Zohra Sadat
ECI 430
Paul Harvey Rough Draft
Vain. Conceited. Cougars. Clueless. Heartless. Humorless. These are all adjectives that describe women in romantic comedies. To an innocent bystander (or movie-goer), romantic comedies seem pretty harmless; it has the usual story of a boy and a girl falling in love but not without some conveniently comedic drama that eventually results in them living happily ever after. I used to be one of those naïve girls that found these movies to be purely innocent and entertaining. That was until I closely watched how women were portrayed in these films and my naïveté slowly faded away.
Romantic comedies are supposed to be funny, hence the name of the genre, but women in these movies are not funny. Well, they are not funny in the sense like “hahaha, that woman is so funny”; it’s more like “hahaha, that woman’s insecurities make her so funny.” It is always the male characters in these films that get the most laughs. These guys are witty, happy-go-lucky fellows that are so lovable that one can’t help not laughing at their jokes. The women, on the other hand, are humorless zombies that only garner a few laughs because of their flaws and insecurities. Not only are they not funny, but they also make sure to never laugh or understand the male characters’ jokes. To them, the jokes are disgusting, sexist, or just plain unfunny.
Knocked Up is a film about a poor schlub having a one night stand with the girl of his dreams. The poor schlub is basically the hero of this film, while the pretty girl is the complete opposite. The men in this movie are hilarious, while of course, the women were lacking in this department. The male characters were likable, relatable humans, whereas the females were cold-hearted robots (Knocked Up, 2007). Therefore, women in this movie are depicted as uptight, humorless, no-feeling zombies. The guys on the other hand, are funny, witty, down-to-earth characters.
Sex and the City is a movie based off the popular series by the same name that features four forty-something year olds trying to find love and happiness in New York City. I enjoyed watching the series because it encouraged women to be independent and ignored the traditional female roles. The film, though, makes it seem like all women want is to find a good man and then they are set for life. Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s great for women to find their “Prince Charming”, but why is it that women can only feel fulfilled and satisfied when they have a man in their life. Take Carrie for example. She’s a successful columnist and fashionista and has great girlfriends that she can always rely on. But now all of sudden, she feels that she has to get married, even though she was opposed to it before. Speaking of her friends, one of them is an oversexed cougar who is sabotaging her own relationship, the other is a Step-ford wife, and the red-head is a workaholic, who doesn’t even notice her own marriage is falling apart (Sex and the City, 2008). So based off of this movie, women need a man in their life to feel complete, they are never satisfied even when things are going smoothly, they are perfect traditional housewives, and they are workaholics who get cheated on. This movie knocks out about 4 stereotypes within just 2 hours.
He’s Just Not That Into You is another film that depicts women in unflattering ways. The main female character is Gigi, a clueless, desperate woman willing to be with any guy. She wants Mr. Right, but she’s getting guys that are Mr. Right-Now. Her friend, Janine, is a woman who is too preoccupied with her new house that her husband finds solace with another woman. Janine’s friend, Beth is adamant about marriage, even though her boyfriend is not too keen to walk down the aisle. So what does she do? She breaks up with him, but then figures she will change her whole mentality just to get her man back (He’s Just Not That Into You, 2009). This movie suggests that women are desperate, overworked, and easily-changeable beings with no minds of their own.
But now for the rest of the story…
Women claim to watch romantic comedies because of the entertainment factor. But it could actually be very detrimental to them. According to some researchers, romantic comedies can give women “unrealistic and potentially unhealthy expectations about real life relationships (The Notting Hill Effect, 2009). The problem is that after watching these movies, many women started to believe in predestined love and perfect relationships. To them, there shouldn’t be work involved in making a relationship work. People are more influenced by the media than they know it. They need to be more critical about the messages that are being depicted in the films in order to not set themselves up for disappointment (The Notting Hill Effect, 2009).
Women make up the majority audience for romantic comedies, even though these movies portray them in a negative fashion, but that doesn’t seem to stop them. Why would women endorse these films even though they are butchering the entire female gender? We as in women need to stand up for our rights and stop this discrimination against us. It is basically reinforcing negative stereotypes and teaching our youth that this type of behavior from women is acceptable, when in reality it is not. Romantic comedies make it seem that it is either the shoes or the man that define women. But women should be able to define themselves.
Zohra, as I have noted in my comments, I like where you are going with this piece. I do think, however, that you need to add to your early discussion. Consider including how Sex and the City served as a model for women everywhere.. (i.e. shoes, clothing, cosmpolitans…) Then when you switch to the irony, (which is that women are emulating these seemingly innocent role models when in reality it is these very movies that are harming the self-esteem and independency of women. Also, I think that you might want to narrow your perspective and only include women in the US…just something to think about…
Works Cited
Derbyshire, David.2009. The Notting Hill Effect: How romantic comedies can harm your love life.DailyMail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1095106/The-Notting-Hill-effect-How-romantic-comedies-harm-love-life.html
Greg Berendht.He’s just not that into you.DVD.Directed by Ken Kwapis.Baltimore, Maryland: New Line Cinemas,2009.
Judd Apatow.Knocked Up.DVD.Directed by Judd Apatow.Los Angeles, California: Universal Pictures, 2007.
Michael Patrick King.Sex and the City.DVD.Directed by Michael Patrick King.New York, New York: Warner Bros Pictures,2008.