Friday, March 5, 2010

On Guys and Chick Flicks

If you follow the movie biz even somewhat, you've probably noticed that there are some movies that seem to be made with girls and women in mind. It seems like every year there are some of those kinds of films in theaters. Most guys stay away from that genre, and I can understand why. Still, I'll readily admit--and you can call me whatever you want, I'm not going to stop doing it--that I have watched quite a few "girly" movies. Over the years, I have willingly seen flicks such as Bride Wars, The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Nancy Drew, and Ella Enchanted. To be fair, the main reason I was watching those films was for the attractive female leads. Still, even most guys won't do that.
You may wonder why any 22-year-old guy would watch movies like I just mentioned, unless his girlfriend/wife forced him to do so. Well, the main reason why is because of the way I was brought up. Some of you may already know this, but, for those who don't, here it is: For almost the first nine years of my life, I did not have another male in my immediate family. That changed when my sister got married. I never really knew my biological father, because my mom divorced him when I was only six weeks old. My mom didn't even date again until I was in college, and she married the first guy she had a serious relationship with. I'm not bashing my family at all, because I firmly believe with all of my heart that if my biological father had been around, I would have had a terrible life. I may have had some bad days in the past, but, if he and my mom had still been married, every day would have been bad. Still, the fact is, all those things you think guys don't do, I do. I read books for fun; I hate sports; and, as I was saying earlier, I watch chick flicks.
Now, let me explain something here: While I have willingly watched a number of "girly" films, I also have willingly watched at least twice as many guy movies. If you were to take a look at the DVDs I own, you would know that the collection was probably a guy's. I mean, seriously: Both Star Wars trilogies. Four Star Treks. Six Batmans. Three Spider-Mans. The entire X-Men trilogy. The first five Harry Potter movies. Superman Returns. Both Narnias. See what I mean? The only chick flicks I even have in my collection are Princess Diaries (you know why I have that one, LOL) and the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday. I will admit to having some family comedies, like Yours, Mine and Ours or Elf, and one or two computer-animated films, i.e. Ice Age, but I consider those movies to be made for everyone, no matter what your gender is.
Some of you might be laughing at this, saying, "This guy is gay!" or, "This dude's a girl!" or "This man is an idiot!" Go ahead. Laugh at me all you want. Truth be told, making fun of a guy who does something that might be considered "girly" (like wearing a pink or purple shirt, having sewing as a hobby, or watching chick flicks) is stuff that kids in middle and high school do, and it's quite immature. I don't make fun of anyone because of what they watch; I let my friends watch what they want, when they want, and I'll talk to them about it if they want. I think pretty much all of my friends watch things that I would never watch; however, I'm not going to tell them what they should and shouldn't watch. I realize I may have done that in the past, but that was when I was a lot younger and a whole lot dumber. The same thing applies to hobbies and clothes; whatever hobby you have or clothes you wear are fine with me.
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