The "girlfriend flick", also known as "female friendship film", [1], as coined by Guy Adams in 2008, is a film which emphasizes the relationships between woman friends instead of focusing on a love connection.
The genre, as explored by Alison Winch[2], is in contrast to "chick flicks", which have historically focused on emotions or themes that are relationship-based (oftentimes romantic or parental).
According to Winch,
Girlfriend flicks often have savvy, “nervous,” female voice-overs mirroring typical romantic comedies, but addressing female spectators in their assumption of the mutual minefield of negotiating relationships, body, work, family, depression—issues prevalent in conduct, diet, and self-help books marketed specifically to women. [2]
Examples cited by Winch include The Women (2008), Bride Wars (2009) and Baby Mama (2008).
Critique of the genre
However, Winch argues that, while it moves beyond "second wave feminism’s superficial understanding of female solidarity", the girlfriend flick is typified by a message in which "women’s sisterhood was celebrated, sugar- coating conflict, and ignoring the multiplicity of women’s experiences". Winch also argues that the genre also emphasizes a conservative, postfeminist message of women policing other women in segregated, "feminine" space and pursuing "feminine" activities rather than radicalizing androcentric institutions.
References
- ↑ "There's a new genre in Tinseltown, and it's all about female friendship", Guy Adams, The Independent, 7 June 2008
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Template:Cite journal
