I don't know where to begin . . . first I hate to think that movies like "Mama Mia" and "He's Just Not That Into You" are being made for the likes of me. I mean it's nice to think that movie makers are taking women into account, but is this really want they think women want to see? Is this what women want to see?

Strictly speaking these chick flicks are far less expensive to put out than a typical guy movie with all it's special effects and explosions and such so you really wouldn't need more women going out to the movies to make more money that you would on a guy movie.

Personally, I would be more inclined to go to the movies to see a blockbuster sort of movie and wait to watch a chick flick (if I were to watch it at all) when it came out on DVD . . . and the library added it to their collection so that I wouldn't have to actually shell out any money to see it.

Nick crack against gamers. Of course, you neglect the fact that many of us gamers also go to movies.

I think Alissa is far closer to the truth -- "chick flicks" cost less.

Hey, both of my sons (18 and 8) are gamers and movie-lovers. And when I was in LA recently, I talked with a screenwriter who has been working for the last year or so writing for an online game that's about to launch. Looks like it's all converging there.

The Romantic Comedy genre is the MOST IMPORTANT genre of all movie genres -- PERIOD! Rom-coms teach people HOW TO COURT. They give you ideas, they help you dream.

Romantic comedies, sometimes called "chick flicks" is a form of entertainment that sublimanally TEACHES people how to connect with the opposite sex.

What does the horror genre teach you? (Scary thought if you think about it...) How 'bout big tent pole action/adventure? Sci-fi? Will ANY of those genre's help man achieve one of his biggest needs which is COMPANIONSHIP. No, they won't.

It's because of their IMPORTANCE to a heathy society that romantic comedies/chick flicks will ALWAYS do well. We NEED them to do well.

Rant over -- but at least you know where my heart is now.

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

Alissa hit it right on the head. I agree with what studios are saying, essentially, "omg! We can make money off teh wimmenz too!", but when people talk about chick flicks as the sort of thing all women want to see, gag me with a spoon. I was in a blue rage when 'Harry Potter' was moved for 'Twilight', and if I had a choice between seeing 'Iron Man' for the bajillionth time or 'New in Town' for the first time, I'd be right back in the front row cheering on the bronze badass and drooling over Tony in that tanktop when he's forging his mask over that fire...*mind wanders*

The point is, I'm glad studios aren't going to be as dismissive of human females as they used to be now that they know there's profit to be had from us, but I'd really like to see them reach out to the girls (like me!) who are more into giant robots from space who've come to earth to beat the crap out of each other in a two hour Chevrolet commerical (which was so awesome), vs an hour and a half of shiny Cedric Diggory. (Jesus, how long was that sentence?) Here's hoping Arcee kicks ass and that Wonder Woman movie gets out of development hell.

(And as much as 'The Devil Wears Prada' makes my guts curdle as an overstylized morality play, it is my chick flick of choice for being absolutely fabulous and something I could watch hundreds of times. I love Miranda.)

And I love my video games, but 'Fallout 3' is kicking my ass and I can spare two hours for a movie instead of two days figuring out how to run and get the right camera angle and not get shot at looters.

*shot at BY looters. The wankers in the bombed out school.

I believe every one of the movies mentioned by Rachael Abramowitz has a previous audience already familiar with the material. So maybe all the industry has figured out about making movies for women is to adapt something already proven to be successful.

I write movies about women. Why? I just think that a character's challenges and solutions are more interesting when viewed through the lens of being female. The last three features I wrote all had female leads as the protagonists.
I think the term 'chick flick' while it can be used to describe some films, couldn't really be applied to mine. My women don't just become more 'female'. They become more human- that's the way they win.
I will say, I do feel some sexism at times. I'm going to send out my three latest with female names for the author- it's a pen name- and see what happens.