Response Paper

Shawna Powell
My Best Friends Wedding
As stated in Tamar McDonald’s book, Romantic Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre, romantic comedies are viewed as guilty pleasures. When analyzing a certain genre of movie, like a romantic comedy, there are certain elements that need to be addressed and will offer a proper structure to the film. As I began analyzing one of my favorite romantic comedies, My Best Friends Wedding, deciphering the elements of the genre were much easy to witness with the new found knowledge I have obtained.
In the earlier sentences of the chapter of Romantic Comedies, McDonald states that “(Romantic Comedies) Satisfy because they provide easy, uncomplicated pleasures” (McDonald: 7). When I would watch a movie, I never realized that I enjoyed them immensely because they came with no urge to use my brain cells. As I sat down to watch a classic Julia Roberts movie, I recognized that it fits into that mold; the mold of the generic love story that has been done once, twice, a million times.
The film is centered on Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts), a 27-year-old New York restaurant critic who receives a call from her long-time friend Michael O'Neal .In College, the two made an agreement that if neither of them were married by the time they turned 28, they would marry each other. Three weeks before her 28th birthday, Michael tells her he has fallen in love with and is about to marry a 20-year-old college student from a wealthy family. This causes Julianne to realize she has always been in love with Michael and cannot stand to see him wed another woman.
McDonald further states that another element of a romantic comedy is there will always be visual characteristics. These characteristics are identifiable in most movies and create a symbol for the particular genre. He states that “Consider the reception within the genre of articles associated with weddings, as well as chocolates, candlelight, beds…” (11). Having a movie’s setting placed predominantly around a wedding shows that love and romance is the main plot; it is a subconscious facet that love is saturated in some aspect throughout the entire movie.
One aspect that doesn’t really match up with McDonald theory is “Romantic comedies are boy meets, loses, regains girl” (12). In this particular movie, boy does meet and loose girl, however it is the girl that attempts to regain boy. As stated earlier, the plot revolves Julia Roberts going to profess her undying love to her ex-boyfriend in hopes to break up his wedding. Although it does not fit the perfect mold, there is the same structure just switched sexes at the end.
Everyone wants to have hoped that someday they soon will find true love. Perhaps that is the lure of romantic comedies; they offer the insight and fantasy of finding your soul mate but is it realistic? McDonald says that “In giving the audience a high degree of closure with the happy ending in films of this genre, are romantic comedies benign, supplying an on-screen fantasy of perpetual bliss usually lacking in real life?” (14). One aspect I enjoyed about My Best Friend’s Wedding is the movie did not end up in the usual fairy tale happy ending. When Julia Roberts character finally musters up enough courage to tell Michael how much she wants to be with him, the audience feels like it will end up the “normal” way. However, Michael ends up marrying his 20-something fiancé, leaving Julia Roberts embarrassed and alone; which doesn’t happen normally. I really liked that even though she didn’t end up with her “prince”, she still stood up for what she believed in and she received closure.
Another aspect that needs to be considered is that My Best Friends Wedding is quite radical. The definition of radical romance states that "It is often willing to abandon the empahsis on making sure the couple ends up together, regardless of likelihood, instead striving to interrogate the ideology of romance" (59). The movie applies to this theory because the entire movie is based on Julia Roberts pursuing the man, not the other way around; the generic way movies have been for decades before the radical romance comedies. Another aspect that gives the movie a radical twist is Julia Roberts character does not end up with the man in the end; she ends up dancing with a gay man. Both of those scenarios are extremly radical at this time becasue the 'happily every after' dream does not come true, and homosexuality was not very prevalent during this period.
For the most part romantic comedies are light hearted, and predominantly made for women; however they offer a sense of hope for those looking for love, and give commonality to those who are in love and can relate to the movie. My Best Friends Wedding has most of the aspects that allows it to be placed in the romantic comedy genre; however it also meets the criteria to be a radical romance as well. And who doesn’t love Rupert Evert sing “I’ll Say A Little Pray for You” ?


