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INLOVEINAMOVIE: WOMENANDCONTEMPORARYROMANTICCOMEDY By ANDREAROCHELLEMABRY ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA 2004 Copyright2004 by AndreaRochelleMabry ForOliviaandGrace ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thisdissertationisverymuchacollaborativeeffort,andforitsexistenceIam indebtedtoagreatmanypeople. Ifirstwishtoexpressmyappreciationtothefacultyof theUniversityofFloridaDepartmentofEnglish,particularlythemembersofmy dissertationcommittee. ProfessorMaureenTurim,myadvisoranddissertationdirector, hasbeenaninvaluablementor,notonlyoverthecourseofthisproject,butthroughout mystudiesatFlorida. Herguidanceinthewritingofthisdissertation,fromtheoriginal seedofanideatothefinalreading,hasbeeninvaluable. Iamalsotrulygratefulto ProfessorsSusanHegeman,RogerBeebe,andNoraAlterfortheirenthusiasm,their advice,andtheirencouragementtotakemyworktonewlevels. MythanksalsogoouttomyfellowgraduatestudentsintheFloridaEnglish Departmentfortheirfriendshipandtheirgoodhumor. Thecamaraderieofotherstudents helpedlightenmanyastressfuldayasIworkedtocompletethisjourney. — — Finally,myfamily Mom,Dad,Linda,Christine,Tony,OliviaandGrace have alwaysprovidedmewithloveandsupport,notjustasIwrotethisdissertation,butall alongtheroadIhavetakentogettothispoint. Forthattheyhavemyloveandmy thanks. IV TABLEOFCONTENTS gage ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iv ABSTRACT vi INTRODUCTION:“THAT’SACHICK’SMOVIE”:CONTEMPORARY ROMANTICCOMEDYANDTHEFEMALESPECTATOR viii CHAPTER MANHATTANANDTHEMATERNAL:THEMEGRYANROMANTIC 1 COMEDIES 1 2 PRETTYWOMENANDRUNAWAYBRIDES:THEJULIAROBERTS ROMANTICCOMEDIES 42 3 WHENDIDYOUFALLINLOVEWITHHIP-HOP?CONTEMPORARY BLACKROMANTICCOMEDY 88 4 CHOUNRTREAMHPFOORRASRIYNGRLOEMTAONNCSE!THE“BRIDGETJONES-ING”OF 129 5 CONCLUSION:LOVEACTUALLYISALLAROUND 171 WORKSCITED 181 BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 195 v AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy INLOVEINAMOVIE: WOMENANDCONTEMPORARYROMANTICCOMEDY By AndreaRochelleMabry December2004 Chair: MaureenTurim MajorDepartment: English Thisdissertationlooksattheromanticcomediesofthe1980sand1990sintheir — historicalcontext thatis,post-SexualRevolution,post-CivilRights,post-AIDS America.Morespecifically,Iexaminehowthesetextsspeaktowomenattemptingto navigatethisuncertainsexualandsocialclimate.LikeTaniaModleski,Iseefeminine — — popularculture andwomen’sresponsestoit ascomplicatedandoftencontradictory. Becausetheyoftenpresentquiteconstrictivefantasiesforwomenattemptingtomake senseofmodemsexuality,romanticcomediesaregenerallydismissedaspatriarchal wish-fulfillment.Iargue,however,thattheycanalsobereadformoreprogressiveviews ofgenderandcontemporarysexualrelationships. Oneofmyprimaryconcernsinthis — studyisthetensionbetweenthesetwopositions atensionthatgrowsdirectlyoutofthe momentinwhichthesefilmsareproduced. InthisprojectIexplorewomen’shighlycomplexrelationshiptoromanticcomedy throughtextualanalysisofspecificfilmtextsandstars(Iincludechaptersonthe vi romanticcomediesofbothMegRyanandJuliaRoberts,aswellassectionsonraceand romanticcomedyandtherecentemergenceofthe“BridgetJones”narrativeandits implicationsforthegenreacrossforms)andcontextualanalysisofthegenre’sspecific moment.Idrawonanumberofcriticalmethodologies,includingJaniceRadwayand TaniaModleski’sstudiesofpopularcultureforwomen,thefeministpsychoanalyticwork ofsuchcriticsasJessicaBenjaminandLauraMulvey,writingsonraceandethnicityby FranzFanon,bellhooksandothers,andthestudiesofstarsandstardombycriticssuchas RichardDyer.Iexaminecontemporaryromanticcomedyaspartofalargerconversation forandaboutwomen,includingbothpopularrepresentationsandinstitutionaldiscourses onsex,thefamily,andfemaleemployment. vii INTRODUCTION: “THAT’SACHICK’SMOVIE”:CONTEMPORARYROMANTICCOMEDY ANDTHEFEMALESPECTATOR Thingsarealittledifferentnow. Firstyouhavetobefriends. Youhavetolike eachother. Thenyouneck. Thiscouldgoonforyears. Thenyouhavetests,and thenyougettodoitwithacondom. Thegoodnewsisyousplitthecheck. Jay(RobReiner),SleeplessinSeattle NearthemiddleofNoraEphron’sSleeplessinSeattle(1993),MegRyanandRosie O’DonnellsitinRyan’sapartmenttearfullywatchingtheclassicCaryGrant/Deborah KerrromanceAnAffairtoRemember. Afteraparticularlypoignantexchangebetween GrantandKerr,O’Donnellsobs,“Mennevergetthismovie!”Thissceneisaclear