Critical Research: Representation of women in Romantic Comedies
I would strongly appreciate your completion of the questionnaire below as the information will help me towards my A2 Media Exam.
1. Name five romantic comedies that you have seen
2. In these films have you felt that the women were representing female stereotypes? (e.g, cooking, cleaning, shopping, appearance, dependence on men, need for child etc)
3. If any films stuck to these stereotypes, how many topics of the below do you believe it is a result of? (Tick one or all of the points)
• Assumptions with target audience
• Popularity and common element of most romantic comedies
• Realism being portrayed
• Ideologies over women – assumed by directors or film makers
• Character building (needed for narrative)
4. Do you believe female leads are seen as icons or people to look up to in romantic comedies? Why?
5. In a recent survey 2/3 of females aged 17 to 45 said that The Devil Wears Prada is a film that represents empowerment in the female lead. Do you agree with this? Why?
6. A quote from a BBC Article called: Romancing the Box Office about romantic comedies from past to present, the writer speaks about the success of Bridget Jones’ Diary –
“Taking £41.6m in the UK alone, Bridget Jones' Diary had another element crucial to the success of the romantic comedy - a leading character with whom the audience could closely identify.
Thousands of thirty-something women sat down with friends and a glass of wine to watch a thirty-something woman discuss her love life over a glass of wine with friends.”
Do you agree that the success of the film could be due to the female lead’s character? Why?
7. This extract is from a Guardian Article called: Where have all the good women gone?, again talking about Romantic Comedies. The writer concludes her piece by speaking about the group of 17 year old girls she went to the cinema with to see Confessions of a Shopaholic and mentions Diane Purkiss, a professor at Oxford who is passionate about the lack of female respect in romantic comedies nowadays.
“The group write off many of today's rom-coms as predictable, cliched and exaggerated, but they're not too bothered. They prefer horror films. I ask whether there are any female characters that have particularly captured their imagination, and while rom-coms come up short, Bronté finally plumps for Angelina Jolie's character in the thriller Mr and Mrs Smith – an assassin on a mission to kill her own husband. When I relay this to Diane Purkiss, she sounds distinctly relieved. "I'll sleep better tonight," she says. "That just shows that no matter how powerful the cultural forces raining down on you are, you can always find a role model somewhere."
