chick flicks

[winterbadger]

A friends mentioned the concept of chick flicks in her journal and said "I suppose you could call it a chick flick, if your main criteria is that the main characters are female."

Judging from popular usage, I think it's not only that the main characters are women, but that the characters discuss their relationships with words* and that the balance between sex** and romance, if either are present, is weighted towards the latter.


* Men are reputed to not appreciate or be comfortable with relationships. I think this isn't really the case as that men prefer to deal with relationship issues in oblique or symbolic terms rather than discuss them in concrete terms. War movies, the classic 'guy' genre, are generally chock-full of very deep and complex relationships--it's just that they are created and sustained more by action and nuance than by extended explication and discussion. I'm not sure where this aesthetic of minimalism comes from, except that I suspect a fear of vulnerability is at the root of it. Talk things out, and you could get hurt by letting someone else know too much about yourself. Keep it simple and enigmatic and primarily about action rather than discussion, and you can (a) minimise your exposure and (b) divert attention to the object of action if you get hurt and fear you have revealed too much about yourself. Plus it gives you more opportunity to laugh ti all off as a joke (again, if you're feeling exposed and vulnerable.)

** sex = Discussion of, implication of, or actual depiction of. I know many guys who do not watch chick flicks who would think that *any* sex in a film would disqualify it as a chick flick. They are the same guys, IME, who think that women don't actually enjoy sex but engage in it just to be nice to or to control their male partners. IOW, guys who don't actually understand women very well.

Likewise, I think there are some women who think guys aren't into romance. They are; it just needs to be mostly in very symbolic or active form. There are lots of romances in, for instance, John Wayne movies, and they're not there only to make them more appealing to women. Guys are into love and passion as much as gals; they just have an easier time handling it being expressed in action and competition. The Quiet Man is a great example (with the bonus that a really popular 18th century song and military march-_The Rakes of Mallow--gets used as the primary musical motif).

Comments

[wolfette]

And some guys think that women don't like action movies - which isn't true at all. We just like a coherent storyline with our action.

[winterbadger]

Indeed. Very good point.

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

I myself think men are MUCH more romantic in their minds than women are. They may not talk about it, but it's inside them. Women are, when all is said and done, realists. I once heard a saying that the difference between men and women is that men marry their partner hoping they will never change while women marry their partner in expectation of changing them.

[nosebeepbear.livejournal.com]

I was once involved in a chick-flick watching event in which the definition was "anything with Brad Pitt." Which makes Fight Club, 12 Monkeys and Snatch all chick flicks. Just sayin' :).

it's just that they are created and sustained more by action and nuance than by extended explication and discussion

All my favorite movie relationships (romantic or otherwise) have this characteristic. If you can work in the vulnerable bit too (which doesn't require talking), that works even better for me. The Bourne Identity has one of the strongest romantic connections I've ever seen in film, with very few words.

[winterbadger]

the difference between men and women is that men marry their partner hoping they will never change while women marry their partner in expectation of changing them.

Ha! That's a pretty entertaining apothegm! And trenchant too...

a side note

[nosebeepbear.livejournal.com]

I've tried and tried to like the Quiet Man. It has some great scenes, and fabulous music, and it's one of my mom's favorites so I've seen it a few times. But I always come out of it feeling like the message is "women are idiots". Or maybe it's "men are willing to ignore their core principles when women act like idiots"? *shrug*.

[winterbadger]

Which makes Fight Club, 12 Monkeys and Snatch all chick flicks. Just sayin' :).

And Mr & Mrs Smith. :-)

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

I, on the other hand, am experienced now enough to know that changing is not necessarily a good thing, so I now look for someone who is pretty well formed already and if I like what's going on, that's who I choose (as you know, I've been doing a little window shopping recently).

[winterbadger]

(as you know, I've been doing a little window shopping recently).

Sounds like it. :-)

A novelist I know had a character (drawn in large part on herself, I think) say of her husband (again, I think very autobiographical) that he changed over time, to the point that every ten years or so she had to acknowledge that this was just a fundamentally different person from the man he'd been before, and they had to work out if their marriage would keep working.

That makes for, on one level, a deeply insightful sounding reflection for an older character. But on reflection (over the years), I begin to wonder who really changes *that* drastically that often? Other than people with severe mental illness? I can beleive someone who matures and changes a lot from 18 to 80 (I think, and certainly hope, that I've changed a good bit since I was a callow teenager), but someone who changes fundamentally *numerous* times between 20 and 60? That sounds a bit disturbing.

[wolfette]

MAJOR chick flick that one!

(well, this chick was hooked *g*)

Military Films...

[zornhau.livejournal.com]

...like MilSF and MilHist are often workplace yarns, I think.

Re: Military Films...

[winterbadger]

Sorry, I'm not sure I understand the comment.

[winterbadger]

Yes, but I think we've established that you're a singular "chick"! :-)