Guys love romance movies. Seriously, we do. How many guys do you know who do not like “”The Princess Bride?”” It’s a really small amount, even though that movie is coated with romance. And it’s not because of the pirates or Inigo Montoya — although, those certainly help — guys wouldn’t watch that movie if they didn’t respect Cary Elwes for having great game.
We love romance movies, but only when they’re actually romantic. If the guy with bad game wins the girl, we’re disinterested because that’s not how it works. If we admire him, we’ll sit through anything.
I’ve heard the argument that guys don’t like romantic comedies because they’re clichéd. That’s stupid; guys like “”Commando”” and “”Training Day.”” We can see past clichés.
Case in point, there are two conventional movies most guys say they hate, but don’t really: “”You’ve Got Mail”” and “”Love Actually.”” Tom Hanks goes through an outlandish amount of self-deprivation to get Meg Ryan to stop hating him, and Colin Firth learns Portuguese for a girl. That level of romance impresses us and makes us strive to be better lovers.
Every guy has his favorite romance movie — mine is “”The Sure Thing”” — and I guarantee that the movie is his favorite because of the male lead. As guys, we idolize the men that are better than us. In this field, that would be guys with better game.
In my many years as a boy, I have learned that all guys hate “”A Walk To Remember.”” That’s because Shane West doesn’t have good game. Pay attention to the movie, he doesn’t do anything genuinely romantic. Rather, Mandy Moore has a list of things to do and he does them. That’s not romance, that’s a checklist. A romantic movie isn’t interesting to us if we can do better than the guy.
We enjoy movies where the male lead can woo a girl on the strength of his personality — especially if the girl is way out of the guy’s league. “”Say Anything”” is the best example of this. John Cusack isn’t the best looking guy, but he’s so endearing, he can get the girl of his dreams. That’s a character any guy can root for. Fact: Every guy wishes he had thought of holding up a boombox outside a girl’s window first.
When I was in high school, I looked, shall we say, homely. So when I first saw “”When Harry Met Sally,”” it blew my mind. Billy Crystal scores with Meg Ryan — it’s always her — during her insanely hot phase. Despite looking like a bearded ogre, he gets a girl who fakes an orgasm in a crowded restaurant. How cool is that?
Every guy wants to be with someone better than us. It’s in our nature to want the things that exceed our reach. Guys need to believe they can win the girl of their dreams. Otherwise, what’s the point? Watching a movie where the guy romances a girl he hasn’t earned hurts us, because it reminds us that the most wonderful girls might only ever love us in the movies.
— Zachary Smith is a psychology senior. He can be reached at arts@wildcat.arizona.edu.
