Everything about the marketing campaign for and the critical reaction to Bridesmaids is driving me fucking crazy. On the front end it’s all (paraphrasing), “ZOMG, chick flick for doodz!” and “The Hangover for wimminz!” and “There are farts in it, we promise!!!” and on the back end it’s all (direct quoting), “Chick flicks don’t have to suck” and “These are smart, funny women!” Sigh.

I mean, look. I know I’m a white woman living in America in 2011, so I’m not particularly oppressed. It’s not like I’m considered property fit only for domestic labor and baby manufacturing—anymore (it’s been like 50 years already, ladies, take a Midol and quit cryin’!)! I can be anything I want to be, such as a nurse or a middle manager or a sexy policewoman or a real housewife! BUT OH MY GOD, SOMETIMES BEING A WOMAN IS SO INFURIATING I WANT TO EXTRACT MY UTERUS WITH A FORK AND THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW.

You know that look-at-us-we-killed-
Osama-in-the-brains situation-room photo? Did you notice that there are only two women in there? Two. And we’re 50 percent of the population. I get that President Hillary would have just gotten her menses all over the Oval Office and changed Martin Luther King Jr. Day to Raw Cookie Dough Makes the Crying Stop Day and slashed funding for men’s reproductive health and made football illegal. And when football is illegal, only the terrorists will play football. Fine. I get it, all-you-people-who-are-totally-not-sexist. You are beacons of equality and tolerance, and I would be honored to serve as your sex-
ottoman/chicken-nugget-delivery-system. Feminism is dead. Ding-dong.

HOWEVER. On top of all that, am I really expected to swallow the phrase “These are smart, funny women”? Really? As though that’s a sentence worth writing down, let alone reproducing in poster form. Can you imagine a poster proclaiming “Movies with men in them don’t have to suck!” or a critic writing the phrase “These are smart, funny men!” No. Because that WOULDN’T MAKE ANY SENSE, BECAUSE PEOPLE TAKE MEN SERIOUSLY BY DEFAULT. Hold on—I have to go sharpen my fork.

I can’t believe I’m bothering to say this (also, all this typing is making my weak noodle arms exhausted!) but: Women are funny. Women are smart. Tina Fey exists, and Kristen Wiig exists, and Bridesmaids exists, and Bridesmaids—as a movie, not as a woman-movie—is astoundingly good. Wiig (who also cowrote the script and should probably be cast in every movie ever starting now—GO!) plays Annie, an aimless, single thirtysomething who finds out that her best friend (Maya Rudolph) is engaged. Annie agrees to be the maid of honor and plunges into the weird, fucked-up, stupid world of modern American wedding culture. The highest of jinks ensue in all the directions you expect, and a dozen you don’t. Rose Byrne’s tiny, delicate ears costar. And as though Judd Apatow has been creepily listening at my keyhole, the guy from The IT Crowd plays Wiig’s love interest. Squeal.

Apatow produced Bridesmaids (as per his contract with Hollywood, which states that he shalt produce all movies ever made), and his masterful comedic hand is obvious. But thanks to director Paul Feig—creator of Freaks and Geeks, the most perfect, noncorny blend of humor and heart ever captured on camera—Bridesmaids has all the humanity that Apatow projects usually lack. Both sides of the coin—hilarity and sincerity—brought me to tears. But I was probably just on my period. recommended

Lindy West was born an unremarkable female baby in Seattle, Washington. The former Stranger writer covered movies, movie stars, exclamation points, lady stuff, large frightening fish, and much, much more....

76 replies on “<i>Bridesmaids</i>: Death to the Chick Flick”

  1. What’s with the weird Clinton rant? Are we still pretending that the only reason to vote against Hillary was misogyny? If it’s about not enough women being in high-level government positions, make it about that, and not about one particular (Iraq War-supporting) woman’s presidential campaign.

  2. Flounder, if you haven’t seen the skit where Carol Burnett descends the grand staircase as Scarlett O’Hara, wearing the dress she fashioned from the drapes, well then… You just haven’t availed yourself of all that life has to offer, I guess.

  3. I do think Bridesmaids was a good movie, but I do think it could have been better. And holy shit, way to preface your review with a bunch of extraneous nonsense. Yes, we’re women, we get how tough and annoying it is to be women sometimes! I can’t stand chick flicks, and I’m a woman. But here’s my bone to pick with Bridesmaids. First of all, the script had a lot of Apatow influence. The whole puking in the bridal place? Apatow. Of course they had to throw a gross out scene in there, how else would they be able to market it as a “non-chick flick” without it? Apatow would have never produced this movie if the women had been allowed to write the script by themselves. He wouldn’t have been able to make fun of a certain characters girth that way. Haha, she’s fat.

