My research question is: How do romantic comedies provide unrealistic expectations about romantic relationships and gender roles?
I’m researching this topic because as a young female,I feel and experience that film industries define gender roles and reinforce stereotypes in romantic movies.Young females who watch this genre of films do not see the reality of romance and facts about romantic relationships. Romantic comedies represent the reality of romance in a way that get their expectations higher and create a bad impression about their love life. This situation characterize certain behaviors of women in romantic relationships and influence the way they think about romance. Cassady Green,the author of the article ‘The Effects of Romantic
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The fields that I think would best servet this question’s answer is: psychology,social psychology,media and communication,sociology and gender studies. Movies are the best sources of reproduced realities.Young people choose romantic contents in the media and model their own love-life through movies.Psychology studies this kind of vicarious learning behaviors of people, self and the media,media influence on people’s perceptions. People also shape their thoughts of what media expose and influence the mediated-relationships. Romantic comedies reinforce stereotypical roles for both women and men,this issue is the area of the gender studies which is a field of interdisciplinary …show more content…
Needy and incomplete women,strong man who has the last word,sudden strong feelings,soul mates ,outdated habits of women,misunderstandings and conflicts,minimum sexual situations and overcoming all the obstacles to live happily ever after…are the main elements and stereotypes of romantic comedies.As being a young female,I believe that this genre makes us question what love really is,is there a real soulmate who waits for us,do women need a man to survive or rescue her. The representation of relationships is nothing like the real life in movies.The way that romantic movies offer stories of love,changes young people’s beliefs about their own relationships and life and make them feel unsatisfactory and disappointed. As they watch this genre,they will face the same pattern constantly and start to think that these are what it should be in real relationships.Romantic comedy movies’ unusual and uncommon stories could influence the beliefs and expectations of female adolescents.On the other hand,in comparison to Green,I think women with strong personalities and realistic point of view will easily notice the repeated pattern of these movies considering the female
This essay argues that the film Bridesmaids transcends traditional representations of feminine desire that exhibits women as spectacles of erotic pleasure, through the symbolic reversal of gender identity in cinematic spaces. By discussing feminist perspectives on cinema, along with psychoanalytic theory and ideological narratives of female image, this essay will prove Bridesmaids embodies a new form of feminine desire coded in the space of the comedic film industry.
Led by Laura Mulvey, feminist film critics have discussed the difficulty presented to female spectators by the controlling male gaze and narrative generally found in mainstream film, creating for female spectators a position that forces them into limited choices: "bisexual" identification with active male characters; identification with the passive, often victimized, female characters; or on occasion, identification with a "masculinized" active female character, who is generally punished for her unhealthy behavior. Before discussing recent improvements, it is important to note that a group of Classic Hollywood films regularly offered female spectators positive, female characters who were active in controlling narrative, gazing and desiring: the screwball comedy.
Mainstream movies are about men’s lives, and the few movies about women’s lives, at their core, still also revolve around men (Newsom, 2011). These female leads often have male love interests, looking to get married or get pregnant. Strong independent female leads are still exist for the male view, as they are hypersexualized, or the “fighting fuck toy,” (Newsom, 2011). This depiction has created a culture where women are insecure and waiting for a knight on a horse to come rescue and provide for her as well as the acceptance of women
Students of feminisms and masculinities can benefit from this article and general people can also enjoy reading it. I could relate this article to the concept of movies today, how we as an audience perceive it, also various aspects the actor’s role (acting), the use of sound, lighting, camera movement, all plays a major role in explaining what exactly the movie is about. And the author in his article speaks about various types of movies and the role of male heroes and the changes that occur later on. Overall the article is useful and interesting as the increasing focus is on masculinity,
...o not believe it anesthetizes the emotional life of the viewer: it romanticizes life. Women take away from the experiences that sex in a relationship is perfect, communication with the partner is perfect and if there is a disagreement or misunderstanding, it is grounds for a breakup. How damaging are these expectations to a new relationship? During a literature review, I found several researchers concluded that these expectations cultivated from romantic comedies contribute to increased divorces in society (Segrin & Nabi 2002).
