# What is a Chick Flick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 9, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782 "2005-07-09T21:21:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/1 "2005-07-09T21:21:44Z")
Of course I know what a Chick Flick is, but today Mrs. Fear and I disagreed, so I leave it to the Teeming Millions. I say any romantic comedy, or romantic drama that centers primarily on human emotions and relationships is a Chick Flick. Anything with lasers, explosions or rocket ships is not a Chick Flick. But Mrs. Fear says [_Fever Pitch_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332047/) is not a Chick Flick, by virtue of the fact that is has baseball in it. Now clearly, a romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore is a Chick Flick; does the incidental inclusion of a sports background change that? ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/2 "2005-07-09T21:34:31Z")
Haven’t seen _Fever Pitch_, but I know what it’s generally about. The key question is this: Are the actual rules of baseball important to the plot? And if so, are they explained, or is it assumed that the audience already knows what they are? My impression, by the way, was that _Fever Pitch_ is a stone-cold Chick Flick. Isn’t it about her getting him to stop obsessing about baseball so much and find room in his life for love, or something like that? ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/3 "2005-07-09T22:50:26Z")
Sorry, it’s chick flick. The focus is the relationship drama, not the baseball. None of the 007 movies become chick flickified when Bond seduces a girl, right? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/4 "2005-07-09T22:57:33Z")
Um, _A League of Their Own_ is a quintessential Chick Flick, and it features baseball rather predominantly. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/5 "2005-07-09T23:28:43Z")
Is Bull Durham a Chick Flick. 'Cause no matter what it is, it shore am good. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/6 "2005-07-09T23:40:53Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Um, _A League of Their Own_ is a quintessential Chick Flick, and it features baseball rather predominantly. But that is a different category of Chick Flick because the story revolves around women who are taking steps to make their own lives better. Empowerment is another Chick Flick theme. See also “Thelma and Louise” and “Norma Rae”. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/7 "2005-07-09T23:45:36Z")
Well, here’s a list to start with from the kids at MST3K: [[Mike]Hey Crow, the video store called.They have that copy of ‘Men Don’t Leave’ they’ve been saving for you! [/MN]](http://www.mst3kinfo.com/ward_e/Bit516.html) ---
**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:** [July 10, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/8 "2005-07-10T00:01:37Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > I say any romantic comedy, or romantic drama that centers primarily on human emotions and relationships is a Chick Flick. It’s a matter of degree. The ultimate Chick Flick is one that appeals only to chicks. It’s wrong to assume men have zero interest in romance, human emotions, and relationships. A movie that explores such things from the male point of view (e.g. _High Fidelity_) is not a Chick Flick, or at least not all that much of one. But in a hardcore Chick Flick, these things are always presented strictly from the female point of view. Any men are either unsympathetic or one-dimensional—the other side of the coin from manly movies in which women are just there as eye candy, damsels in distress, etc. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/9 "2005-07-10T00:09:13Z")
I would argue that a “Chick flick” is a movie that is designed and marketed specifically to appeal to female moviegoers. “Thelma and Louise” was not a true Chick Flick; while it appealed to women and was about women, it was more of a Kick Ass Bitches Movie - Note the prominent use of guns and a big explosion in the trailers - in the same group as “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” or “Aliens,” which is a different kind of movie that invites men to enjoy lots of high-quality ass-kicking, the twist being that it’s chicks who are kicking the asses. (Actually, Thelma and Louise was about half Kick Ass Bitches Movie, and half Standard American Road Movie.) “Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants” is a true Chick Flick, since it’s clear that from a marketing standpoint they aren’t even pretending to try to entice men to see it; the film is exclusively aimed at women, and if some drag their boyfriends along that’s just gravy. Consequently, I would have to argue that “Fever Pitch” is not a Chick Flick. While it was primarily about romance and relationships, the film clearly was marketed to both men and women. Note that much of the second half of the trailer is baseball scenes, such as crowds cheering or David Ortiz smiting a home run. That’s clearly meant to excite male viewers. ---
**Author:** ![Ex\_Machina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/10 "2005-07-10T00:35:23Z")
**Chicken Run** is a pretty good chicken flick. It starred gizzard-throb Mel Gibson. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/11 "2005-07-10T00:40:50Z")
A friend of mine who pretty much only likes Chick Flicks says that “Broadcast News” is her favorite film of all time. That’s a close call. ---
**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 10, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/12 "2005-07-10T01:14:27Z")
This is not the first time [we’ve discussed what a “chick flick” is.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=149099&highlight=chick+flick) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/13 "2005-07-10T01:21:54Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > See also “Thelma and Louise” and “Norma Rae”. Yeah, but _Thelma & Louise_ blowed up real good; not a Chick Flick. How about _Field of Dreams_? Baseball is critical, but it is a relationship movie, albeit mostly about guys, from the guy’s point of view. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/14 "2005-07-10T01:27:06Z")
_marks off Meet Joe Black for all sexes to appreciate and leaves the rest of the iffy movies for y’all to parcel about_ ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/15 "2005-07-10T01:54:01Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Yeah, but _Thelma & Louise_ blowed up real good; not a Chick Flick. > > How about _Field of Dreams_? Baseball is critical, but it is a relationship movie, albeit mostly about guys, from the guy’s point of view. It’s about men and their daddies and therefore not a chick flick. In fact, it’s the opposite; a weepy guy movie. See: _Brian’s Song_; _Rudy_. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/16 "2005-07-10T02:27:19Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Of course I know what a Chick Flick is, but today Mrs. Fear and I disagreed, so I leave it to the Teeming Millions. By definition, a Chick Flick is whatever your wife defines as such. How long have you been married? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/17 "2005-07-10T07:38:34Z")
It’s a movie men are embarrased to acknowledge to like. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/18 "2005-07-10T08:23:19Z")
The quintessential Chick Flick: [The Joy Luck Club](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107282/) ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/19 "2005-07-10T08:29:22Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > But in a hardcore Chick Flick, these things are always presented strictly from the female point of view. Any men are either unsympathetic or one-dimensional—the other side of the coin from manly movies in which women are just there as eye candy, damsels in distress, etc. That sounds like “Steel Magnolias”. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2005, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782/20 "2005-07-10T08:57:38Z")
I don’t know…there’s a whole lot of distance between say: Bridget Jone’s Diary Kate & Leopold Maid in Manhattan and Steel Magnolias Fried Green Tomatos Joy Luck Club The former I would call chick flicks. But the latter…well, regardless that the people who would watch these have girly bits, I’m not sure that the intended audience are people you would call “chicks.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-chick-flick/311782.md?page=2)