Romantic (lead) Roles

I have a huge passion for movies and I love to review everything I see. And yet I realized that I haven't ever written a blog talking about movies. Mainly, that's because my blog is for wide range issues, not specific movie critiques. But I was re-watching the movie Loser the other day when it hit me: Romantic Comedies; also known as Rom-Coms, more importantly, also referred to as Chick Flicks. Love them or hate them, they are love stories that many girls fall in love with. Let me preface this by saying I know there are men who enjoy these movies, and there is nothing wrong with that, but for the purpose of my discussion, I am only going to discuss the (fairer) sex with the higher demographic. Woman love romance, duh. Nothing new there. But as I watched Loser a pattern stuck out so strongly I can't believe I've never noticed it before. In so many of these movies, the lead male spends the entire film being noble and trying to win the love of the lead female. The lead female, on the other hand, gets to spend the movie wavering, being flighty, and sometimes even seeing other men.

Classic Examples:

The Notebook
A film often named when asked for the title of a chick flick. Not a film I much enjoyed, but I watched it none the less. From what I remember, Ryan Gosling spends the entire movie not giving up on the love of his life, Rachel McAdams. And yet, somehow she gets to be engaged and spend her life trying to decide what future she really wants. What a luxury for her.

Notting Hill / Runaway Bride
So I know these are two separate movies, but since they are both Rom-Coms with Julia Roberts from 1999, I'm going to lump them together. In Notting Hill, Roberts gets to be the rich, famous, glamorous movie star and yet she still pushes Hugh Grant away. In Runaway Bride she gets to be engaged four times and then still runs from the only guy that's been supporting her, Richard Geer. I wish I had that many men calling on me with proposals.

While You Were Sleeping
I'm not going to lie, this is one of my favorites in the genre. But, alas, I must pick it apart like all the others. Sandra Bullock falls in love with a man, Peter Gallagher, shes never really met, but sees everyday at the train station (can we say flighty?) She then spends most of the movie lying that she is the finance of Gallagher, who is now in a coma. While his family accepts her, his brother, Bill Pullman, falls for her but is noble in trying to keep his distance. He truly cares for her while she is lusting for a man she doesn't even know. Any woman who gets in good with a family that has two hansom sons should be thanking her lucky stars.

But there are exceptions to this rule, and thank heavens for that. Look at Meg Ryan's classics for a minute: When Harry Met Sally, You've Got Mail, Sleepless In Seattle. All these movies place the male and female leads as equals. They are both good and bad, each flawed in their own way.

I think maybe the most interesting movie to look at is one of the most classic romantic films in Hollywood: Casablanca. So maybe Casablanca is unfair to analyze because it is not a comedy like the other films were, but I think it's still worth a quick note. Throughout the movie, viewers are forced to wonder the true intentions and feelings of both Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. This can make it appear that they are both equal in their games and roles in the relationship. But it cannot be excluded that, in the end, Bogart does the honorable thing by letting Bergman go. The fact that he sacrifices to do what's best for her, doesn't truely make this movie an exception to my thesis.

So is this what makes women happy? To watch movies where they get to do whatever they want while the men stay devoted and chaste? I guess you could say that is feminism, but I think it's a load of bollocks (as Hugh Grant would say). If we want to watch films about powerful young women, that's fine, but if we want to see a love story, the roles should be equal. It is sexist for us to think we deserve to get away with more in a relationship, even if it's just in our fantasies. Plus, lets be honest: nice guys finsish last and if most women met a guy like the ones in Chick Flicks they'd probably leave him for a guy you'd see in an Action Flick. You know the one's I'm talking about.
Hollywood films don't have to be real, but they should at least make us look inward at ourselves. Art imitates life and life imitates art and that scares me. So think twice before you get all worked up over that Romantic Comedy movie with the sweet, wonderful guy. Or not, and go find you a action star boyfriend. It's up to you.