There’s a lot of buzz about a new survey (of 2,000 people, conducted not by an entertainment firm but an insurance company that’s running a short movie competition) that purports to suggest that men and women can’t possibly have an amicable experience together at the movies because they value different things. Namely, the top 10 factors for each gender, as per the Telegraph:
Women
1) Happy ending
2) Sad/tear-jerker scene
3) Song and dance scene
4) Romantic comedy
5) Psychological thriller
6) Straight talking male/female partners
7) Musical
8) Animation
9) Tragedy
10) DisasterMen
1) Car chase
2) Nude scene
3) Action sequence
4) Sex scene
5) Sci-fi/fantasy
6) Chase scene
7) Martial arts
8) Violent/gory scene
9) War
10) Interrogation
If I had detailed access to the data, I could probably pick it apart. But I don’t even think you have to do that to debunk the idea that these stated preferences mean you can’t make movies that men and women can both enjoy. Avatar, for example, has chase scenes, close-to-nude scenes, action sequences, implied sex scenes, sci-fi to to the max, war, AND a happy ending, tearjerker scenes, comedic elements in a romance, men and women who have pretty frank conversations, animation, tragedy, and disaster. Psychological thrillers often include many of the elements that are high on men’s lists. War movies are great vehicles for intense, tragic romances. Making multi-dimensional movies, and capturing multiple audiences at once, isn’t remotely as hard as this study, or Hollywood in general, makes it out.
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