    The fact that women are calling this movie damn good is, well, sad. There was so much potential for this movie to be as funny as it was and still go deeper than it was (with several undeveloped storylines) but the producers probably shied away from that because they didn’t want to get too “mushy.” Women can be funny and have emotions! Imagine that! Ugh. Yes, the movie is FUNNY! Hilarious! But is it good? Really really good? No.
    In your review of this movie you only spent two paragraphs actually talking about the movie. Did you actually see it? Think about it? Or were you too busy changing your tampon to actually write a review?

  5. Saw it. Loved it. Only thing it needed *way* more Chris O’Dowd…well, I’ll amend that. What it really needed was Chris O’Dowd in the seat next to me. Dreamy and hilarious

  6. Let’s be honest: chick flicks generally suck, just like dude films generally suck. Whether the plot involves 1) a quirky, single barista looking for love in the big city or 2) a team of marines dropped into a jungle to save a small village, you know the movie is going to blow.

    I am totally going to see this movie because it was well-reviewed and looks smartly written, unlike most movies in the genre. Just like I am totally going to see Thor because it was well-reviewed and looks smartly written, unlike most movies in the genre.

  7. I think that this lady is overreacting like a juvenile. Her reference to the navy seals is stupid because there is not one single woman on this earth that is as strong or as fast or on so many steroids as the male members of Seal Unit 6. Face it, you want the best out there and women can’t compete in the physical aspect. Also, men will try to protect women from being captured by the enemy because men are afraid that they will be raped if they are captured by the enemy. This makes the men be more worried about protecting the women in the squad that completing their mission.

    Now to call this a Bridesmaids a chick flick is misguided. It is a comedy and I think that because of its novelty it was advertised properly. When was the last time you saw this type of movie?  It would be like if a chick-flick type movie was created for guys. It would make a lot of sense to advertise it as a “chick-flick” for guys. Men are not as sensitive as women and we don’t seek out the situations that occur in chick flicks just as women aren’t seeking out the misadventures that happened in the movie (while men are). Correct me if I’m wrong on this point. 

    The writer is clearly upset about her life and she will take issue with any and all social issues involving rich-educated-white-women. Society isn’t perfect nor is it equal for everyone, but we already knew that. This movie, just like everything else in society reflects that. She just picked this topic to be trendy. Also, she says that because women have a Tina Fey and some
    other funny white chick, women are funny. That’s bullshit. I don’t think Fey is nearly as funny as other women. Why doesn’t she cite a funny black or Hispanic woman?  She may not be talking about women in the broad sense of the word.  Instead, she is referring her narrow socioeconomic bracket of educated-rich-white-women who already have so much but are so ungrateful for it, that instead of counting their blessings, they always find something to complain about.

  8. Unfortunately, I think there is some worth to saying “these are women that are funny!” only because there are relatively few in Hollywood. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s because women are inherently less likely to be funny, but simply that they are less-often ENCOURAGED to be. For one, there is probably a bit of an “old-boys club” mentality to a lot of writers’ rooms. But for another, it just isn’t as ingrained in women from a young age to crack jokes and be funny. Conan O’Brien once related in an interview how he and his brothers were encouraged to be funny, but his sisters weren’t because it wasn’t “ladylike,” and he felt this general societal tendency was largely what led to his own writers’ room lacking many women. He wanted to hire more, but there simply weren’t many applying.

    It’s of course a shame, and something that SHOULD ideally be different. But I have a hard time blaming the marketers and reviewers in this case for pointing out how rare it is for there to be a good, women-centric comedy. Most of them aim to be “cute” rather than funny (e.g. every romantic comedy ever made). I’m sure studios and marketers themselves are largely to blame for this – they’ve pigeonholed the market largely out of their own doing – but it’s still worth noticing and commenting on, if only so we (audiences as well as those creating and selling comedy) can actively try to improve the situation.

  9. Comedies featuring female characters in the lead role generally aren’t cast with actual comedians like Kristin Wiig. They’re cast with actresses like Kate Hudson or Sandra Bullock that deliver a kind of light acting rather than comedy. It’s more important for these women to be beautiful than funny. The advertising campaign of this movie is a bit condescending when you consider the talent behind it, but the studio is obviously trying to distance Bridesmaids from this convention of casting pretty actresses in place of comedians.

  10. Fully possible that “These are smart, funny women” refers to the Hollywood bubble, not the ladies we know in life.

    Funny women in movies are usually played as second bananas (the quirky friend of the beautiful lead actress) and funny all-female movies are extremely rare.

    Off the top of my head I guess Drew Barrymore’s “Whip It” was the last female-heavy comedy that I remember that was pretty good.

    Bridesmaids deserves it’s success and if a little bit of pandering helps it out, no big deal.

    There’s just as much sexism aimed at men in Hollywood, believe it or not. Hey knuckleheads this generic movie has violence and boobs – give us your money! A plot? That’s the hole they bury victims in right?

