Following the much enjoyed viewing of The Pursuit of Happyness, my roommate Jo declared the evening to be a Will Smith night, and put Hitch on.
I groaned a little, but since it's a movie about picking up chicks featuring some slapsticky shtick by Kevin James I acquiesced knowing that she owns far worse movies than that she enjoys regularly viewing.
If you haven't seen it, it's about Will Smith who plays a consultant assisting guys in getting the woman of their dreams. For those in the know, this is basically a semi-chick flick movie based on a portion of Neil Strauss' “The Game.” But instead of just teaching guys how to get chicks in bed, Will Smith is teaching guys both how to get a lay and get a girlfriend.
The movie also stars Eva Mendez as a strong independent female reporter. *Cue the generic movie trailer music* She doesn't take any shit from anyone (except her boss), she has it all together, her career is soaring, and she doesn't need a man to ruin her good thing. That is until she met Hitch. *Record Scratch*
This brings to me the topic of today's entry. Independent female reporters in film. Oh man. How overplayed is this character? If you think otherwise, let's take a look at some very popular chick flicks:
Never Been Kissed (1999)
Starring Drew Barrymore, *Cue generic trailer music* She's a plucky independent female reporter, yearning to write her first big story. She gets an assignment to go undercover as a high school student. Everything is going according to plan, until she falls in love *Record Scratch* with her teacher!
How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
Starring Kate Hudson *Cue generic trailer music* She's an energetic independent female journalist and she just got the assignment of her life: Make a man break up with her in ten days! Easy enough for a girl like her; Everything is going according to plan until she falls in love *Record Scratch* with her assignment!
13 Going on 30 (2004)
Starring Jenniifer Garner *Cue the generic trailer music * She's just a 13 year old girl. She just wants to be popular. Then, she just wished herself to age 30! Now she's big dog on campus at her favourite childhood magazine. But is age 30 all it's cracked up to be? Turns out, it isn't. *Cue the downplay music*
The last one was a bit of a stretch, but I think I've made my point. It's a little strange, but the independent female reporter/journalist is just about one of the most popular roles for women to play in a chick flick.
Roll with celebrities, have glamorous work lunches, work in a wacky environment with silly female coworkers and a few gay guys thrown in there for good measure, and what hip young lady wouldn't want to work there?
This is probably because being a woman in media, and taking the job seriously can and does lead to exactly the character in these movies. Whether you're a guy or girl, being a reporter, radio jock, our journalist requires a lot of moving around before you can settle in. So these movies about women who are single and have a decent career in journalism who happen to be in their late twenties to mid-thirties aren't exactly inaccurate. I actually know and have worked with these exact kinds of women before (and those who are probably on their way to being there).
But seriously Chick-Flicks. You need to find a new profession to start stereotyping. How about a movie about a strong independent female race car driver?
Wait, that was called The Fast and The Furious.
How about a female band?
Wait, that was called Josie and the Pussycats and/or The Spice Girls Movie
How about a female astronaut/explorer?
Hold up, that was called Contact. And it was terrible.
Let's change gears entirely and instead portray some female and male characters as wildly-insecure bumbling fools. Now that's a film I'd see.
Wait a minute, they made that movie too, and it co-starred Kevin James. What was it called?
Oh yeah, Hitch.
I don't think anyone but me really notices this stuff, so if women aren't complaining, there's really no reason for me to bring it up. Next time my roommate and I watch a movie though, I'm going to pick one that accurately portrays men in the media:
Superman
Smart, good looking, and does lots of amazing things including saving lives and beating up bad guys. Sounds quite a bit like me.
5 comments:
Haha, I never thought of that, but you're right! (And I'm impressed you've obviously seen all those movies...)
What about the hot female mechanic?
Oh right, Flashdance. (Glad you didn't mention this one...)
My bad - she was a WELDER.
You can trace it back even further. What about "His Girl Friday" - the Cary (ohilovehimsomuch) Grant version.
Love!
I didn't actually see 13 Going on 30, that was a complete bluff courtesy of Wikipedia.
Nor did I realize that Superman actually has a strong independent female reporter in it as well (more so in the comics than movies though.
Also, it's interesting to note that the role of the ballsy female reporter has changed very little since the early days of talking films as XOXO has pointed out. Oy Vey!
Oh I have another one! Matilda from Zoolander! Snoopy reporter with lack of fashion sense!
And how about Christina Applegate in Anchor Man?
Also, that chick in the movie Ghost Rider... ghost rider's high school sweetheart was a reporter.
I work in a newsroom. I can't think of any young female news reporters that are married. I can think of ONE female reporter that has a boyfriend (and he happens to be a camera man at our station.) The male reporters all are married or have girlfriends.
Our news anchor is married, but she didn't tie the knot with her long term boyfriend until she was practically 40!!
And we have one national reporter who is having a baby out of wedlock and she's in her late thirties.
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