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Sorry, Chick Flicks: We're Just Not That Into You

Genre too often relies on 'clichés, hateful caricatures' of womanhood

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 5, 2009 11:10 AM CST

(Newser) – Where have all the Carrie Bradshaws and Bridget Joneses gone? The women of flicks like Bride Wars and Confessions of a Shopaholic are pale imitations of those relatively feisty heroines, “variously neurotic, idiotic, label-obsessed, weight-obsessed, man-obsessed or wedding-obsessed, and often all at the same time,” Kevin Maher complains in the Times of London.

Citing “institutionalized schadenfreude,” one scholar says heroines “are getting dumber and dumber.” Writes Maher, “The reason for all this sinister discord is ultimately, of course, men,” abetted by women's lack of creative control in Hollywood. His solution: “Motivate women away from chick flicks and towards the few edgier, more interesting movies that might normally go unnoticed.” Last Chance Harvey, anyone?

[Images (3)]

[Videos (2)]

[Quotes (4)]

In this image released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Justin Long, left, and Ginnifer Goodwin are shown in a scene from the New Line Cinema film, "He's Just Not That Into You." (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures, Darren Michaels)

In this image released by Warner Bros. Pictures, Kevin Connolly, left, and Scarlett Johansson are shown in a scene from the New Line Cinema film, "He's Just Not That Into You." (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures, Darren Michaels)

In this image released by New Line Cinema, Sarah Jessica Parker stars as Carrie Bradshaw in New Line Cinema's "Sex and the City." (AP Photo/New Line Cinema,Craig Blankenhorn)

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The trailer for "Confessions of a Shopaholic." (TheMovieJam)

Academy Award winners Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson reunite in "Last Chance Harvey." (overturefilms)

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increasingly, the modern Hollywood women's picture or so-called chick flick has become home to the worst kind of regressive pre-feminist stereotype and misogynistic cliché. - Kevin Maher, Times of London

For every smart-thinking Bridget Jones, Legally Blonde or Devil Wears Prada, there appeared a slew of movies that appealed to the genre's baser instincts. - Kevin Maher, Times of London

Women's lives today feel oppressive, more so than they did ten years ago. And the more oppressive they feel, the dumber these portrayals of women become. - Diane Purkiss, Oxford University

The entertainment industry allows you, the audience member, to pat yourself on the back and say: ‘I'm smarter than her, I'm more together than her, and I'm not as stupidly anorexic as her.' - Diane Purkiss, Oxford University

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Sorry, Chick Flicks: We're Just Not That Into You