The article ‘Thinking seriously about laughter and romance’ discussed the idea of romantic comedy films either being progressive or overwhelmingly conservative in regards to its depictions of gender and gender roles. Sleepless in Seattle demonstrates the extremes of both.
Dated Views/Conservative Hollywood Traditions
- The film taps into the comedy that can be found in gender roles. The men are depicted as emotionless and un-emphathetic whilst the women weep as they watch a soppy love story on television. The film does this very consciously and as a viewer I’m unsure whether Nora Ephron, a clever female writer, is just mocking the convention.
- Tranny. I think there was a line somewhere in the film when a character was warning Meg Ryan’s ‘Annie Reed’ that ‘Sam’ might be a murderer, drug-addict or tranny. In this day and age a big Hollywood film would never be made with a discriminatory line like this in it.
- Marriage. I suppose at the end of the day Sleepless is about the finding your soul mate and being with that partner until the day you die. It is heavily implied that the two leads will get married. This emphasis on marriage is a Rom Com convention.
- Funny best friend. Rosie O’Donnell as the quintessentially laid back, laconic best friend.
Progressive Views
– Annie Reed didn’t submit to a man. Walter, her original boyfriend was quite a nice guy, he was caring, he understood her, however he wasn’t perfect, he certainly wasn’t Annie’s dream man. Annie, instead of merely settling with an ok partner left him on the off chance of finding her soul mate-which she ultimately did. The fact that she didn’t submit to a Mans wants and let herself and her own happiness motivate her decisions defined her as a strong character.
– Sam’s second love. Sam had already found his soul mate before the film begun, however She died and as a romantic film character he was left in a predicament. Does he not find true love again because that one (and there can be only one) special person is out of the equation? Or does he move on?
Many rom coms are ideological to the point where they contend that each individual can only have one true love in there lifetime. However, Sam seemed to have two, his first wife then Annie. This is an example of Sleepless breaking the genres ideologies.
– Does Sleepless attack Patriarchy? Annie is a working woman and Sam (though he is an architect) is largely depicted around the house, not doing much. Meg speaks for herself, she is the master and controller of her own life. Walter knows it and accepts it, which is why as a character (especially in the breakup scene) he is framed in a sympathetic light.
Notes
– Many of the academics contended that the Rom Com as a genre promotes an unrealistic kind of love, that knitty gritty real life love isn’t love unless its like a movie-this idea is something that Sleepless in Seattle was conscious of when it mirrored the Cary Grant movie, the Hollywood version of love, with its own, just as unrealistic love story.
– Harmful illusions propagated by quality films.
– Blissful daydreams of finding there ‘true love’, what’s so bad about this? Supposedly this created an air of dissatisfaction.