Saturday, May 31, 2008

We need a new word

With the success this weekend of Sex and the City following on the success a couple of years ago of The Devil Wears Prada, it occurs to me that we don't really have a phrase to use for these films. People incorrectly refer to Prada, which I like to call the female Top Gun, as a romantic comedy. Not accurate. The film barely touches on romance. It's more interested in a young woman finding her way in a tough world and the relationships with the females who surround her. Men have very little presence. While SATC reportedly has more romance (I haven't seen it), my guess is that it has similar concerns.

In the old days, like the forties, they would call it a "woman's picture." All About Eve is the ultimate example - a movie about the interaction of a group of four women, with men primarily as Maguffins, objects to propel the female relationships. But woman's picture sounds so clunky to modern audiences. Therefore, I think we need a new term.

I haven't thought of one yet. Although from a joking male perspective, I've thought up the term "scrotum cruncher." But I won't be using that one in formal reviews.

UPDATE: I just googled "scrotum cruncher" and already this website is the second Google entry for that term. This update could theoretically push us to number one. Is that an accomplishment, or what?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You hurt your credibility with such low sensibilities. It's both too easy, pat and ignorant of underlying questions regarding sexism in film marketing and consumption.

Anonymous said...

Haha...Scrotum Cruncher

Romantic comedy is just a nice way of saying "chick flick" which I don't like either.

How about Fem-Com?

K. Bowen said...

Fem-com? Not bad.

K. Bowen said...

And it's probably easier to market to women than "scrotum cruncher."