# Chick flick **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2000, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick/42610 "2000-11-25T02:40:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick/42610/21 "2000-11-26T23:04:41Z")
_The Patriot_ lost its shot at being a chick flick because it kept missing opportunities for Mel to remove his shirt (e.g. each time his shirt got severely blood-splattered). ---
**Author:** ![Doubleclick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Doubleclick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubleclick)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick/42610/22 "2000-11-26T23:09:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Oblong \* > \*\*a chick flick is any movie with Gwyneth Paltrow or centered on a mother/daughter relationship. > > The closest guy equivalent would be Field of Dreams. \*\* Or ANYTHING with Julia Roberts. (The move she made with Morgan Freeman and the other with Mel excepted.) ---
**Author:** ![Doubleclick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Doubleclick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubleclick)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick/42610/23 "2000-11-26T23:11:46Z")
As per the AMC Movie Theater adds: Guy: “Yeah, but does it have boobies in it?” ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick/42610/24 "2000-11-27T02:38:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sue Duhnym \* > \*\*Shakespeare? Probably a chick flick. > \*\* Yes, _Titus_ and _Hamlet_ were real girly-girl movies. Not to mention _Othello_. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick/42610/25 "2000-11-27T02:47:29Z")
If the flick has Chris O’Donnell it’s usually on the chick side. Don’t let _Vertical Limit_fool you. He’s been trying to get back into any kind of movie ever since Ben Affleck made him obsolete. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick/42610/26 "2000-11-27T04:00:49Z")
While _Chick Flick_ is a useful category, I do think it is limited. For one thing, it doesn’t distinguish a fairly good Chick Flick like _Sleepless in Seattle_ from a very bad one like _Message in a Bottle_. There are a lot of gradations within the Chick Flick genre. Apologists for Chick Flicks often insinuate that these films are actually of a higher quality than the mindless crap usually dished out by Hollywood. In fact, this is rarely true. In most cases, it’s just a different kind of mindless crap. _Chick Flicks_ are also sometimes naively characterized as those which are about genuine human emotion. But, there are many films such as _Taxi Driver_ or _Smoke_ which deliver compelling portraits of human emotions, but which would not be called _Chick Flicks_. Furthermore, the emotions expressed in _Chick Flicks_ are often not all that genuine. Some may blithely dismiss any Tear-Jerker as a _Chick Flick_, but this is by no means definitive, because there have been a number of male-oriented tear-jerkers made – _The Cowboys_, _The Deer Hunter_, _Shane_, _Taps_, _Saving Private Ryan_. I’ve even known some people to take a feminist stance on _Chick Flicks_ – that they are films in which women have voices, are empowered, etc. But this would actually be a short list of films. Most of what are called _Chick Flicks_ are minted in pure patriarchy. Some, like _Sleepless in Seattle_, merely capitalize on female stereotypes. Others, like _My Best Friend’s Wedding_, divide women into Scheming Bitches and Supliant Princesses. And nothing says a woman’s place is her home quite like a domestic drama from the Lifetime Network, where you can catch films with titles like _Murderer in my Bed_, _Her Father’s Past_ or _Don’t Call that Woman “Mommy”_. I’m not sure this answers your question. What was it again? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick/42610/27 "2000-11-27T04:20:56Z")
I seem to recall that the first movie that I saw had ‘chick flick’ attached to it as a description was ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’. That year also had ‘Thelma and Louise’ I think. In fact, it may have been a good solid year of ‘chick flicks’. ---
**Author:** ![zen101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c68b51/32.png) [@zen101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zen101)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick/42610/28 "2000-11-27T22:49:45Z")
I think the definition of a “chick flick” depends on the individual. To me a chick flick is a movie that I will only watch because it will probably get me laid. “Female Perversions” is an example of a movie that my viewing **earned** me the post-cinematic sex. Horrible, horrible movie. On the other hand I thoroughly enjoy movies that have no guns/titties/robots and lots of genuine emotion just as long as I can relate to some part of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick/42610/29 "2000-11-28T02:19:33Z")
One accurate description of the difference between guy movies and chick flicks that I heard recently: “Women enjoy stories about one person dying slowly. Men enjoy stories about lots of people dying quickly.” ---
**Author:** ![BigGiantHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b4bc9f/32.png) [@BigGiantHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigGiantHead)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2000, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick/42610/30 "2000-11-28T03:19:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sue Duhnym \* > **Shakespeare? Probably a chick flick.** _William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet_ from Baz Luhrmann a few years back was a tough one to categorize here. I mean, a fairly high body count. Plus, have a few more guns in it? (I loved these - close up on a nickel-plated handgun engraved ‘Sword 9mm’. Classic.) By way of defining what is _not_ a ‘chick flick,’ my ex used to categorically denigrate any movie where the poster or video box showed someone holding a gun. I eventually ‘got’ her with _Matrix_. “Ha! You liked it, and _they’re ALL holding guns!_” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chick-flick/42610.md?page=1)