Works Cited:

Hogan, PJ. My Best Friends Wedding

McDonald, Tamar. Romantic Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre. Wallflower press. London. 2007

shasha82186@msn.com

Ethnography

Ha, that's ironic! Like some of my peers, I work in a restaurant/bar that is located on Santa Monica Boulevard, so there is a massive variety and diversity of people that come through the restaurant. I wanted to observe the patrons with the knowledge I have received from class; like woman as a second sex.I work at nights a lot, so I have so many observations I could write a novel; but I will keep it short and sweet.One of the couples that came in last night really made me happy. It was a really pretty woman, in her late 20’s and her boyfriend who was similar in age. They were dressed like it was a “date night” and they seemed like they genuinely enjoyed each others company. I sat them outside and he got up to use the restroom. She was sitting there by herself on her phone, and the minute he walked back outside, she looked up and her face lit up, sincerely excited to see him; even though he was away for five minutes! It made me think of Beauvoir’s article as Woman as the Second Sex. Did this girl really love this man, or was she relying on him? If the situation was switched, and the girl left briefly and walked back in- would the boy smile that big like she did? When he walked in, did he feel superior because she was sitting there waiting for him? Am I reading too much into this??Working in West Hollywood allows me to connect with the gay community- and I love them! So during observation it is inevitable that gay romance would be included. We have a lot of regulars, so I know which guy is more feminine or the girl, and the manlier one of the couple. One couple in particular came in the other night, and I watched there interaction more closely. They are a very, very good looking couple, always dressed to the nines and always really affectionate. They took a seat at the bar, and both harmlessly flirted with our bartender, and then settled into the stool. As the evening wore on, they were always touching somehow- whether it was a playful nudge, or a hand on the shoulder. They also were always laughing. In my eyes, laughter is always a sign of a good, healthy relationship. Even though you are dealing with two men, Beauvoir’s article can still be witnessed. It is easy to see which man is “the other”. It might not be his body parts that set him apart from the other, it is body language. Man 1, was always the initiator, always wanting to be noticed and needed; much like women can be. Man 2 paid for the drinks, and would respond to what Man 1 was initiating. It was quite interesting witnessing the theories we’ve been discussing in class for the past few weeks come to life.

Everyday is a Hollyday

I was so excited that Breakfast at Tiffany's was assigned; this is one of my favorite
books. I really enjoy the complexities of Holly Golightly and she is an embodiment of
what we have been discussing in class. Holly is a radical woman, especially in the time
frame that this story was written. She is portratyed to always be in the company of men;
not always sexually but they are always in her presence. Is it that she is "the other", or
is she in control of the situation? I think she is in control, and is impowered by her raw
sexuality. She has the basic instincts to use her beauty and sexuality to take care of
herself financially. She visits Sing Sing every Thursday to support herself; some call it
prostitution, I call it survival.
I enjoy the novella over the movie, because the book protrays Ms.Golightly in a powerful
and in control atmosphere; the movie makes her appear almost naive and flighty.

I've Got the Guts to die.. Do you have the guts to live?

