Romantic Comedies, Chick Flicks and Oscar nominees

I have a movie addiction. I love movies. I love seeing them in the theatres and I don't really care where they fall on the genre spectrum. So far this year I have seen almost an even mix of critically acclaimed Oscar nods and fluffier than air romantic comedies (here on out referred to as the rom com).

While the fluffier than air rom com might not be as good as the Oscar nods they still leave me feeling good and satisfied. As long as I am entertained, I am happy. Case in point - I highly enjoyed Benjamin Button but I smiled and giggled throughout Confessions of a Shopaholic and left the theater feeling happy.

ST and I saw New In Town last week. We had low expectations of the movie having read reviews that said it was terrible and it definitely wasn't great. But afterwards ST said that she gave the movie an 8 out of 10. That's high praise in our circle, I was generously giving it a 6 out of 10. Then she qualified the 8 saying that the movie itself wasn't an 8 but how it made her feel was an 8. And there you have the mystery of the chick flick. These movies can be terrible yet we get that feeling from them. That fluttery, happy, swoony, tingly feeling.

I read a study once that compared what made that part of the brain fire in both men and women. That feeling that women get watching a great kiss in a romantic movie is the same feeling that men get when they see a good knock out punch in boxing. I wonder if how I feel when watching that punch (not good) is how men feel when watching that kiss. If so, it's no wonder the majority of men avoid chick flicks. I might love a good action movie but any fight scene causes me to turn my head and ignore the beat down.

I have a few men in my life that enjoy the occasional rom com and I love them all the more for it. Often the rom com or chick flick is also a really good movie and men are missing out on the entertainment and fun, not to mention the life lessons about what makes women tick. I have told my best single guy friend that rom coms make great research movies.

The downside to the rom com/chick flick movie is that it keeps us women trapped in the box of waiting for that dreamy, larger-than-life romance that will sweep us off our feet and change our lives. He's Just Not That Into You was the biggest perpetrator of this myth. It tells you that those stories are the exception and not the rule but then goes on to have their characters become the exceptions. Leaving you feeling swoony and good that it very well could just happen to you. That maybe, just maybe, you will be the exception too.