Why Hollywood Needs a New Definition of What Women Want

Picture this: Six months ago, me or you or any young women of your choosing, is sitting in the movie theater, her pockets are $10 lighter, but her spirit full. ‘It’s been a while,’ she thinks, ‘since I’ve been able to do something for myself.’ Maybe she is with her friends, maybe her boyfriend, maybe not. We don’t even know who is in this movie: it could be Jennifer Aniston, or Kate Hudson, Renee Zellweger, or even Katherine Heigel. What we do know is that she is watching a movie specifically marketed towards her, a young woman. Let’s call it a chick flick.

Since it’s a chick flick, what can we know? That it is probably about a pretty, skinny, white girl with an impossibly great wardrobe, who fights against falling in love with a guy because: a) she can’t stand him or b) he is in love with someone else or c) her smell makes him want to suck all the blood from her neck. Next, against all odds, they fall in love.

Is the movie over? Anyone who has been to a chick flick will answer with a resounding “no.”

Because after they fall in love something happens, either he cheats, she thinks he cheats, she lies about something, or maybe even a band of Vampires comes to eat her. After the 15 minutes of suspense, which the girl spends crying, eating ice cream, and re-playing all her favorite moments of their relationship to the tune of the newest Lifehouse song, they get back together in a romantic scene (which is usually at an airport but can also be at a wedding, or bar in front of loads of people. 10 points if its in the rain). The End.

(Timeout: Did that movie sound familiar? It should because it was the basic plot of: Bride Wars, He’s Just Not That Into You, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Sex and the City, The Proposal, The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, 27 Dresses, Made of Honor, Twilight, License to Wed, and What Happens in Vegas, all released in 2008-09).

Picture this: 80 minutes later this young woman walks out of the theater. How has her life changed in those last 80 minutes? Most would say “it hasn’t changed at all.” But I would disagree. This change I speak of may not occur over the course of one movie, but by being exposed to an endless slew of these movies since junior high, Hollywood tells women to believe that the secret to happiness is a lot of clothes and finding a husband with hair like Patrick Dempsey.

As I young woman, I am often offended by the way Hollywood studios portray modern women, and even more offended when I realize that these movies infiltrate our culture. An example: I asked two 8 year old girls to draw a photo of what they want to be when they grow up. One drew herself marrying a rich husband and shopping whenever she wanted and the other drew herself as a pediatrician. Which one of these girls do you think watches chick flicks?

I firmly believe that in allowing these stereotypes into young women’s lives, they slowly seep into the definition of who they are and what they want. For instance, in my teens my goal was to be married out of high school. Why, you may ask? Had I found the love of my life? Heavens no, it was because I thought that marriage would magically transform me, as a currently wrecked, emotional, hormonal teen, into a women who had her life, and closet, together.

Why do movies do this? Do they think all women care only about these things? Is it irresponsible to market these characters for women who are in the very midst of discovering who they are? Will the funny intelligent strong female characters please stand up? After shouting these questions at the top of a canyon and only hearing the yell glide further and further until it reached oblivion, I decided I would find some answers of my own.

For instance, according to the Times Online, “Fewer than 10 percent of Hollywood films are written by women, and fewer than 6 percent directed by women.” So when we see a movie targeted to young women 16-30 what we are seeing is a male version of what women want.

Why, then, do women choose to go to movies that portray them as a self-absorbed, pre-feminist, misogynistic cliché? Why do young women pay money to people who view them as stupid, selfish, and narcissistic? I know already what they would say: Because there are no other options out there. And because, I will admit, they’re fun.

I am here to challenge you, yes you!, so let‘s talk it over: So my first point, and yes I do have one, is that there are other options out there. Tina Fey, Diablo Cody, Jane Campion, Mira Nair, Mira Nair. All female writers/directors with movies out this year.

Most movies that portray real roles for women are independent movies, like this summer’s “Away We Go” and “500 Days of Summer.” The thing is, “Transformers” made 400 million while “Away We Go” made 9 million.

Consider the same woman today: She has yet to see a chick flick in 6 months. And how has she changed? Her wallet is $100 heavier, she no longer looks at herself in the mirror mainly to see what she wants to change, she no longer puts her boyfriend through all heck in order to get him to do grand romantic gestures. In fact, she now appreciates the little things in their relationship. And those $100, she spent them on books that make her think and music that makes her laugh.

What am I asking? That you boycott Chick Flicks.

Because a) they were written by menb) they portray women as silly, incompetent, and obsessive c) they often make women feel that they need clothes to be beautiful d) They put un-need pressure on significant others e) because maybe if enough people stop spending their money on these movies, writers/directors/producers will soon create female characters who are real, who have problems, and who have motivations beyond the realm of clothes and weddings. One can dream. f) finally: because if you don’t, we will pass on to our next generation the idea that women are either victims or superficial and have no ambitions for themselves, and we don’t want that, do we?

Let’s Take One Last Look at the Young Woman: She is in her garden reading, she has just finished a hike, she is fun, she is happy, and she doesn’t need the media to tell her what she wants, because she knows: it is all sitting right in front of her, waiting for her to decide what to do with it.

The Other Woman Is Our Stereotypical Chick Flick Female: She is in a bar, she is better looking than any one in the room, she has one goal and one goal only, to find a husband in time to get married at the Plaza in spring.

My question is, which women you choose to spend $10 on?