Ambiguity is saturated throughout Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Tennessee Williams has a certain ease and fluidity in his character development, which makes the reader aware certain characteristics; however also leaves them constantly dissecting the dialogue. At face value, the characters embody the norm of family values and familial constructs. However with further analysis it is evident that these individuals are extremely complex and almost have an aura of deception and lies.One aspect of ambiguity that really stood out, that really wasn't discussed in class, was the aspect of the interruptions throughout the play. During conversations between characters, there was always something else going on. Like when Big Daddy and Brick are having one of the most real conversations of the play, the phone is ringing. Big Mama purposely walks through the room where they are talking to answer the phone; and Williams bounces between the phone conversation and Brick's and Big Daddy's talk. It is clear that Williams wants to portray that there is no privacy in the house. Big Daddy's tells Brick this that "The walls have ears..." It is stated that someone is always listening throughout the play, but it is humorous because there is so much drama. However, Mae and Gooper have mastered hand signals to avoid the eavesdropping.There was a reference made at the end of last class about the meaning of a cage. One gentleman stated that each bar on the cage represented a choice that the character made; that made a certain choice that eliminated another possible one. The choice could be a positive one, or could have been one full of regret. An ambiguous angle is Maggie has built her cage beautifully in her eyes. She married into money and now has the possibility to own one of the richest lands this side of the Nile. Her poor upbringing is mentioned numerous times, which validates her reasoning to stay in a marriage that is still together simply to save face. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Big Daddy regrets certain bars of his cage. He built his empire from the ground up, and he is very proud of his accomplishments. However, with the good news of a "spastic colon" he re-evaluates his life; and it isn't what he wanted. He is married to a woman who he has been married for forty years, and it seems like he is totally unhappy. He makes numerous remarks about his fat wife, and how he encourages Brick to sleep with more women. The cage metaphor is great because it allows the reader to see what money can do to people. Maggie had none growing up, and now that she has it she will do at nothing to loose it. Big Daddy has more money than most will see in a lifetime, yet is dying, and not happy in the least. Oh, the joy of irony.

Slow Dancing In a Burning Room

The facets that surround feminism weave a web of contradictory, inspiration and a glimmer of hope. It is a topic that seems to go through cycles, and one always wonders why there isn't a resoultion? Like slow dancing in a burning room. I applaud Simone de Beavoir's article on the Second Sex because she is able to express thoughts that sometimes others may over look. I have never considered myself a raging femminist, however I do feel that women must rely on themselves first and for most; ah, the let the contridictions begin! It amused me when she stated "Men can think of himself without women.. however she cannot think of herself without man." That is a rather bold statement, although even in today's society it is mostly true. I was intrigued to make the focal point of my reading not only about the actual content but about the parallelism that the concpets had in modern day. In innocent observation of others, it seems that women do identify themselves with man. Whether it is grocery shopping, laundry, and tending to the children it always revolves around someone else; she is the other. Even a woman attending college, she is not soley there for her. There is a deeper reasoning; she could be there to better her education which in turn could allow her a better job. And a better job could be the equivilent of competing with a man for that position. Or gaining her new found status, which is appealing to others. "He is the subject, he is the absoulte- she is the other". No matter which aspect is disected it always seems that the women, in 1949 or 2008, is the other sex. It is a delicate subject that is not always easy to discuss, however Beavoir allowed women to appriciate their sex, and also let men realize the trials and tribulations that the female has been through. I am proud of the progress that women have made, and that we are allowed to do things my predecesors never imagined; however it seems that in reality there still is a lot of progress to make. But I guess we should be thankful to dance at all, even if the room is burning.

So Long Sweet Summer

The thought of the first day of my senior year brought on a plethora of emotions; excitment, fear and complete dread of waking up earlier again. I was quite hesitant registering for an English class due to the fact that I was stepping out of my comfort zone of the history major nerd cult. This English class was a reqiurement, so I bit the bullet and went into the other side. I had two history classes before my English class, and I was building up courage to step into the unknown. As I entered the smaller class, my nerves diminished. I have never experienced a professor with so much personality and a willingness to make everyone feel welcomed. I was so excited to begin this new adventure. Never in my collegiate years have I ever heard "No papers or tests, just discussion"; I thought for sure I was on one of those reality shows where everything was a big joke. As the class moved along and the syllabus was distributed ( I still am in awe that Sex and the City is a requirement; there is a God!) and I realized it was legit, I could not help but think I picked the wrong major. To my surprise, Professor Wexler puts on Anchorman and Fatal Attraction. He wanted us to focus on the gender roles, and the sex themes. I really enjoyed watching one of my favorite movies from a different perspective and being able to compare it to another movie. It was a view that I never really paid any attention to. I really liked in the discussion following the movies, someone mentioned that in Fatal Attraction was in the male's point of view. I always looked at it through Glenn Close's character. I am really excited about this class. I really like how I can read everyone elses thoughts on here, and listen to my peers during discussions. I enjoy that Professor encourages us to discuss different themes with each other. This is such a glourious change from the world of history!