THE CHICK FLICK CHALLENGE

When Harry Met Sally.
While You Were Sleeping.
Terms of Endearment.
The Help.

If I told you that these films were favorites in our household would you guess that they were some of my favorites or those of my wife?  Most of you would probably assume they were my wife's favorite films. And you would be...wrong.

Yes, I will be secure enough in my masculinity to admit that I like a good chick flick. In fact my wife says I am a bigger fan of them than she is. For whatever reason my DNA is wired to enjoy pretty much every movie that Sandra Bullock has ever made. In our household DVD collection of 400+ movies, only about 10 of them are mine. The rest belong to my better half. But of my 10 many of them are classic chick flicks: The Blind Side, 13 Going on 30 and Steel Magnolias to name a few.

A new one I may want to add to my collection is the Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones film Hope Springs. I have seen the commercial for it a few times now and I am trying to convince my wife it looks entertaining. Chances are I won't get her to go see it with me and I will wait until it comes out on DVD.

I try to justify my love for chick flicks by saying that these films tend to have better writing and character development. Plus they often have strong dramatic performances. And I think these things are true. But it may also just be that I need a good cry every now and then.

My guess is there are more men like me out there. Men who love Mel Gibson in Braveheart but also found him hilarious in What Women Want.