Some people might say that these movies provide entertainment and transport families into the lives of princes and princesses. Many critics have said that the films have amazing soundtracks and have detailed and interesting plots. Still, however entertaining the films may be, the way women are viewed and treated outweigh any enjoyment that a viewer could have. The subliminal lessons young women learn from these films have lifelong repercussions and negatively affect the female
Do chick flicks give woman unrealistic expectations? The solemn purpose of these movies are to sooth a woman’s soul mainly dealing with love and romance that usually target a female audience. They are typically heavy in emotion and are relationship-based; for example, A Walk to Remember. However, there’s more to it. Woman use romantic movies as a form of catharsis, to give innocent men a break from their emotional girlfriends, and to satisfy a women’s mind by giving them higher, often unrealistic expectations.
Using the theories I have discussed regarding feminist film theories , I will apply it to two of the most commercially popular Hollywood Romantic comedies, Pretty Woman and Bridesmaids. Since they both fall under this genre, I will be able to apply these theories and compare them accordingly.
Gender and the portrayal of gender roles in a film is an intriguing topic. It is interesting to uncover the way women have been idealized in our films, which mirrors the sentiments of the society of that period in time. Consequently, the thesis of this essay is a feminist approach that seeks to compare and contrast the gender roles of two films. The selected films are A few Good Men and Some Like it Hot.
When discussing issues brought about through sex roles, marriages, and families in transitions it is viewed from the female scope. The pressures put on women in these situations are often more overbearing than the one’s put on men, due to statistics about gender inequality that results with women receiving less opportunity than men. Movies tend to focus on the pressures society puts on women, romantic comedies often capitalizing on the stress women go through with marriage and creating a family. “I Love You, Man” reverses the roles, with the lead male character being the one pressured and overwhelmed with him and his fiancé’s upcoming wedding. He is judged for not having any true friends, or at least one deemed appropriate enough to fill his best man
A very diverse, broad, and extensive industry is the filmmaking industry. However, the unique aspect of the industry is that it is so expansive in all of the different categories and types of movies, but yet each film is individualized. A certain characteristic of a movie may appeal to one person and not another. Such characteristics may not only appeal to an individual but to a certain group of people. Could it be that characteristics of a film appeal to either the male gender or the female gender? Is there a difference in the category of movie that a male chooses as opposed to one that a female chooses? Such questions prove to be very interesting and ponderous. Upon thinking of such questions, I decided to revolve my research paper around the two concepts of movies and gender. My hypothesis for this research paper is “In determining a movie to watch, college-age males choose action and adventure movies while females of the same age choose romance or romantic comedy movies”. I feel that this topic is very interesting because many items today are marketed towards a specific gender. This can be viewed and noticed in such items as clothing, motor vehicles, and certain hobbies. This pattern may just as well carry over into the film industry. If it does, it may be reflected by the category of movie a certain gender selects to watch. Therefore, my thesis is: By used of an observation, a survey, an interview, and a personal history, I will prove that men choose action movies and women choose romance/romantic comedy movies because each gender relates to a different characteristic found in each type of movie.
The film analyzes a romantic relationship that is expected to last for a day. However, the nature of emotional attachment created by the relationship proves otherwise. Interpersonal communication is an essential aspect of romance because it enhances understanding, conflict resolution, and decision making. I selected the romantic interpersonal relationship because it is an essential aspect of life as far as marriage is concerned. Marriage is sustained through constant communication to help reduce the differences and enhance the effort of the couples in developing their marriage (Burleson
...on how they have overcome this demeaning concept, it is still present in many of the films created today. Laura Mulvey, a feminist of the Second Wave, observed the evolution of female representations in films. She concludes that films still display dominant ideologies that prevent social equality between men and women. Mulvey came up with three common themes that mainstream films continuously promote within their films. These three common themes reinforce that women are always going to be seen as nothing more but objects. They do not serve any symbolic purposes except to help advance the story by motivating the objectives of the male characters. As evident, Happy Endings is one particular film that embodies all of these traits and as a result, the female characters are perceived as sexual objects in both the perspectives of the male character(s) and the spectators.
Riskind, Arlyn G. "Romantic Comedies Affect Beliefs About Relationships Less Strongly Than Expected." National Communication Association (2013): 1-3. Print.
It can come to define who’s being influenced. Movies are a huge source of influence, because they’re also a form of entertainment. Movies can influence us because they influence storytelling, entertainment, and culture. Works Cited http://novan.com/storytel.htm http://www.bubblews.com/news/1030442-influence-of-movies http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/film/socialhist.html http://tribecafilm.com/future-of-film/513103f31c7d761e9300000b-storytelling-audiences-an http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article