Sexism and the “Date Movie”
Sarah rejoins The Filmcake with a guest post pondering sexism at the multiplex:
Anyone who knows me at all knows that I’m a card-carrying, not-ashamed-to-admit-it Feminist. I also love movies. While I could likely go on for hours about how women are portrayed in film, the relative dearth of female filmmakers, etc., this particular Filmcake takeover is going to focus specifically on the idea of the “date movie.”
A couple of weeks ago, I read this Forbes.com post pointing at a double standard that seems to exist between movies aimed at men and movies aimed at women:
The two big movies opening this weekend are The Expendables (a testosterone laden action flick) and Eat Pray Love (its hormonal opposite). According to a survey of 1200 Fandango ticket buyers, 95% of the people who say they want to see Eat Pray Love are women. Only 5% are men.
But 42% of the people who say they want to see The Expendables are women (58% are men). And therein lies the problem. Women are fine going to see male-oriented movies. Women go to the movies all the time. It’s men who are the problem because they refuse to go see chick flicks.
Ignoring for a moment the actual quality of both of the above-referenced movies (I’m pretty sure neither are likely to be on anyone’s end-of-year Top 10 lists), this captures a sentiment I’ve heard countless times. Assuming that many of the people going to see one of these films are going with a date or significant other, it seems to be much more acceptable for a woman to go to a “dude movie” than it is for a man to go to a “chick flick.” For example, one of the biggest problems I have with my otherwise beloved Filmspotting hosts Adam and Matty is that in the few times they even acknowledge that women watch movies, it’s usually in the context of poor, single Matty being dragged to some dreadful romcom on a first date. In fact, “date movie” really almost becomes synonymous with “chick flick.”
The implication is that the man has to begrudgingly put aside his masculinity and suffer through a (probably legitimately bad) romcom in the hopes of maybe getting a little ass later. However, consider the reverse: a woman goes to the latest guns-and-explosions extravaganza, and is in all likelihood, going to be considered a “cool chick.” If she genuinely likes traditionally male genres (war movies, Westerns, comic book movies, etc.) she’s probably going to be someone’s Ultimate Dream Woman. Whereas, if a man sincerely loves romantic comedies, I’d be willing to wager that his sexual orientation is probably going to be called into question sooner or later. Sad, but true.
My first thought about all this is that, well, “women’s movies” generally suck. While it’s true that yes, most certainly do – so do most “men’s movies.” Both types are pretty dependent on familiar tropes and formulas, and don’t always boast the best writing, editing, acting, cinematography, etc. That’s not to say that there aren’t some wonderful romantic comedies and really great action flicks, because there absolutely are, but face it – most tend to be crap that plays to the lowest common denominator.
I think the real problem is that, blind to the actual quality of the movie in question, one genre seems to be considered automatically better than the other. Once again, the implication is the “masculine” is acceptable, whereas the “feminine” is inferior, and something to be avoided. It’s okay, even desirable, for the woman to embrace the masculine, but that doesn’t always extend in the other direction. Or, as Molly Haskell puts it in the introduction to Holding My Own in No Man’s Land, perhaps “the fact is, we are all, in some measure, more comfortable with maleness than with femaleness.”
I do think one could broaden the idea of guy movie vs. girl movie. It’s of course too limited to compare action flicks with romcoms. And way too limited to compare The Expendables to Eat Pray Love. I think, in a way, you can divide movies into the masculine and the feminine. Masculine movies tend towards fast-paced action, perhaps towards the visual, and towards comedy. Whereas feminine films tend towards the drama, towards character and story, with a slower build. It’s a generalization, sure. But it addresses the sort of movies that are generally well-regarded, as well as Oscar bait…but generally those that are seen as a quality of movie that is better than average. I would say that most GOOD movies tend towards the feminine. But that betrays my bias towards those types of movies. There’s no objective reason why dramas are better than action or comedy films…yet that is generally regarded as the case come award season.