    Face it, Hollywood thinks we’re all a bunch of idiots, men and women alike.

  11. There was a scene in American Splendor where the three (nerdy) protagonists see Revenge of the Nerds. Two of them come out raving that it’s a watershed moment in American culture, that nerds are finally being given their due, not just being accepted but celebrated. That’s how I would feel about Bridesmaids if I were a woman.

    If I may say so, it was the most refreshingly honest portrayal of female relationships I’ve ever seen on screen. The fact that it was hilarious is just a bonus. I look forward to seeing a lot more from Kristen Wiig, particularly anything she has a hand in writing.

  12. I dunno. Women are and have been heads of state in a lot of places – just look at the 2nd most populous country in this continent. So I don’t think menses is why HC didn’t make it. Maybe, just maybe, someone else beat her fair and square.

  13. #67 and she was IN the picture, so, not the greatest example of someone that done got did wrong.

    I sympathize with all the people who say that our whole gender gets done wrong every time another rom com comes out, but then I’m sure there’s a guy flick equivalent. And I’m guessing the smart guys don’t feel patronized as guys (yer profiling me rong!) because they know it’s just a bunch of dumb guys making the decisions and they don’t take it personally. The best movies are the ones that are popular with both genders, because they’re good. And there are enough of them that we can all ignore the dreck. I don’t want to be profiled at all, really.

    This thing that LOOKS like a chick flick? About a wedding? Of course they have to distance themselves. OF COURSE.

  14. @67: Yes, absolutely. I also supported HRC in the primaries, despite my concern about her unfavorability ratings, right up until South Carolina. The subsequent massive pandering to white voters and the veiled attacks against blacks and other minorities turned me off completely, and I was far from the only one. It was shocking that HRC’s campaign ended up relying much more on the “Southern Strategy” than McCain’s.

    HRC was subject to sexist criticism and to various double standards during the campaign, and I have no doubt that some people voted against her just because she is a woman. I also have no doubt that some people voted against Obama because he is black, so I’m not sure whether the prejudice tips for or against HRC.

    In any event, IMO HRC lost primarily due to strategic errors by her campaign– specifically, they had no game plan post “super Tuesday.” While HRC was competitive until that point, Obama went on to win eight primaries in a row due to HRC’s lack of funding and organization, picking up a delegate lead that HRC just could not make up.

  15. I started watching Party Down on netflix recently. There’s a show with a lot of funny women- Lizzy Caplan, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Coolidge, and Megan Mullally among them.

    A while back in Vanity Fair Christopher Hitchens attempted to explain that men use humor to convince women to have sex with them, and women aren’t funny because they don’t need to work to convince men to have sex with them. He made some good points, but my takeaway was that the kind of men who say women aren’t funny are the kind who see them mostly as sex objects who should spend as little time talking as possible anyway.

  18. Ummm, Joan Rivers is definitely funny. Read one of her books. Also, how has nobody mentioned Lisa Kudrow?! Google “Web Therapy”, start with Season 1 Episode 1, and thank me later. Her comedic timing is perfect. See also:

    -Ana Gasteyer
    -Jan Hooks
    -Betty White, Rue McClanahan, Bea Arthur, Estelle Getty
    -Molly Shannon
    -Cheri Oteri
    -Mayim Bialik (aka Blossom) on either “Fat Actress” or “The Big Bang Theory”

    ….there are tons and tons of hilarious women. This list doesn’t even scratch the surface.

  20. Bridesmaids was hilarious! I liked it, my wife liked it, my mother in law who normally prefers cheesy Disney-ness liked it. Also, I don’t think anyone mentioned Julia Sweeney yet. She is excellent. Especially her moth stuff.

  21. Men really just don’t like women, mostly because men are scared of women. So they belittle them and insult them and call them ‘crazy’… and that’s the non-rapey, non-women-are-property part of the equation.

    And I’ll never, ever understand it. Women (as a gender) are so much smarter, funnier, stronger and more asthetically pleasing than men (as a gender).

    I’m a guy, and I can’t stand it when other guys assume you’re a member of the He-Man’s Woman Hater’s Club just because you happen to own a penis. And the guys who make a claim to ‘love women’ are mostly guys who want to have indiscriminate sex with as many of them as possible – no love involved, please.

    In short – Lindy’s right, as usual.

  22. Jeeeeze, so bitter! Ever notice the drunk driving PSAs on TV? It’s always a man. Or the insurance fraud PSAs? Only men. Or how about every family-based single sitcom on television (Home Improvement, The Simpsons, Married With Children, Modern Family, Family Guy, King of Queens, 8 Simple Rules, Still Standing, Family Matter, even Dinosaurs for goodness sake), they ALL are based around a big buffoon of a man who is just plain idiotic at best. Yoplait commercials where the man is moronically looking for the actual Key Lime Pie in the fridge. The entire Secret deodorant campaign. It’s ALWAYS a man being portrayed as stupid.

