01 February, 2007

Men Love Romantic Movies Too

As Valentine's Day (Link) approaches, I have got romantic movies on my mind. Apparently so do many men! According to recent U.S. study, men are more fond of romantic movies than originally suspected (Link). Kansas State University psychology professor Richard Harris surveyed 250 men and women, having them watch a romantic film together and rate it from 0 to 7, 7 being the highest. The average score from women was about 6, while men rated the film 4.8 - much higher than expected. Reuters article say
"Everyone thinks that women like romantic movies and that they drag guys along with them", Harris told Reuters.He said movies studio executives should put aside stereotypes about "chick flicks" and recognize the fact that there is a moderate interest among men in romantic movies.
"There are a lot of men who go to these romantic movies and enjoy them. I wouldn't write off the male audience just because it is a romantic film. I would suggest marketing to the men in the audience."
The label like "chick flick" is an automatic deterrent when couples are trying to choose a movie the will both enjoy. Also, nowadays "chick flick" implies something insubstantial and silly, which seems to become a comment on women and kinds of things we find interesting and relevant. Ultimately, movies don't have to have a gender assigned to them. Romantic film is just a romantic film.

1 comment:

Assistant Editor said...

Well said Pro,
we have to get rid of the label "chick flick".