OK, Try Again... by Aaron Graves This Week.... Sports Movies Help Lonely Men
I enjoy a variety of films, from action, to sci-fi, to drama. However, I have noticed that a recent type of movie has gained more and more notoriety. It is known as the “Chick Flick.” It is becoming so popular that video stores should soon be building on whole new wings just to accommodate the volume of these movies.
What makes up a “Chick Flick?” Some say if a woman cries during the movie, it qualifies. However, several factors come into play to make a “Chick Flick.” First and foremost, if the movie revolves around a woman’s life and relationships, it is most likely a “Chick Flick.” Second, some “Chick Flicks” have a Cinderella aspect to them; a down-on-her-luck woman finds true love and happiness in her own right.
However, not ever “Chick Flick” centers on women. For example, if a movie involves a gentle, handsome man that mysteriously shows up and changes everybody’s life, and is dying because his transplanted monkey heart is failing, and in the process teaches the heroine of the movie to love again after she lost her first seven husbands to various plane and bus crashes, and the hero risks his life - usually with his shirt off - for the love of this woman, this movie is a “Chick Flick.”
Most guys I know do not like viewing “Chick Flicks.” The movie offers little to keep a man’s interest. There is usually no real action to speak of. Most of the movie is dialogue and is followed by at least two hours of post movie discussion with his girlfriend about relationship issues raised in the film.
However, a smart man will endure the “Chick Flick” aspect of dating if he wants to build a lasting relationship.
I can vouch from experience that sometimes a “Chick Flick” movie festival is just what the doctor ordered to cure a low spell in the marriage relationship. And after thirteen years of marriage, I admit that even I have included some “Chick Flicks” among my favorite films.
However, this raises a question. If there is a “Chick Flick,” what kind of movie would bear the honorable title of a “Guy Flick?” This used to be an easy call. All you had to do was see who the main star was. Marlon Brando, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood - just their presence in the movie made it an authentic “Guy Flick.” Then Clint Eastwood showed up in "Bridges of Madison County" and muddled up the whole “Guy Flick” definition. Now you have to rely on content to determine if a movie is right for a real man to watch.
Here is a list of authentic “Guy Flick” plot points: Men dealing with unbeatable odds, men dealing with matters of national security, men dealing with corrupting influences, men being corrupting influences, men dealing with technology gone wrong, men getting into relationships with unusually deadly women, con movies, anything involving time travel, any movie in which the earth will blow up if something isn’t done about it, any movie about vengence for dead family memebers, any movie in which a guy does something wrong and unleashes Satan on an unsuspecting world, any movie that Leonardo DiCaprio drowns in, any movie involving more than three minutes worth of car chase footage, any movie in which the hero’s father turns out to be the leader of an evil galactic empire, and any movie with Catherine Zeta Jones in it.
Of course, the best “Guy Flick” movies are sports movies. Here, in the structured arena of the sports world, men deal with life, love, loyalty, death, old age, shattered dreams and alcoholism while winning the most important game of their career. These movies work because guys like me think we are watching a normal game with sideline seats and behind-the-scene cameras. By the closing credits, however, we realize that we have actually been tricked into being emotionally enlightened.
But this is OK. An enlightened man is more likely to survive the “Chick Flick” phase of dating than the unenlightened man.
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