I adore my wife. And I adore Kate Winslet. (For the record, in that order.) But something happens to my internal organs whenever my lovely turns on The Holiday, a recent cable television staple. It’s simply a film I can’t abide, and I don’t think I can explain my revulsion rationally. I’m actually a great admirer of several of that film’s actors, but even their performances inexplicably make me, well, aggressively irritated. For my wife, however, The Holiday (pictured, left) is comfort viewing. It doesn’t matter which scene is playing when she tunes in, she’s hooked until the closing credits. I imagine it has something to do with the vicarious thrill of living in Cameron Diaz’s spacious L.A. pad or canoodling with Jude Law in an English hamlet. My reaction is quite different, and if I’m unfortunate enough to be around for the scene where Jack Black be-bops a medley of movie soundtracks at the music store, the battle for control of the remote becomes downright physical.
To be fair, my wife experiences a similar reaction whenever Happy Gilmore (pictured, right), a guilty pleasure of mine, trespasses across our television set. Clearly, there are certain movies targeted to one sex at the expense of the other. The good folks over at IMDb.com have accumulated data about this very fragile male/female film fault line within their “ratings” section of each movie listing, and I wasn’t surprised by some of their results. Films like Sex and the City, Now & Then, Dirty Dancing, Twilight, Waiting to Exhale, and Mamma Mia were significantly more popular with females, while movies like Patton, The Wild Bunch, Unforgiven, Dumb & Dumber, Heat, and The Big Lebowski appealed disproportionally to men.
There have been and will always by “chick flicks” and “guy movies,” but it’s the rare film that has the potential to splinter a relationship. I’ve forgiven Kate Winslet for her Holiday indiscretion; I’m still coming to grips with my wife’s affection for such a facile, half-ass romantic-comedy that makes little logical or coherent sense and is clearly more enamored with other more successful romantic-comedies than it is with either real romance or comedy. But I digress.
What’s your deal-breaker movie, the one polarizing film that makes you want to burn the DVD, exorcise your television, and take the batteries out of the remote? Did you know your significant other was addicted to it when you met, and what steps have you taken to get him or her help?
kate & leopold. Once i see Meg Ryan climbing into someones window I am already changing the channel
admittedly I enjoy my husband’s favorite movie, but he watches it CONSTANTLY. for some reason every holiday, mildly patriotic day, or Saturday/Sunday without football is an excuse to watch Armageddon. It’s a good movie maybe once every couple of years, but not every other week.
You poor thing. Repeated viewings of Armageddon is just painful.
a SINGLE viewing of Armageddon is painful!
Agreed. Armageddon is a chick flick disguised as a guy movie. Horrendous!
Seinfeld–boyfriend loves it and has all the dvds. I liked it when it was on, but CANNOT stand to watch it now. He sometimes listens to the episode audio to fall asleep at night. Compromise: when I stay over, no listening to audio at bedtime–he can watch/listen all he wants when I’m not around.
My guy loves the movie “300″, a movie that makes me want to watch anything with a large dose of estrogen to cleanse myself. At the very least most of the actors have nice abs.
So does mine, Cady. So much that we even have to watch the History Channel’s documentary about the story behind “300″ every time it’s on. Happily, I am actually equally inexplicably fascinated by both of those things — so it totally works!!
My ex used to quote every. single. line. from “300.” Consequently, now I think I can too.
I have two: Forrest Gump and Atonement. They aren’t horrible in the pandering department, but I just don’t hold with “message” of these movies.
My ex would ONLY watch Jackie Chan movies. Or comic book movies. Both of which I have NO interest in…. needless to say we didn’t go to the movies much.
My husband is glued to the set every time “Dances With Wolves” is on. Never mind the fact that he has the VCR, DVD & Collector’s DVD of it..he is drawn by an unseen force to STAND directly in front of the tv until Kevin Costner rides his horse up the mountain. I loved the movie in 1989 and it was filmed in the area we live in, but seriously, 3 hours of staring at the screen never to get a snack, go to the bathroom, answer the phone, have sex? Really?
lol awww!
That’s hilarious! I came home tonight late wanting to watch NBC’s comedy lineup, and my husband had already camped out on the sofa w/ Dances with Wolves on AMC (with commercials) even though we have it on DVD.
Actually he has two – and both make me want to throw myself off of the nearest building…
1) Captain Ron
2) Back to School
Ugh – and I swear, he really is an intellectual. He just LOVES these two movies. To be fair though – everytime View from the Top is on – I MUST WATCH IT.
My boyfriend makes me watch Captain Ron 2. Of course he also has an obsession with The Ladies Man and The Green Mile. But to be fair I can’t help watching Drumline and Definitely, Maybe. I will stop and watch both movies no matter what else is on.
When I first met my fiance in college, his guilty pleasure with his best friend was Bio Dome…yes, a Pauley Shore movie. I had never watched it, so I gave it a go a couple of times back then and found mostly replusive but mildly tolerable. But after repeated viewings, I grew to really hate it and when we moved in together there came with it a ban of the movie while I was around. He got me to watch it again not too long ago, and I realized I hated more now than ever. That said, he feels the same way about Sex and the City. He can stomach most chick stuff and even has learned to really like some of it…but the minute Miranda goes all alpha female, he’s out.
Deal-breakers: Sex & The City. I checked out much later than I thought I would, but I waited too long. And The Notebook.
My husband has an active appreciation for very, very slow and tragic dramas. The slower and more tragic, the better. Bonus points for anyone who can be slower and more tragic than Kurosawa.
We don’t normally watch films along gender lines, we just like good movies – he introduced me to the Colin Firth Pride & Prejudice, I bring home anything starring Steve McQueen – but if there’s a deal-breaker amongst movies I have on the shelf, he understandably draws the line at “Masters of the Universe.”
Closer. Without a doubt, my girl loves LOVES that movie, and as much as I want to like it, because I like Clive Owen, Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, and Jude Law, I just can’t get behind it. It does have one perk though: It always makes me fall asleep. (I think it’s a defense mechanism!)
my SO loves that film with Freddy Prinz Jr and Monica Potter where she lives with models. And “TomCats.” To both I say “blech.”
On the other hand, he will never watch a Russell Crowe movie with me, no matter what, and Gladiator is on my repeated viewing rotation. Ditto Henry V with Ken Branagh. If Ken’s on, my SO is not in the room.
I would consider a love of The Holiday grounds for divorce.
Evil Dead. I’m pretty sure that idiotic trilogy was the catalyst of the breakup.
I think not liking Evil Dead should be grounds for a break up. That’s insanity.
I have to say if my boyfriend didn’t like The Evil Dead trilogy that relationship wouldn’t last very long, in fact probably not past the first date….