Chicks vs dudes

Is there a healthy medium? Rania Habib investigates.

Who doesn't love a good chick flick? The romance, the twists, the impossibly hot guy with the heart of a teddy bear, the ever-so-slightly imperfect girl who gets the dream-boat … ah, really, who doesn't just love chick flicks?

Guys. That's who. How many of us girls have made our guy sit through Patrick Swayze's enticing moves in Dirty Dancing, or Richard Gere falling for a hooker with a heart of gold in Pretty Woman? Even the toughest of us girls are guilty of a weakness for chick flicks. And we all somehow believe that secretly, somewhere deep down inside, our guy must be feeling the same mushy and fuzzy things we are feeling.

The truth is guys may secretly like those movies because they harbour a crush on Julia Roberts and not because they fantasise that the storyline could ever happen to them. Shortly after the memory of the hot actress has faded, the boys will voice their desire for a guy's movie, something with plenty of blood, violence and cursing to shake off the girly flick they've just endured.

But how about a healthy medium? I've just seen this summer's blockbuster hit, Wedding Crashers, and to tell you the truth, I laughed out loud. Given that laughing out loud at the movies is a rare occurrence for me, I can safely say it was fun, and possibly the healthy medium guys and girls are looking for. Wedding Crashers is about two buddies whose common hobby involves crashing all kinds of weddings in order to seduce vulnerable women and then move on to the next one at the next wedding. All goes well until … uh oh … one of them really falls for a girl.

In short, Wedding Crashers is a dude-flick for the most part, and it is pretty darn funny. I just wonder why I enjoyed it so much, when guys around me won't even sit through five minutes of Notting Hill with me. Am I more of a guy's girl, or are chick-flicks just too sappy for their own good?

It may be a little bit of both, but we have to admit, dude-flicks have more of a universal appeal, attracting the boys looking for a good time, and reeling in the girls hoping to have a few laughs and cunningly gain insight into the male psyche.

So for all you guys out there who have girlfriends who just love watching the likes of Richard Gere dancing to save his marriage and Ben Affleck struggling through a crying scene, I've put together a list that you can stick on the fridge door: "Rentable Movies: The Healthy Medium Between the Chick and the Dude Flick."

Jerry Maguire

Girly Points: Tom, Tom, Tom; "you had me at hello," "you complete me," and a whole bunch of other cheesy lines; the cute little kid with the big glasses; single mom gets the hunk. Why wouldn't the girls love it?

Macho Points: It's a love story set around a sports story: guys will get sports with a little bit of drama, and who doesn't enjoy a little drama? Plus, Tom's zany behaviour makes up for the cheese factor associated with the love story. Jerry Maguire also stars Cuba Gooding Jr., definitely a guy's guy, and Renee Zellweger; there's a crush they won't mind watching for a couple of hours.

American Pie

Girly Points: While girls may cringe and outwardly look down on crude humour, everyone has to admit that they did laugh throughout the American Pie movies. Also, behind all the crude humour lie several little love stories which make up for the foul jokes and excessive nudity.

Macho Points: All men can relate to the urgency of being proved a stud. And if Shannon Elizabeth in the role of a sexy foreign exchange student isn't enough to keep boys watching, then there are plenty of other bombshells (i.e. Tara Reid) to keep them tuned in. Besides, any kind of bodily fluid humour is always amusing to men.

About A Boy

Girly Points: Two words, Hugh Grant.

Macho Points: The guys who previously hated Hugh Grant will respect him for making About A Boy. Rather than playing the usual oddball Brit with funny hair and a heart of gold, Grant plays the role of a self-absorbed, selfish single man who loves nothing more than the comforts of singledom. His portrayal of an exaggeratedly single man struggling to make space for others in his life is sarcastic and funny.

There's Something About Mary

Girly Points: There's Something About Mary is a love story between a geeky guy with an enormous crush on a gorgeous yet down to earth girl. What girl hasn't seen herself in Mary, beautiful on both the inside and the outside?

Macho Points: Cameron Diaz and the hair ‘gel' scene. Laughs all the way.

Scent of a Woman

Girly Points: Chris O'Donnell is a highly underrated cutie, and as for the ladies who enjoy older men, Al Pacino is a delight. Scent of a Woman is filled to the brim with class and the tango scene will have you signing up to the next available tango class.

Macho Points: Al Pacino. If Al Pacino had starred in Notting Hill instead of Hugh Grant, the boys would have loved the movie; that's just how much the boys love Al Pacino.

Just like their female counterparts, the guys will love the tango scene and will imagine themselves seducing a beautiful girl with their dance floor moves. Yeah right!

– Source: www.entertainyourbrain.com