    I challenge you to find more instances in mass media where a woman is portrayed as dumber than a man. You can not. I also challenge you to find more women that genuinely find female comedy to be better than male comedy. Not out of your readers, not out of those who have just seen Bridesmaids, I’m talking about a legitimate sampling.

    You don’t have to take it so personally. Calm down. Maybe male comedy is just better. Men and women are different for a reason, it adds to the variety of life. Looking for equality in every facet of society is a futile and naive effort.

  23. My mom is the funniest person I’ve ever met. I’ve never thought of her funniness as “female comedy,” nor do I think she’s especially funny because she’s so good at “male comedy.”

    There’s no male comedy or female comedy. There’s just comedy.

    If you’re a standard representation of us men, #77, then it’s not so much a problem that men are being portrayed as stupid as much as they are stupid.

  24. @timdavids, you really should read the article being commented on before you attempt to actually comment on it. The main point that Lindy is raising (the writer of this blog, since I’m guessing you didn’t notice) is that female comedians can be as funny as male comedians, and they shouldn’t be debased with the phrase “these are smart, funny women,” because it implies that ordinarily, women are not smart and/or funny.

    In my comment, I was arguing the fact that there is no stereotype against women being stupid, in fact, it appears to be much the opposite. You so astutely supported this by calling all men stupid (through an insult to myself). There exists absolutely no stereotype that women are NOT smart, therefore, I don’t think she has any reason to be upset, let alone rant about removing her uterus with a fork based on this “stereotype” because it simply doesn’t exist.

    I then went on to argue my opinion against the idea that “funny women” shouldn’t be an exception, and that female comedians should be treated equally as men. I just see men and women as having different strengths, and instead of commenting on my views, you decided to incorrectly nitpick the language that I used. It seems to me that a female comedian would produce female comedy and a male comedian would produce male comedy. I’m not sure why you’re so offended at that, it’s simply a characterization of who is physically producing and presenting the material. Instead of arching your back because someone said the words “male” and “female” separately, why don’t you actually read the content of what I read and intelligently comment on that, if you do in fact have a coherent opinion, and not something that sounds like it belongs on a bumper sticker.

  25. I wanted to come on here to say FUCK YOU to Lindy West. After you wrote that stupid fucking waste of screenspace article about being fat I thought you were an annoying loud mouthed cunt. BUT, I liked your reviews, well written generally intelligent.
    I saw this shitty ass movie because of your review. Kristin Wigg or whatever her name is possibly the least interesting actress i’ve ever fucking seen. Get off your fat woman high horse holy shit, this is the worst chick flick I have ever seen. The only funny parts are with the fat woman or the woman from reno 911, I left before it ended. My girlfriend who is a girl as well thought it stunk like a big boys thong. GOD DAMN

  26. Oh my God anal smith you are everything that is wrong with society.

    But I digress. I know its late but I had to comment on this, because I only saw bridesmaids recently (and consequently loved it so much I saw it another two times), but one thing has bugged me since I saw it…

    Before I go into it though, I agree with the others on here that the tag “these are smart, funny women” is actually kind of necessary in a day and age when comedy films centred on women are kind of limited to the dumb romantic chick flick. Which I do love in all honesty, but in a “secret shame/I like to watch them while eating a whole tub of icecream” kind of way. The tag to me speaks to the multitude of women who are tired of all the films aimed at them being of the “hot professional woman, has amazing career but is a lonely sad loser because she is DEVOID OF LOVE PEOPLE! SHE NEEDS A MAN NOWWWW oh yay here comes a hot one, the end” and want something that isn’t so completely stupid – and more importantly, a movie that wasnt solely about a woman needing a man to be complete. I mean, all the important themes of bridesmaids were about the complexities of female friendships, which i LOVED – that felt so refreshing, and thats why I dont feel like the tagline is so bad – because this is a different movie to your normal chick flick of the past, and these women are smart and funny – not just funny because they fall over and land in a wedding cake, or get PMS and start crying because their dress looks fat on them, but funny because they are actually comedically talented.

    Phew! So I see what you were saying Lindy, but I disagree.

    Onto my real gripe about the film – humans, sometimes I hate you all. I mean, really HATE. Because each of the three times I saw this movie, there was a group of ignorant dumbasses laughing at Melissa McCarthy purely because she is fat. Now I know they styled her to be unkempt and erring on the masculine side as part of her character. I know she isnt meant to look gorgeous or put together. And I know at times (jumping on the couch, etc) she uses her weight as part of the joke. But what Im talking about are people who genuinely think its funny to see a fat person with confidence. Like “haha, shes fat and she goes after men, thats disgusting!” that was the kind of laughing and sniggering I was hearing. I mean, for fucks sake.

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