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John Wick & Other Chick Flicks

A Reflection on the Embarrassing Attempt to Perpetuate Gender Norms in Media

Growing up, people referred to movies like Grease, Dirty Dancing, Mean Girls and other “romance-comedies” as chick flicks while grouping action movies like Taken and John Wick together as “guy movies.” The truth is Taken has much more in common with a romance comedy like P.S. I Love You, and John Wick’s rage is more akin to Janice Ian than it is to Captain America’s.

Movies showcasing unparalleled rage are as feminine as it gets. They showcase a main character living out a fantastical journey of vengeance that is ultimately understood and appreciated. Who can relate better than a person being told her gender negates her ambition.

On the other side of the spectrum, you have these absolutely dopey movies where the woman is helpless, directionless, beautiful but doesn’t know it, and her life finally obtains meaning when the walking jaw line enters and tells her he wants to bankroll her life as his maid. He promises with his dismissive conversation and dominant actions that if anything goes wrong, they don’t need to even think about it because he will shoulder the consequences and lift her up into an over the top dance move at the end. Tell me, do you really think Regina George would be into that?

The films that romanticize the suffering of a woman to spur a man into this best self are certainly promoting the worst type of male fantasy, but to say ONLY action films fit into that realm does a disservice to the audiences. Just because there’s an acoustic guitar and a flowery dress doesn’t mean the movie is representative of feminine ideals.

Films that romanticize strength an independence are for everyone, exist across genres, and are too often kicked into the realm of “girl movies” when the main character is cute.