# Has there ever been a romance movie that appealed to a primarily male audience? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536 "2010-07-30T01:38:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/21 "2010-07-30T03:02:38Z")
Swingers. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/22 "2010-07-30T03:03:52Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Good example. I’d say _Chasing Amy_ also, but I’m sure many viewers would find the “lesbian-falls-in-love-with-straight-guy” context to be chauvanistic or just ridiculous. There is a good bit in the film explaining that away, though. I’ve seen it happen in real life. Women seem to have a more fluid sexuality than men. An example you’ve probably seen is straight women getting drunk and making out with each other. If not all straight women are 0s on the Kinsey scale, it makes sense that not all lesbian women would be 6s. Possible spoiler about a character in the film: Plus, the [wiki synopsis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chasing_Amy#Plot) indicates that Alyssa definitely isn’t a 6. She had experimented a lot. ---
**Author:** ![valleyofthedolls](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a4c791/32.png) [@valleyofthedolls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/valleyofthedolls)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/23 "2010-07-30T03:04:48Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > For the most part it seems porn is for men and romance movies are for women. Is there an exception to the rule? > > I would have narrowed the topic down to romance movies that appeal primarily to _straight_ men but I doubt even that is necessary, as I’d be willing to bet a gay romance like _Brokeback Mountain_ still had a larger female than male audience. One more. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/24 "2010-07-30T03:11:48Z")
_Chasing Amy_ copped out by making her bisexual. She wasn’t really a lesbian. ---
**Author:** ![dukette71](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@dukette71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dukette71)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/25 "2010-07-30T03:14:38Z")
The Princess Bride ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/26 "2010-07-30T03:18:50Z")
_Jerry Maguire_ is another one. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/27 "2010-07-30T03:36:21Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > > [@valleyofthedolls](#): > > > > > [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > > > > > I’m guessing you are looking for movies that specifically in the romance genre - not “horror movies with a love story” or “sports movies with a love story” etc… > > > > I understood what the OP was looking for and my answer still stands. The Fly is first and foremost a love story. > > Yeah but you wouldn’t find it in the Romance section of the video store. 🙂 Also, Cronenberg’s version of **The Fly** has too high a “squick” factor to appeal to most women. Then there’s the fact that many feminist critics cite this movie and \*\*Dead Ringers \*\*as proof that David Cronenberg is one of the more misogynistic film directors working today. (Of course, YMMV on that latter point.) Anyway, as for movies that fit the OP’s criteria, there’s **High Fidelity**. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/28 "2010-07-30T03:37:11Z")
Groundhog Day. I think it is a romantic movie, but most women I know don’t like it. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/29 "2010-07-30T04:04:46Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > “Bull Durham.” My husband watches it pretty much every year. Ok, I could get behind that, and I don’t even like baseball. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2010, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/30 "2010-07-30T06:32:31Z")
My favourite romantic movie is _Ever After_, but I don’t think I am a typical male fan. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/31 "2010-07-30T06:53:01Z")
Romance movies used to made to appeal to both men and women. Examples include _It Happened One Night_, _The Philadelphia Story_, _The Apartment_ and _From Here to Eternity_, and also all those romantic musicals. Somewhere around the eighties Hollywood romances fell into a formula based on wish fulfillment for women. These newer romances are often designed to flatter the egos of female viewers and tend to treat men like objects, similar to how porn treats women as sex objects. Not all newer romantic movies are like that, but a large proportion are. Some of the ones that get away from this formula are disguised as something else - a lot of Judd Apatow movies (such as _Knocked Up_ and _The 40-Year-Old Virgin_) are romances at the core while masquerading as idiot comedies. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/32 "2010-07-30T07:09:13Z")
Casablanca. The girl goes home with another guy after they have sex one last time. Even women like this movie. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/33 "2010-07-30T07:13:30Z")
Grosse point Blank is the greatest romantic film ever made. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/34 "2010-07-30T08:08:28Z")
In Japanese manga, a fair number of the shonen (boys) titles have a romantic element. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/35 "2010-07-30T11:34:54Z")
_The African Queen._ Romance, leeches, and an explosion. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/36 "2010-07-30T12:22:55Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > “Bull Durham.” My husband watches it pretty much every year. This is what I was going to say. It’s a romantic comedy disguised as a sports movie. But that hasn’t kept me from watching it about 67 times. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/37 "2010-07-30T12:25:28Z")
> [@dukette71](#): > > The Princess Bride This is what I came in to say. I have heard that men are surprised to hear women like it because it’s an action flick with pirates, and women are surprised to hear men like it because it’s a romance film. Makes everybody happy. Mawwiage! ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/38 "2010-07-30T12:28:07Z")
_Top Gun_ ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4bbf92/32.png) [@Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Hamsandwich)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/39 "2010-07-30T13:05:17Z")
_ **Beautiful Girls** _ always struck a chord with me. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536/40 "2010-07-30T13:45:31Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > Brian’s Song? This is what I came in here to say. I think it works. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-there-ever-been-a-romance-movie-that-appealed-to-a-primarily-male-audience/548536.md?page=3)