presentationofanimagewithwhichIbothidentifyandwanttocontend:awoman watchingandbeingmovedbyaromanticmovie.1 IbeginwithEphron’sfilm,partly becauseitisalongtimepersonalfavorite,butmainlybecauseitevokesthequestionsI willaddressinthisproject.Howdocontemporaryromanticcomediesreinforce traditional(patriarchal)notionsofsexand(hetero)sexualrelationships? What position(s)dotheyconstructforthefemalespectator?Whatmomentsofpleasureor resistancedotheyofferher? Andhow,despitetheiroftenconservativeovertones,do thesefilmscontinuetoappealtowomen-manyofwhomwouldidentifythemselvesas feminist? Iwillarguecontemporaryromanticcomedy’sappealliesmainlyititsdirect addresstowomen’sanxietiesaboutmodemsexuality. 1Thisopeningborrows,atleastinpart,fromthefirstchapterofMaryAnnDoane’sTheDesiretoDesire. Doanebegins—herstudyofwomenandthe1940’smelodramawithasimilarimageoffemale spectatorship inthiscase,MiaFarrowasthe“enraptured”filmfaninThePurpleRoseofCairo(1). viii Inthe1980s,criticssuchasTaniaModleskibrokenewtheoreticalgroundby arguingfor“mass-producedfantasiesforwomen”assubjectsofseriousintellectual inquiry. Modleski’sworkongothicnovels,Harlequinromances,andsoapoperashas revealedthecomplexitiesofthesetextsandtheirrelationshiptotheirfemaleconsumers. The“enormousandcontinuingpopularity”ofromancenovelsandsoapoperas,Modleski argues,“suggeststhattheyspeaktoveryrealproblemsandtensionsinwomen’slives” (Loving14). Inherstudyoffemaleromancenovelreaders,JaniceRadwaylikewise arguestheromancedoesnotsimplyforceits(oftenconservative)ideologyonitsreaders. Radway’sstudyreveals“thecomplicatedandcontradictorywaysinwhichtheromance recognizesandtherebyproteststheweaknessesofpatriarchyandthefailureoftraditional marriageevenasitapparentlyactstoasserttheperfectionofeach”(221). Likethe Harlequinnovelandthesoapopera,theromanticcomedyisacomplextextthat addressesitsviewersincontradictoryways. Yet,whileModleski,Radwayandothers haveproducedimportantworkonvarious“female”popularforms,verylittlehasbeen doneonromanticcomedy’s(particularlycontemporaryromance’s)addresstowomen. Todate,therehasnotbeenafull-lengthworkoncontemporaryHollywoodromancethat focusesonthegenre’sappealandaddresstofemalespectators. Romanticcomedies(particularlycontemporaryfilms)areoftendismissedas“fluff’ atbestandregressive,patriarchalwish-fulfillmentatworst.Yet,weshouldnot underestimatetheimportanceofthesefilmsinourculture. Boxofficefiguresindicate thattheycontinuetoappealtolargenumbersof(presumablyfemale)viewers.Ofthe filmsIwilldiscusshere,severalearnedover$100millionduringinitialtheatricalrelease. PrettyWoman(1990),forexample,grossednearly$180million,andSleeplessinSeattle IX . justover$125million(Rubenfeld71). Althoughticketsalesmaynotbeafoolproof measureofafilm’sculturalimportance,itisdifficulttodenythatapictureearning$180 millionhassomesortofculturalsignificance,especiallywhenweconsiderthatthat figureisin1990dollars.“Fluff’ornot,thesefilmsaredesignedforandmarketedtoa massaudience,andtheyoftensucceedinreachingthataudience.Perhapsmore significantthanboxofficereceiptsisthewayanumberofromanticcomedieshave becomepartofourpopularlexicon. “HarryandSally,”forexample,hasbecomeakind ofshorthandforalong-termplatonicrelationshipthatfinallybecomesromantic. Similarly,“BridgetJones”hasrecentlybecomeapopularsignifierbothofthesingle, slightlyhaplessurbanworkinggirlandofanewpopulargenreknownas“chicklit.” The hugefinancialandculturalimpactofromanticcomedyisonecompellingreasontogive thegenreasmuchcriticalattentionashasbeengivenothermoreostensiblyweighty texts. Moreimportantly,romanticcomedycanbeanimportantindicatorofaculture’s anxietiesandexpectationsaboutsexrolesandrelationships.AsFredericJamesonargues, followingNormanHolland,oneofthejobsofaculturaltextistomanagethefearsand desiresofthatculture. Jamesonwritesthat thepsychicfunctionoftheworkofArtmustbedescribedinsuchawayt—hat.. twoinconsistentandevenincompatiblefeaturesofaestheticgratification onthe onehandthewish-fulfillingfunction,butontheotherthenecessitythatits symbolicstructureprotectthepsycheagainstthefrighteningand—potentially damagingeruptionofpowerfularchaicdesiresandwish-material besomehow harmonizedandassignedtheirplaceastwindrivesofasinglestructure.(25) Forsomecritics,genrefilmsareparticularlyadeptatharmonizingthesetwindrives. FrankKrutnikassertsthat“ingeneral,genericforms[act]asafunctionalinterface betweenthecinematicinstitution,audiences,andthewiderrealmofculture”(57). x