# What movies appeal equally to both men and women? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 21, 2024, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-appeal-equally-to-both-men-and-women/999137 "2024-03-21T11:47:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-appeal-equally-to-both-men-and-women/999137/61 "2024-03-22T16:31:59Z")
> [@anny\_m](#): > > Blazing Saddles We just re-watched Blazing Saddles recently. In our opinions, it really did not age well. Just not a lot of funny. Funny, as we had both remembered it as hilarious in our (relative) youth. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-appeal-equally-to-both-men-and-women/999137/62 "2024-03-22T16:40:10Z")
There is something juvenile about Mel Books’ humor but the juvenile in me still chuckles. Like the farting scene in _Blazing Saddles_. Not quite as funny as when I was 14 but I still laugh at it. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-appeal-equally-to-both-men-and-women/999137/63 "2024-03-22T16:42:58Z")
Yeah - my wife said she thought that was funny. But a long movie to sit through for a few seconds of farting. For me it was, “Work, work, work. How ya doing, fellas?” A friend of ours really likes Madeline Kahn’s “I’m so tired” bit. I found it unfunny and too long. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-appeal-equally-to-both-men-and-women/999137/64 "2024-03-22T18:04:20Z")
My husband and I both really like Hitchcock. His broad appeal seems to work for men and women about equally-- only problem is that he may be getting too old-- even though people who see a few of his films are often hooked (like my son, born 2006), people stumbling across him are getting rarer and rarer. Another “genre,” if you want to call it that is MST3K-type movies-- so bad they’re hilarious. Both men and women love to laugh at _Plan 9 from Outer Space._ I think mystery/thriller/horror/suspense is a good place to go. DH and I agree on a lot of movies in that category, even the old movies I love and he kinda snorts at-- he liked _Gaslight_ and _Witness for the Prosecution,_ albeit, he saw them in his thirties, unlike me, who saw them around age 11, so he saw the surprise endings a mile away. Still liked them. ETA: We both loved _Napoleon Dynamite_ and the first two Terminator movies-- also the first two Alien movies. We have seen _Star Wars_ I don’t know how many times. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-appeal-equally-to-both-men-and-women/999137/65 "2024-03-22T18:08:05Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Which is interesting, because pretty much all the characters are men. Well, women have to learn to enjoy movies without strong (or any) female characters or they’d be cut off from an awful lot of movies. Less today than earlier, thank Og. ---
**Author:** ![ASanders](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asanders/32/3367_2.png) [@ASanders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASanders)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2024, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-appeal-equally-to-both-men-and-women/999137/66 "2024-03-23T16:18:06Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > May I say, you have exceptionally good taste. _L.A. Story_ is not very well known, but I love it. It’s clearly a rom-com, and there’s not much action, but there’s something charmingly goofy about it. You may not be shocked to hear that I didn’t mean L.A. Story, though I do love that movie. My addled brain was grasping for L.A. Confidential, not quite the same thing. 😂 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2024, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-appeal-equally-to-both-men-and-women/999137/67 "2024-03-23T18:14:40Z")
> [@ASanders](#): > > You may not be shocked to hear that I didn’t mean L.A. Story, though I do love that movie. My addled brain was grasping for L.A. Confidential, not quite the same thing. 😂 I am a bit surprised. _L.A. Story_ is a great example for this thread. Lots of rom-coms don’t do a thing for me. I remember being pretty “meh” about \*Pretty Woman" for example, but it was a huge hit. I think there’s some truth that certain types of movies appeal more to men, or to women. It’s not universal though. I find it interesting to hear about which rom-coms appeal to men, or which action movies appeal to women. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2024, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-appeal-equally-to-both-men-and-women/999137/68 "2024-03-23T18:49:20Z")
How do action movies with female protagonists do? I’m thinking “The Long Kiss Goodnight”, “Tomb Raider”, “Black Widow”, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-appeal-equally-to-both-men-and-women/999137/69 "2024-03-23T19:09:02Z")
The Mummy, with Brendan Fraser. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2024, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-appeal-equally-to-both-men-and-women/999137/70 "2024-03-23T19:31:13Z")
Many pre-Code films including (but not limited to): _Tarzan and his Mate_ (1932) _Skyscraper Souls_ (1932) _Baby Face_ (1933) _Employee’s Entrance_ (1933) _King Kong_ (1933) … Many films noirs, for example - [20 best film noirs: From Double Indemnity to Shadow of a Doubt | The Independent | The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/film-noir-best-movies-double-indemnity-shadow-of-a-doubt-the-killing-b2103892.html) … Some random titles: _Beauty and the Beast_ (1946) _Night of the Hunter_ (1955) _Forbidden Planet_ (1956) _The Girl Can’t Help It_ (1956) _Curse of the Demon_ (1957) _Latitude Zero_ (1969) _Lair of the White Worm_ (1988) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2024, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-appeal-equally-to-both-men-and-women/999137/71 "2024-03-23T19:33:28Z")
_Rocky Horror Picture Show_ has been mentioned, and in general, I’d think that a lot of ‘cult’ movies would have roughly even ratings from males and females. A few that come to mind: _The President’s Analyst_ _Harold and Maude_ _Carnival of Souls_ (the original) _The Babadook_ _Big Trouble in Little China_ _House of Games_ _Mommie Dearest_ _Sunset Boulevard_ I’d add ‘all the Monty Python movies’ but I’m less sure that they appeal to equal numbers of males and females. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-appeal-equally-to-both-men-and-women/999137.md?page=3)