Action vs Romance
In het-male-oriented action stories where the hero gets the girl, his manly efforts at saving the day serve as the narrative justification for the romantic outcome: he has done X, therefore he wins the lady. But because the story is all about the hero’s wants and needs, we’re very rarely shown why the lady likes X beyond a sort of implied, innate correlation: obviously ladies like X - or at least, this particular lady does, because otherwise, she wouldn’t be in the story. Her emotional complicity is a given, because the story doesn’t care about how she arrives at (from the hero’s standpoint) the correct decision; only that he gets his reward for performing X.
In het-female-oriented romance stories, the resolution of conflict between hero and heroine serves as the narrative justification for the romantic outcome: he has done Y and she has done Z, therefore they win each other. The story is about both their wants and needs, and while there’s often a stronger emotional focus on the heroine, the why of the hero’s attraction is still deemed important.
Traditional action narratives teach men that relationships are based on the successful completion of specific tasks, such that women’s internal thoughts, feelings and conflicts are a wholly irrelevant factor.
Traditional romance narratives teach women that relationships are based on the mutual resolution of conflict. They are also constantly derided as not only lesser stories, but so inherently feminine as to be incompatible with male interest.
Which is why I will forever be deeply fucking suspicious of anyone who trumpets their love of action movies while laughing derisively at the very idea of chick flicks: because chances are, that person? Has internalised the idea that romance and relationships aren’t narratively interesting if you have to care what the woman thinks.
And that is fucking scary.
Word to infinity squared.
I have trouble watching “rom-coms” which are usually classified “chick flicks” - mostly because the humour in them is situational humiliation with the purpose of ‘softening’ a female character so that she can accept a guy into her life and live happily ever after.
However, there are “chick flicks” I really adore. ‘Love Actually’ and ‘Crazy Stupid Love’ are two off the top of my head, and for some reason ‘Miss Congeniality’ manages to hit my buttons (although the romance felt kind of superfluous in that). But I find that the movie industry tends to have much less wiggle room for female-character focus, and much much less wiggle room for female agency and female motives, even within female-centric movies.
However, I loooooove romance novels. Admittedly my favourites are the ones with mysteries or missions or big story arcs, and where the female characters have agency in some form or another, earn their happy ending, and where the male character earns her love, too.
I like watching characters earn their happy endings.
Ugh, Firefox just crashed and ate a long response to this. Shorter version: I agree with most of what the OP says until they get to “if you like action movies and not chick flicks you are wrong.” Because the woman-as-prize trope isn’t an inextricable part of action movies, and romances aren’t free from other sketchy shit, and it is possible to like a thing while still a) being aware of the sketchy shit and b) not excusing the sketchy shit. (And if I seem a little defensive, it’s because I love big dumb action movies—and I love big action movies with awesome lady parts even more, because I like female agency but I don’t like that it’s confined to romances.)
Absolutely true! I actually forgot to address the action movies line (I think I had some commentary in an early version which got cut out and never put back in).
I also love big action movies (preferably with awesome lady parts) - it’s what I go to see at the cinema most times. But it’s certainly worth pointing out that there should be nothing wrong with what anyone likes - so long as they’re aware of the limitations of the genre and not blindly just dissing something else because it’s perceived as beneath them.
These are all good points: chick flicks definitely have their own thematic issues, and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying action movies (I myself am very partial to the Stuff Explodes In Slow Motion oeuvre ). What I was trying to say, albeit clumsily, is that I’m suspicious of people who actively deride/mock/sneer at romance while praising the comparative awesomeness of action: it’s perfectly possible to prefer the latter genre to the former, but the problem, for me, is when people consider ladystuff to be fundamentally worthless.
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