Patrick died in 461 A.D…making the pair’s friendship unlikely.”
Regardless of the story’s validity, Americans such as myself, view the film as simply a romantic comedy, capitalizing on the differences between Americans and the Irish. Throughout the film, Anna continuously comments on Declan’s strong Irish brogue, the relaxed attitudes of those she meets, and the importance placed on a true Catholic marriage. In turn, Declan is caught off guard by the value Anna places on material objects, her seemingly conceited personality, and low tolerance to alcohol. On each side of the spectrum, the film focuses on stereotypes typical to each nationality, yet considering the majority of the film occurs in Ireland, it is plausible the Irish may reject the movie for its subpar portrayal of Irish life. As a whole, the film did not receive rave reviews in the United States, yet Roger Ebert counters this negativity by saying, “When was the last time you saw a boring Irishman in a movie?”
Works Cited
Hallett, Stephanie. “Leap Year Proposal: What’s The Story Behind It?” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 27 Feb. 2012. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.
Growing up, one of my biggest dreams was to be a professional dancer. I attended classes until I was about six-years-old for tap and ballet and my best friend was an Irish dancer as well. It wasn’t until I was 16 when I was re-watching the amazing videos of me dancing my little heart out in front of a handprint-stained mirror that I came to a life altering revelation: I have no rhythm. None. The passion to dance that is present within my heart was never correctly transferred to my feet. Although crushed, I have decided to place this unseen potential into something more productive: discovering the relationship of modern tap dancing to traditional Irish step dancing. 
Slagging is a term used to describe a kind of harsher form of teasing. While this may seem like an insult to some, to the Irish, it’s considered a behavior that shows affection or bonding, and, in some cases, is even used as a compliment. You might consider pointing out how much weight your friend has gained or take a poke at their short stature, for example. At this point, you, like me, might be thinking, “Gosh, I tease my friends all the time? What does any of this have to do with being Irish?” This difference lies in that unlike in America, slagging isn’t just used to playfully make fun of the other person, it’s used as a form of positive reinforcement. To the Irish, slagging is just a bit of “craic”, a term the Irish use to describe fun, entertainment and enjoyable conversation, and no harm is meant by what is said. In a workplace setting for example, a boss will tell his employee how great they’re doing. Not the case in Ireland, where that same boss would be more likely to tell his employee that he finally got off his lazy arse. It’s the difference between distributing straight up compliments and hiding them in the humorous lingo. Such harsh words, it seems, but is this behavior particularly unique to the Irish? To answer this question, I decided to delve deeper and ask a couple of my close friends for input. 