Entertainment

A GUY’S TAKE ON ‘HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU’

Never, ever, under any circumstances, should a woman try to spark romance with a guy, or even, horror of horrors, just call to ask him out.

This is the dominant theme of the 2004 book “He’s Just Not That Into You” and the movie adaptation out today.

It is a theme that, as far as I’m concerned, is an absolute load of crap.

Last I checked, we live in the 21st century. Yet, this book reads like a manual of manners from Victorian England.

THE POST’S REVIEW: ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’

MORE: Love in a Digital Age

Addressing the issue of why a lady can’t call a man, author Greg Behrendt advises women to “be realistic in how capable you are of changing the primordial impulses that drive all of human nature.” The idea is that men are genetically coded to pursue women, and will never respond to being pursued by them.

While I agree that humankind has evolved pitifully little in primal matters such as waging war, the dating scene in Manhattan has become a bit more sophisticated. When was the last time you saw a guy wallop a girl’s head with a club and then drag her by the hair to his walk-up apartment?

Now I appreciate the thrill of the chase as much as the next guy. But really, if a girl I like wants to make the first move, or just remind me that I like her, I don’t go running for cover. Just last night, as a matter of fact, a young woman and I got together for drinks because she had taken the initiative. We’d met only once, a few years ago, back when we both had significant others. Fast-forward to this past December, when we got to chatting via Facebook, when I casually asked if she still had that boyfriend, and she told me no.

Then the holidays started and I got distracted (as I’m prone to do), and I neglected to follow up.

A month of silence went by, and then two days ago she inquired why I would ask if she had a boyfriend if I wasn’t going to do anything about it?

Good point!

My response was to ask her out.

Local veterinarian Angela Spar, 31, had a similar experience. She casually reminded a guy whom she had met a year before and not seen since that he was supposed to buy her flowers in exchange for a home-cooked dinner. In reply, he sent her a bouquet of white roses, and the two are now married.

“Maybe he just couldn’t read my signals,” suggested Spar. “I really wanted to go on a date!”

Poor Liam McMullan is praying that the girl of his affections is feeling the same way. At a party Wednesday night for “He’s Just Not That Into You,” hosted by The Cinema Society and Stardoll, the 21-year-old son of the legendary nightlife photographer bemoaned waiting the prescribed three days before calling a certain young lady.

“All I want is for her to call me!” he cried.

At the same party, “Gossip Girl” Amanda Setton agreed that some guys are too timid to initiate things with a girl, no matter how much they may be smitten with her.

“I will say, though, that my boyfriend asked for my number and asked me out,” she explained, quick to add that had the invitation not come, she would have made the first move.

“I always play by my own rules,” she said.

If “He’s Just Not That Into You” is right, and that it’s always the guy’s move, then the darkly stunning brunette would have been turned down if she tried asking her boyfriend out first.

I’m having a really hard time believing that.

jsilverman@nypost.com