Tuesday, July 15, 2008

A Burning Question

So, today in my journalism class, the lecturer was presenting various examples of using graphics to make newspaper articles more interesting and more readable. That was the point of the lecture.

But what caught my attention was the "Chick Flicks: the Ultimate Guide to this Misunderstood Genre" graphic.

Now, it didn't grab my attention because it was "the ultimate guide"; rather, I was concerned that "the ultimate guide" might actually be wrong. Especially since the person who wrote the article was a guy. Now, let's not be sexist, but shouldn't chicks be the ones writing about chick flicks?

The writer was working from the idea that movies like Fried Green Tomatoes and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood are stereotypical chick flicks. My contention is that this type of film is its own genre, namely the "Fried Green Tomatoes" genre. And the real chick flicks are movies like While You Were Sleeping and You've Got Mail.

But, I might be wrong. Perhaps Fried Green Tomatoes is a chick flick, and You've Got Mail should be considered a romantic comedy. Maybe that's how the movie genre lines should be drawn.

(For those of you who don't understand the difference, Fried Green Tomatoes appeals to women because it deals with close, female relationships and how relationships triumph through hardship. You've Got Mail appeals to females because it deals with a man and a woman falling in love.)

Ok, so here's where you, my die-hard blog fans come in: Where do you think the movie genre lines in this issue should be drawn? Is You've Got Mail a chick flick or a romantic comedy? What about Fried Green Tomatoes? A chick flick or the representative of its own genre?