Hi. My name is Dinsdale. I am 45 years old, male, and heterosexual. And I like chick flicks. Whether they are teen flicks like my most recently watched She’s the Man, aimed at a slightly more mature audience like Devil Wears Prada, or hisorical dramas like the Jane Austen film of the season.
Sure, the first two genres are usually quite predictable, and won’t change your life. But I have to admit I really appreciate one aspect of the predictability - they are usually good for 1 1/2 hours of light entertainment. Boy meets girl, girl meets boy, and then confusion, angst, hijinks, and hilarity ensues. You know there will be some attractive members of both genders, at least a few lines/situations you will find quite funny, some villians you love to hate, and a snappy soundtrack.
And you know that in the end good will conquer evil and someone will learn a valuable lesson, thereby becoming a better person.
The historical costume dramas will often feature good casts, interesting scenery, and generally intelligent dialogue. And someone learns a lesson, good generally triumphs, etc…
I don’t want to suggest that there is no place for film that demands more of the viewer. But far more often if I am standing in the video store, I have to decide whether I want to take the chance at something that may really affect me - tho it may well be challenging or emotionally draining. And the flip side is, a goodly percentage of films that aim high - miss the mark. Or do I g for disposable entertainment that will leave me with a pleasant yet unfocused feeling after a couple of hours later. Kind of like the Krispy Kremes of fine pastry.
So, I just wanted to come out of the closet and admit that I’m a big old chick flick liker.
I absolutely loathe chick flicks . . . except for Under The Tuscan Sun. I can’t help it. It kind of mirrors my life with getting away from an awful relationship way back when, only instead of buying a villa in Tuscany, I joined the army.
I also met the love of my life in the army, just like Frances meets hers in Italy . . . So yeah, I really like it, but that’s the only chick flick I don’t actually hate.
BTW, I saw my first chick flick way before I knew they existed. It was How To Make An American Quilt, and to this day, I remember getting all squicked out about it.
Back in my book publishing days, I edited a seriously hard-boiled writer of thrillers and private eye novels who also happened to be a huge movie buff. We used to swap stories and recommendations of *films noirs * and other manly entertainments over cigars and whiskey.
One day he referenced some Bette Davis flick – The Letter, probably – and I admitted that I’d never spent much time with the Grand Ladies of the Silver Screen.
He punched me in the nose, then sent me out to rent Greta Garbo’s Queen Christina (1933). Great stuff…and now I regularly pick up films with Crawford, Davis, Garbo, and all the other biggies.
My favorite is probably Maedchen in Uniform (1931) – all-female cast; written, directed, produced by women – subject matter: sexual discovery at a girls’ boarding school. Can’t get much more of a “chick flick” than that.
I liked “Serendipity.” I even bought it on DVD (on the cheap rack, admittedly). There’s something about that movie, about the hope that one day that perfect person really will be there. Lovely. Plus, that woman’s got a beautiful English accent.
“Enchanted April” was a good movie, too — quite apart from having Jim Broadbent, Alfred Molina, Miranda Richardson, and Joan Plowright acting their butts off.
And yes, I liked “Sense and Sensibility” and “Much Ado About Nothing,” too.
Dunno if I could enjoy a steady diet of the weepy my-sister-with-inoperable-cancer-died-in-childbirth-on-the-anniversary-of-my-divorce-type films.
I can’t say I like them per se, but a large percentage of my favourite movies would be classified as such. Shakespeare in Love, Both Bridget Jones movies, Tsui Hark’s Green Snake(well, it has chicks in it, anyway), Bend it like Beckham, The totally awesome Bride and prejudice…
Fuckin’ SHIT…Shakespeare does NOT do CHICK FLICKS.
Take it from me, I spent last night watching Roman Polanski’s Macbeth. Blood and guts everywhere; produced by Hugh Hefner (!!!); sleepwalk scene performed nekkid.
I think great melodrama has universal things to say about society, the human condition (re: emotions, sacrifice, love, regret), and gender roles and expectations in society. Some of our greatest filmmakers specialized in melodrama centered around a woman’s experience: Ingmar Bergman, Frank Borzage, Douglas Sirk, Kenji Mizoguchi, Michelangelo Antonioni, Josef von Sternberg, Max Ophuls, R.W. Fassbinder, Eric Rohmer, George Cukor. Many of their films are masterpieces, especially the ones that can be reductively called “chick flicks”.
For me, a genuine “chick flick” has no emotional resonance, no genuine heartbeat. Being predictable isn’t bad, but showing zero invention in taking the audience along this trajectory is. Most pander to their audience, indulging in feel-good moments that aren’t true to their characters. I don’t demand “realism” per se, but I do expect a certain amount of emotional honesty, and for me, a “chick flick” always takes the easy way out–cutting corners for a quick, manipulative “high” vs. having an ending (happy or sad) that feels like it has real dramatic weight. This applies just as much (or even more) to comedies as it does to drama. For me, even the lightest chick flick can never be “fun” if it insults my intelligence or cloyingly compromises on its initial promise. But if it delivers on multiple cylinders–both funny and heartfelt–then they stop being "chick flick"s.
I can’t understand why “chick flick” is a pejorative. Surely there’s room in our moviegoing to enjoy a movie dealing with relationships and emotions, just as there’s room for action/adventure or dumb comedy.
I have no problems seeing films about relations and women and romance, and thought things like Mean Girls, Just Lke Heaven, The Matchmaker, and Little Woman were good films. Shakespear in Love is one of the best films of the past ten years, and, next to Crash, the most deserving Best Picture Oscar winner.
I am a 24 year old straight male, and I too like Chick Flicks. And, I am unashamed to say, I have seen a number of them enough times that they can be on as background or I can stumble across them on television, and I will know exactly what is going on.
I particularly like much of Reese Witherspoon’s rom-com oeuvre, especially Legally Blonde and Sweet Home Alabama. (obviously, two of her stronger roles, Election and Freeway, are decidedly not chick flicks)
And of course, the quintessential chick flick chick is Meg Ryan. When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, and the weepy City of Angels.
I am proud to admit an unabashed love of one chick flick in particular, and one of the less known ones, It Could Happen To You.
I was so lucky in the three years I dated someone platonically, going to a movie each week, that he loved chick flicks as much as I did. We saw all the action/adventrue sci-fi cop stuff too, but with that nice balance of fluff and feel-good-ness.
