Very well said. I had some similar thoughts as well while watching. I too appreciate the way Allen seems to inject certain social mores into his films without sounding too didactic. I hate preachy dialogues and musings. Sometimes, you can feel some movies trying so hard to be relevant and insightful. I think it probably helps that his characters are believably conflicted/socially awkward. They don't come off as someone TRYING to be an outcast. So many of today's actors can't pull it off. I mean, today, when people are trying to be "awkward", they actually seem like they're probably cool and aloof in real life.
I'm not too overly analytical when it comes to watching movies really. The great thing about film is that it keeps me off pragmatic, worldly brain activity when I need a break from reality (even with those films when you have to think, at the core, I'm still really watching to be entertained). I just had that nagging thought in my head. I was trying to convince myself to not feel too bad for Baxter, since he's not a real person. I just couldn't help reasoning that what he felt was, in fact, real.
I'm glad you brought up the show of freewill with Baxter stepping out of the film. I was trying to think of specific instances when he broke out of the "programming" to try and highlight how not everything is a construction for him. I was struggling with that a bit, which was sort of a point against his love being real all together. I was just thinking too much about specific actions and instances, rather than the bigger act of him walking out of the film.

This message has been deleted.