Saw a fun movie last night: “The Tao of Steve”. No great work of art, but it’s got a cute sub-plot about picking up girls. Anybody else seen it?

It’s about an overweight, pot smoking, slacker that gets laid by more women than he can keep track of. (Supposedly based on a true story.) His secret, The Tao of Steve: Taoist philosophy combined with Steve McQueen attitude.

The attitude part is something like, “I play by my own rules, face my own adversities and don’t care what anybody else thinks of me.” The philosophy is encapsulated in three rules:

Be desire-less. It’s a zen sort of thing like... When you’re talking to a girl just enjoy the conversation. When you’re going out with a girl, just enjoy entertaining her. Because “Women can spot an agenda a mile away.” and, even if they want to get laid, they don’t want to feel manipulated.

Be excellent in front of women. Everybody has something that they’re excellent at, be sure women get a glimpse of it. “When women see you as somebody that can be excellent, you become a bigger catch in her eyes.” (The guy in the movie had a good sense of humor and was great with kids. I’m sure we all know women that are suckers for that.)

Finally, learn to retreat. As soon as you’ve got a woman thinking you could be excellent, back away. “A beautiful woman will think, ‘Wait a minute. I’m a beautiful woman, he’s a fat slob. What do I have to do to make him want me?” When you get women doing things to attract your attention they start to believe that they really want you.

Of course the main plot is a morality tale about how womanizers are basically insecure people that have to have many partners because they don’t believe a single one could love them. But that parts cute too.