Nora Ephron. The Legend Who Brought Us THAT Scene

We were very sad to hear of the death of Hollywood screenwriter and director Nora Ephron who died in New York last week. Ephron was responsible for some of our favourite romantic comedies including Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail and Julie and Julia. The screenwriter is probably most famous for penning the rom-com classic When Harry Met Sally and despite its release way back in 1989 it is still the Holy Grail of rom-coms. Starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal the film follows the relationship of Harry Burns and Sally Albright as friendship blossoms into love and it is still one of our favourite DVDs to pop on when we need our fix of love.

When Harry Met Sally was a breath of fresh air in the late eighties and Ephron brought the issue of the female orgasm or lack there of right to the forefront of the film industry. The iconic deli scene is one of the most memorable in the history of film and it brought to life the fact that most women fake orgasms on occasion which was an idea that had previously remained discussed. The scene ends with another diner calling out “I’ll have what she’s having!” and the deli still hangs a sign over the table that reads, “Where Harry met Sally. We hope you have what she had.”

Female audiences loved watching Sally fake it in front Harry in a packed Kat’z Delicatessen in Manhattan but it put the fear of god into their male counterparts who suddenly unsure of their ability to decipher the difference between real and fake climaxes.

A study carried out in May by Women’s Health Magazine revealed that although we Irish women have the most sex in Europe we are the least satisfied by our escapades. Seven out of ten of us are not satisfied with our sex life. There must be an awful lot of faking going on, ladies! Have we all been taking lessons from Sally? Despite the elapse of over twenty years we doubt Irish men are any wiser in 2012.

Still, Nora Ephron is a huge loss to the rom-com world and we’d like to thank her for making us laugh on many lonesome nights on the couch. She’ll be greatly missed.