# Chick flick movie posters - the back-to-back pose **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 20, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070 "2009-05-20T14:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/1 "2009-05-20T14:55:31Z")
You know, the two stars leaning against each other’s backs, amused looks on faces. Like [Pretty Woman](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3344145664/tt0100405), rom-coms featuring [Matthew](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1778359552/tt0251127) [McConaughey](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm669289216/tt0821640), that kind of thing. It’s a cliché now, but I’m wondering who started it… ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/2 "2009-05-20T15:09:19Z")
“Now stay tuned for an all-new episode of _Crossarmed Opposites_!” -most recent episode of _Family Guy_ ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/3 "2009-05-20T15:28:11Z")
[This one](http://www.movieposterdb.com/poster/1692f937)’s from 1938 and they’re back-to-back (sorta). But the first one I can find that’s most like the OP is [this](http://www.flickr.com/photos/kategabrielle/3296405189/), from 1949. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/4 "2009-05-20T15:38:02Z")
Funny, I looked up [Adam’s Rib](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam%27s_Rib) during the extensive research I conducted prior to posting the OP, but Wikipedia has a different poster. But yes, that is a good example. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/5 "2009-05-20T15:41:41Z")
I think a lot of them are just, well, copying _Pretty Woman_. Movie posters… sometimes it’s shocking how much money and time is put into a film only to have posters produced by, it seems, a teenager taking Photoshop 101. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/6 "2009-05-20T15:43:07Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > [But the first one I can find that’s most like the OP is [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/kategabrielle/3296405189/]this](http://www.movieposterdb.com/poster/1692f937), from 1949. That one’s a student project, not a studio poster. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/7 "2009-05-20T15:52:00Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > That one’s a student project, not a studio poster. Whup! You’re right. [Here](http://www.sondheimguide.com/porter/graphics/smadams.jpg)’s an original use of the photo (for sheet music from the movie). Given that they typically did illustrations and not photographs for one-sheets back then, they may have used this photo as a template for an illustration on a poster, but I can’t say they did with certainty. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/8 "2009-05-20T15:55:12Z")
[Here](http://english.eastday.com/e/ics/images/01482685.jpg)’s another film, from 1955. They’re not back to back, but their backs are, er, facing each other, with them looking at each other over each of their own shoulders. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/9 "2009-05-20T15:57:22Z")
This looks pretty early; don’t know the exact date, but almost certainly before 1938: [![](https://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f377/classicmm/LaurelHardy1.jpg) ](https://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f377/classicmm/LaurelHardy1.jpg) Well, there are only so many ways to show two stars in a vertically-oriented rectangular poster, after all: [![](http://mymovies.ws/picture/pic1695.jpg) ](http://mymovies.ws/picture/pic1695.jpg) [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/Where\_the\_Heart\_Is\_film.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/Where_the_Heart_Is_film.jpg) And not just chick flicks, either: [http://www.akirashiro.com/craigslist/red%20heat.jpg](http://www.akirashiro.com/craigslist/red%20heat.jpg) [http://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/25/A70-12829](http://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/25/A70-12829) [![](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51D60Q7W0KL._SL500.jpg) ](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51D60Q7W0KL._SL500.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/10 "2009-05-20T17:49:06Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > This looks pretty early; don’t know the exact date, but almost certainly before 1938: > > [http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f377/classicmm/LaurelHardy1.jpg](http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f377/classicmm/LaurelHardy1.jpg) > > Well, there are only so many ways to show two stars in a vertically-oriented rectangular poster, after all: > > [http://mymovies.ws/picture/pic1695.jpg](http://mymovies.ws/picture/pic1695.jpg) > [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/Where\_the\_Heart\_Is\_film.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f9/Where_the_Heart_Is_film.jpg) > > And not just chick flicks, either: > > [http://www.akirashiro.com/craigslist/red%20heat.jpg](http://www.akirashiro.com/craigslist/red%20heat.jpg) > [http://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/25/A70-12829](http://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/25/A70-12829) > [http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51D60Q7W0KL.\_SL500.jpg](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51D60Q7W0KL._SL500.jpg) Except for the Laurel and Hardy and the Two Weeks Notice (which is a chick flick) I don’t think the rest fit the OP. Which is two people literally back to back _touching_ and not superimposed. I think the whole idea behind using it in chick flicks is that it fits the standard formula of “man and woman are at odds the whole movie but eventually fall in love at the end”. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/11 "2009-05-20T20:37:32Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I think the whole idea behind using it in chick flicks is that it fits the standard formula of “man and woman are at odds the whole movie but eventually fall in love at the end”. [I blame A View To A Kill.](http://www.cinemasterpieces.com/viewtokilladvanceb.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/12 "2009-05-20T21:58:33Z")
[Ahem.](http://www.cracked.com/blog/matthew-mcconaugheys-next-10-movies/) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/13 "2009-05-21T02:03:57Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > [Ahem.](http://www.cracked.com/blog/matthew-mcconaugheys-next-10-movies/) Curse you. \*Curse you!!! :mad: \* :: shakes fist :: ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick-movie-posters-the-back-to-back-pose/497070/14 "2009-05-21T02:42:20Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > [I blame A View To A Kill.](http://www.cinemasterpieces.com/viewtokilladvanceb.jpg) Blegh! What the hell was EVER Grace Jones’ appeal???