Letter to Gay Guy: What ?"Iron Man 2" Not a Possibility?

Straight Guy,

Hope you had a good holiday weekend.

I had a social weekend, including two movie outings, each with a female friend. Both movies were "chick flicks." Letters to Juliet and, of course, Sex and the City 2.

I didn't campaign for seeing either of these movies. Okay, do you hear my defensive tone? I can just imagine you smirking at me already. I'm smirking at myself. Even as a gay man, I make seeing these movies conditional. I am a victim: "Oh, it wasn't me. Wasn't my choice. I just went along." In this case, it's true; I wasn't eager to see either movie.

Like my friends, I just wanted to see something light and breezy. No thinking. There wasn't a new Bourne Identity with Matt Damon (or, "Porn Identity), so we went with what we had.

Alert: CLS and TP: I am not complaining about seeing either movie. I had a fine time and enjoyed seeing you. I was not miserable. I am not complaining. TP: I especially loved those pre-movie cocktails that put us in the Sex and the City mood. But, even gay guys are wary of seeing a "chick flick." Especially not very good ones.

"Chick Flick." "Chick Lit." The expressions are pretty self-explanatory. But not all that well defined. I've never asked any of my female friends if they find either of those terms offensive. I would understand if they did.

So why are some love stories fine for guys to watch and some not? Or to make it more personal to me, why do I think that Forster's "A Room With a View" or Waugh "Brideshead Revisited" are fine books that made fine movies, but "Letters to Juliet" somehow rates my criticism? At heart, they are all part of a long line of movies about English people who have to travel to Italy to get their romantic mojo working. I don't think of the Austen cannon as being chick lit, so why is "The Jane Austen Book Club" chick lit? I will have to think more about this.

Sex and the City does however deserve any disdain I give it. It is just dumb. I'll narrow my criticism to one of the early scenes, the gay wedding. Over the top, over decorated, expensive, men's chorus, Liza Minnelli officiating. You get the picture. It's a gay wedding cartoon as drawn by straight people. Or by a gay man who knows gay people that I don't know.

Not a great post. But seems like there is something to think about here. I am tired. I will think and write more about this topic. But now it's off to bed. Work tomorrow. Not happy about that.

--Gay Guy