Comments on: Sexist Beatdown: Mystery Dream Date Edition

By: Rachel

Rachel — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:16:19 +0000

I Could Never Be Your Woman!

By: DBN

DBN — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:16:16 +0000

Ooh, EmmATX, thank you! I’d never heard of that movie. It sounds like something I’d like to see – great cast.

“Oh, come on! There are some movies in the romantic comedy and/or general romance genre I really like!”

Ah, okay, Sady, if you’re thinking of the genre in broader terms, then there are definitely some movies to love. I had in mind more the mainstream rom-coms of the past ten years or so, particularly the ones with Freddie Prinze Jr.

And I am totally with you on “Beauty and the Beast”. It’s one of the few Disney movies I’d show willingly to my hypothetical kids. (I haven’t seen most of the more recent ones, so I can’t offer an opinion on those). But, yes, BatB is freaking great, with a heroine whose favourite thing to do is read, and a villain who is the handsome, respected Manly Man. And even the Beast is good (well it’s a bit problematic with the imprisonment thing, but otherwise), attempting to woo her by giving her a library, not jewels or wealth or praise of her beauty. It showed that not only did he respect her as an intelligent woman, but that he actually paid attention to and cared about who she really was as a person.

I also tend to like John Hughes movies – although they are lumped in together with the more fare of ‘teen movies’, his tended to be a bit more nuanced when it came to things like class and difference. Except, of course, for the awful “Sixteen Candles” – what was he thinking? But “Pretty In Pink” was awesome, although I hate that they changed the ending because of idiot focus groups.

By: emjaybee

emjaybee — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:18:14 +0000

Although he is not a bad looking man, the stoner aesthetic of Mr. McC has never drawn me in. Because if you’ve met many stoner dudes, you know that lots of them are just as giant of a**holes as frat dudes, plus they want you to read High Times articles about the newest breakthroughs in hemp technology, and then they hit you up for weed money. Also, they often possess magificent BO, compounded by their aversion to closed-toe shoes. So when I see Mr. McC, all I can think of is sweaty smelly squinty dudes who never get jobs and have freeloading friends who sleep on your futon.

By: EmmATX

EmmATX — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:19:14 +0000

DBN – “Where is the romantic comedy wherein J-Lo is a hardened cop and M-Mc is a florist who launders money for the mob, and they fall in love while she’s trying to catch him and to get him to turn state’s evidence?”

As I read the rest of the comments I kept waiting for someone to point out that this is actually almost the exact plot of a really fabulous romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez – “Out of Sight”.

It was her pre-pop star days, and she plays an FBI agent who gets kidnapped in a prison escape by sexy bank robber George Clooney. They banter! They separate! They get it on in a pretty hot yet tasteful sex scene! And yet his boner does not cause her to give up her job.

Also Steve Zahn is in it, and is hilarious. And, Catherine Keener and Ving Rhames, and Luis Guzman and Michael Keaton. I highly recommend it for your non-misogynist rom-com needs.

I had high hopes for Jennifer Lopez after I saw this movie. Then her first single came out, and it was all downhill from there.

By: GATECREWGIRL

GATECREWGIRL — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:20:36 +0000

Made of Honor starred Mr. Fabulous Hair/Forgettable Face Patrick Dempsey and Michelle something or other (who is actually kind of hot and I really like the second wedding dress she wears at the end of the movie). Yes it is sort of My best Friend’s wedding on its head, except that Mr. Fabulous Hair is a complete douche/man baby who treats women like they’re disposable and there’s a dude with creepy short shorts who serves no plot purpose whatsoever. I go on a lot of overseas flights…

Also, I loved the Bridget Jones books (admittedly mostly for the bits about the crazy mother) and the movies COMPLETELY MISSED the bit about her urban family unit being her support system (especially as refers to her weight, as @SARA and @SANDY have mentioned – when she gets to her “target weight” people ask if she’s sick and tell her she looks “drawn”). Also her relationship with her brother is completely ignored by the movie. I liked BJD as a justification for the “urban family unit” as a support system. Although I’m sure there’s better books that exemplify this…

By: orlando

orlando — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:30:39 +0000

Somewhat ironically, given the specifics touched on in the original post, the “Fever Pitch” you speak of was a remake of an English movie (itself adapted from a Nick Hornby, of “High Fidelity”, book) which starred, you guessed it – Colin Firth.

If you’re going back as far as Breakfast at Tiffany’s, doesn’t that mean you have to include all the Katherine Hepburn / Carey Grant / Gregory Peck vehicles, and conclude that the genre has only gone pants in the last twenty years?

Also, “Down With Love” – made of awesome. Sarah Paulson is to die for.

By: Gretchen

Gretchen — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:03:20 +0000

Thank you! The one thing that really bugs me in rom-com and other movies is when people leave each other at the alter for someone they just met, or for their high school crush, or it doesn’t really matter why, it’s a shitty thing to do and not just to the person expecting to get married, but to your family and their family, and the people who flew in from out of town and just everyone.

Sara: I agree about Bridget’s weight being mostly in her head, at least in the books. The books were far more enjoyable and smart than the movies.

By: Sara

Sara — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:55:23 +0000

I thought the point in Bridget Jones was that she was never really overweight, and that it was all in her head? That’s how I always took it when I read the books. That she was good-looking, but insanely neurotic.

And wasn’t she averaging about 124 in the book and 138 in the movie? That would seem like they increased it. But to me, I think the movie took the snark out of it and tried to make Bridget “fat,” taking the irony out of all Bridget’s complaints.

As for the Matthew McConaughey genre of rom-com… I have no words. His boner would not make me quit my career track.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 23:08:09 +0000

Not only did they drop her weight, but in the books, much was made of the fact that when she thought she was finally “skinny enough,” everyone asked her if she was sick.

Ahem. Not that I’ve read the books.

By: snobographer

snobographer — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:35:57 +0000

McConaughey was thirty-seven types of awesome as the too-old-to-be-hanging-with-high-school-kids skeezy stoner dude in Dazed and Confused. Otherwise, he's pretty much the same guy in every movie. May I make a recommendation for your project? If your project is basically profiles of masculinity in rom-coms? I thought Michael Showalter's The Baxter was a pretty decent send-up of rom-com cliches from the perspective of the nice-but-boring disposable fiance guy. If I could change anything about it though, I'd have had him end up with his true female counterpart - the generally unlikeable materialistic lady. Think Kelly Preston in Jerry Maguire, or Ashley While You Were Sleeping. Instead, of course, he ends up with the adorably quirky underconfident lady - a more low-key version of the pixie dream girl.