A Daring Boy Named Bob

A boy named Bob* down my hall saw the movie Love Actually this past weekend when he visited his girlfriend. Love Actually was publicized as a “Chick Flick”, a movie about love and Romantic humor. If a guy wanted to see Love Actually, he must be crazy because it is a movie that only appeals to girls’ interests. So for Bob to see Love Actually is a huge step for mankind.
It turns out Bob loved this movie! He confessed he found it funny and “cute” at some parts. All week he continuously asked everyone if they had seen Love Actually. Of course, all the girls had seen it and immediately went off about their favorite part and the how much they loved Hugh Grant. The ‘strong’ men had not seen the movie. They all looked skeptically at Bob with blank, half-sincere smiles. Bob proceeded to tell them that they should definitively see Love Actually, with an open mind of course.
Why do they have to see it with an open mind? Why does the media make movies out to be a certain way? Publicists spend hours determining the image that a certain movie wants to portray. If they want to appeal to women and young girls, they will make the movie into a chick flick; emphasizing the love scenes and romantic humor. If they want to appeal to mean and teenage boys, they will emphasize the fight scenes and crude humor. Because of the different media portrayals, certain groups of people refuse to see a movie that does not appeal to their interest group.
But as I was looking more into this topic, I realized that not only does the media try to capture certain types of audience, but they also advertise for the season. Love Actually made two movie trailers (go to http://www.loveactually.com/ and click on trailers to check it out). One was for the Christmas Season and highlighted the parts of the movie that were about Christmas. There is Christmas music playing in the background and images of Christmas trees and lights. You feel that you must see this movie to get into the Christmas Spirit! But, what happens after Christmas comes and goes? The producers must make another trailer so people will still see the movie. Now the publicists emphasize love and a romantic comedy. Instead of saying, “In the holiday season it’s the perfect time of year to fall in love,” they will persuade you to see the movie by announcing, “from the creators of Four Weddings and Notting Hill, comes the ultimate romantic comedy, Love Actually.” Now you will still see the movie, even though it isn’t the holidays!
So, next time you see a romantic trailer, boys, or a gory fight scene, girls, don’t be discouraged. Sometimes we don’t think movies appeal to our tastes because the media makes us think this way. Go see a chick flick with your girlfriend and go see an action movie with your younger brothers, with an open mind of course.

*Name has been changed to protect the identity of those involved.