It’s a movie conversation I’ve had dozens, if not hundreds, of times, quite often in the halls of EW. A woman will ask me if I’ve seen the chick flick that’s about to come out that weekend; I’ll say yes. She’ll ask me what I thought of it, and I’ll say, I didn’t care for it much. (I don’t always say that, of course; I’ve been known to enjoy a few chick flicks in my time. But more often than not, I’ll probably cough up some variation on…not very good.) And then, almost inevitably, she’ll respond with a conspiratorial smile and a variation on the line: “Well, that movie isn’t really for you!”
For a long time, I confess I bristled at that response. I’d think, “Come on! Do you really believe a man can’t like a romantic comedy?” But of course, I wasn’t getting it — I really wasn’t. It took me years to figure out what my female questioner was really saying. Which was: This movie isn’t for you not because men don’t like romantic comedies, but because they don’t like bad romantic comedies.
And women — let’s be honest — do. In fact, I’d wager to say that the cheese factor in a romantic comedy is quite often its secret ingredient. It’s part of what makes romcoms such munchy, fun, guilty-pleasure comfort food.
Take The Ugly Truth. It got horrible reviews (most of them a bit too harsh, if you ask me), but on Friday it racked up $10.7 million at the box office, on the way to a potential weekend gross of roughly $30 million, making it the umpteenth example of a chick flick that woos its core audience a lot more effectively than it does reviewers. Yet right now I’m not so interested in the usual, boring fan/critic audience/elitist disconnect. What I want to know is: How many women went to see The Ugly Truth because they expected it to be terrific? And how many went expecting it to be the cheesy-tacky, horndog-caveman-meets-classy-Barbie cartoon it is, yet almost welcoming the mediocrity?
As that chick-flick goddess Carrie Bradshaw might put it: Are chick flicks good because they’re not good for you? Is the key to what makes a chick flick good…that it’s sort of bad?
Insightful and yet so logical, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. I have been trying to discover the same thing. I am a woman, certainly labeled many-a-time a literary snob (by myself, too, of course). I just don’t understand the fascination, especially with friends who are otherwise so smart. This is a good explanation, though. It also explains why romance novelists can publish much more easily than literary ones.
I’m a woman who does not like most romantic comedies BECAUSE I know they’ll be mediocre and cheesy. Plot hole Owen. ^^
That’s a bit flawed because the way you wrote your article puts all women in the group of “loves romantic movies.” For example, that’s like asking all men what they expect out of sci-fi movies. Not all men love that type of genre.
Its the wrong answer. I went to see the Ugly Truth and liked it a lot but wasn’t suprived because I think reviewers invariably down grade romantic comedies and upgrade action films (the awful Transformers…) Possibly because they are mostly male but also because of some kind of snobbery that says that technical skill is inherently worthwhile and emotion just isn’t. Hence my not believing reviewers except for the oscar bait films…
are you saying that transformers got good reviews (aside from EW)?
Firstly, transformers was awesome. secondly I see chickflicks because they are unrealistic. why the heck would I want to go see something I deal with everyday. I want to go, see people get hurt and then make up in a beautiful ending where the girl gets the guy of her dreams or vice versa. Keep reality in my drama’s Im all for the unrealistic in my chick flicks.
Maybe women are just as non-discerning as men when it comes to crappy studio fare directed at them–lots of women go see Ugly Truth and lots of guys go see Transformers. Most people will see a bunch of crap whether they are women or men.
An alternate explanation would be that there are so few movies geared towards women that women will see even the crappiest film that doesn’t have robots turning into or cars or vice versa.
Well, I’m a girl and I don’t like romantic comedies. My friends hate me for it because I always refuse to see them (they went to see The Ugly Truth last night as a matter of fact and I proptly declined). I understand you’re point, but I think you are quick to lump all women together; a lot of women out there may enjoy crappy romcoms, but certainly not all!
Please. He nailed it. Girls like these awful movies and no straight man would willingly go see one if not for his gf/spouse/etc. If you’re a girl, and you don’t like cheesy romantic comedies, you’re in the minority.
I went to see it with two of my girlfriends last night, and we all loved it. I probably won’t be tempted to go pick up the DVD when it comes out, but it was harmless fun. I’ve never really thought about it, but I think I do occasionally welcome a cheesy rom-com. I wasn’t expecting a touching romance or a laugh-so-hard-I-cry comedy, but I was entertained.
I hate romantic comedies and yet feel compelled to watch EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. I think they’re all offal and predictable and cheesy. Therefore, all I need are two leads I enjoy. It’s that simple. They’re all horrible, so just give me some likeable people. There are exceptions to this. Some romantic comedies I truly find enjoyable (see: 10 Things I Hate About You) and some that truly offend me as a woman (see: Made of Honor and Bride Wars). I’ll go see The Ugly Truth, despite bad reviews, because Gerard Butler is pretty and charming and I like Katherine Heigl.
That is very true though some of the other comments are right to some degree – there are exceptions. I’m a chick and there have only been two or three romantic comedies I’ve seen that I genuinely enjoyed (Harry and Sally, for example). But I don’t think critics upgrade action movies – Transformers 2 was utterly RIPPED apart by critics. Honestly, girls will have their bad rom-coms and guys will have their brainless, stupidity-laden action flicks (cough Michael Bay). There’s no one-upping the other gender’s bad taste when it comes to movies.
@Good question but: I’m a girl who enjoys a well-done romantic comedy as well. The Ugly Truth was not good. The difference between action movies and romantic comedies is that action movies generally don’t talk down to/patronize their target demographic. That’s why romantic comedies generally elicit more scorn from male and female critics alike.
I absolutely agree with you.
Girls want feel good movies, there’s nothing wrong with that. For example, I hated “he’s just not that into you” because it did not make me feel good. Infact, it made me feel terrible. Women want to be inspired- we want hope. We want the girl to get the guy. It would be like if guys went to an action flick where no one died, and nothing blew up. What’s the fun in that?
In general, I find that about 80% of professional reviewers cannot understand (let alone review well) any science fiction movies. Likewise, I find the other problematic category is the chic flick, were about 90% of men and about half of women clearly just do not understand the function of a chick flick and therefore cannot review it well. For scifi and chick flicks, I completely ignore reviewers (public tracking is a better, but far from infallible estimate). I can;t tell you how many scifi movie that were panned in the press that I’ve seen that were completely brilliant (and obviously totally over the reviewer’s heads), and though the number is smaller, the same can be said for chickflicks.
i don’t know, i would have to disagree, what about Marley and Me ?? is that considered, a Chick flick, and i personally don’t care for that title that they give the movies, i think its a personal choice, some guys do like those movies, just some like girls/women luv action/sci-fi movie, i for one, could never really get into the Star War or Alien movies EVER!!! But hey i am not knocking them, i luv the so called “Chick flicks” tho alot of them are silly, but as i said it is all a personal choice in what we like