Serving the campus of the University of Alabama since 1894

The Crimson White


Serving the campus of the University of Alabama since 1894

The Crimson White

Serving the campus of the University of Alabama since 1894

The Crimson White

Month of the chick flick

Thirty chick flicks in 30 days. One full month of sappy love songs, tearful breakups and corny, you-had-me-at-hello moments could drive any sane man crazy, no?

Well, a happy husband named Nick Waters decided that was his ticket to a better understanding of the female dynamic and its views on love and relationships. He also believed it would bring him closer to his wife of seven years.

Charming? Maybe.

Romantic? Possibly.

Practical? I don’t think so.

Sure, I like a guy who, every now and then, will cuddle up in front of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” with me, but this is just a tad ridiculous. Studying movies that are – at best – fictional realities to determine what love is to women is far-fetched and idealistic.

After the month was over, Waters said, “Love is tender, and any real relationship is based on forgiveness, compassion and vulnerability.”

I wonder how his wife is going to feel when she realizes that she, herself, now has a wife.

Starting off with “Waitress,” Waters and his wife, Nicci, watched chick flicks made after 2007 such as “Nights in Rodanthe,” “Sex and the City” and “Mamma Mia!” in his attempt to gain feminine understanding. Waters said that while it was usually just the two of them curling up on their couch to watch the movies, they’d occasionally have up to 20 people for a mixed-gender viewing party.

First, eww. If you were going to drown yourself in the estrogen-laden embraces, wouldn’t you try to choose something better? (I’m saying this only looking at the sample of the 30 movies chosen, but still.)

Second, I guess this guy deserves a little commendation for getting at least some of his “macho male” friends to join in on a piece of his month’s fun. Though, I have a feeling that they won’t be diving into the full experiment themselves any time soon.

One commenter on the story said, “[I’m] a man and … actually saw most of those movies. The thing is I didn’t watch them to learn anything about women. If you have to learn about the opposite sex through fictional made up movies, then you aren’t worthy of any woman. Every woman isn’t [Julia Roberts] and you aren’t Richard Gere.

“There’s no cookie cutter method. I’ve learned something new from every relationship I have ever been in,” he continued. “You get experience from life, not from movies.”

Thank you, random gentleman.

Waters didn’t learn anything about relationships. He learned about the art of filmmaking and screenwriting. He simply watched actors play out a script they knew the ending to. If they make a bad choice, it’ll be all right because the writers have made it so.

Trial and error is the basis of human interaction. Actually, I take that back. It’s the basis of all interactions both by human beings and animals. You think the peacock never got his brightly colored tail feathers turned down by the homely females of his species simply for shaking them the wrong way?

In any event, I know some people may believe that Waters’ actions were amorous and sentimental. And that he did it for the best interest of his marriage and for the love of his wife. But not every woman wants to be wooed by the heroic, Hollywood antics of a leading man or flattered by the over-the-top, compassionate understanding of a male girlfriend.

Debra Flax is a sophomore majoring in journalism. Her column runs on Thursdays.

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