Movie Analysis: Crazy, Stupid, Love

“Crazy, Stupid, Love”, is a romantic comedy best known for its all star cast and comedic touch. The 2011 film stars Steve Carell as the main character Cal Weaver. In the movie’s opening scene Cal finds out his wife Emily of 20 years, played by Julianne Moore, has had an affair when she asks him for a divorce. Upon notice of his wife’s request for a divorce, Cal attempts to drown his sorrows at a local bar where he meets Ryan Gosling’s character, Jacob Palmer. Jacob prides himself on being the bar’s resident womanizer. When Jacob first spots Cal, he is heartbroken over his pending divroce. Jacob finds Cal weak, unmanly and pathetic. Jacob takes it upon himself to teach Cal to rediscover his manhood. The plot then plays out as Cal and Jacob’s opposing views on relationships and women clash over the course of many nights spent trying to get Cal back in the game.  The juxtaposition of the two very different types of heterosexual relationships that Cal and Jacob are involved in communicates a lot of messages about what men and women are “supposed” to act like or want in relationships and exemplifies many codes we have studied in class.

In the first expert I chose to analyze (starting below at 8:54 and running until 9:38), we see Jacob and Cal seated at the local bar where the two have been meeting in order for Jacob to give Cal lessons about picking up women. Jacob is frustrated that Cal has yet to fully master the art of picking up women. In his frustration, he asks Cal how many women he has slept with over the course of his life. Cal replies that he has only slept with one woman, his wife Emily. Jacob cannot seem to wrap his head around this idea because it completely opposes his womanizing ways. This short clip relates well to a few of the concepts we discussed in class stemming from the Kim article regarding heterosexual scripts.

In her research, Kim examines heterosexual scripts on primetime television programs.  One idea in particular that Kim proposes is the masculine commitment and feminine commitment codes in which she argues that men actively avoid commitment and want and need independence while women need relationships (Kim, 2007). This clip highlights both of these sentiments by juxtaposing the very different types of heterosexual relationships that Cal and Jacob have been involved in. The way Jacob reacts to Cal’s amount of sexual partners suggests that only sleeping with one woman is unacceptable and shameful in the eyes of a hyper masculine male. Jacob’s sentiments reflect Kim’s masculine commitment code, which suggests that men should avoid commitment by sleeping with multiple women throughout their lives. Meanwhile, Cal’s views on heterosexual relationships reflect Kim’s feminine commitment code, which suggests that individuals should seek monogamy and should long for relationship especially when he responds to Jacob’s proposal to start picking up women with, “I just miss my wife.”

The next clip I chose to analyze, found in the link below, Jacob is shown in his true hyper-masculine, womanizing element as he tries to pick up one of the movie’s other main characters, Hannah Weaver, at the bar. Hannah, who is played by Emma Stone, is having a drink with her friend Liz when Jacob approaches her and attempts to buy her a drink with the ultimate goal of taking her home.  The interactions we see between Jacob, Hannah, and Liz in this scene portray many of the themes we discussed in the Kim reading as well as the Ward and Holz and Ivory readings.

As with the first clip, this scene demonstrates one of the heterosexual scripts that Kim discusses in her research, the masculine and feminine courting strategies. Kim defines the masculine courting strategy as a scenario in which the male is active, powerful, and responsible for making the first move (Kim, 2007). This is clearly evident as Jacob is portrayed as the aggressor making the first move on Hannah using multiple pick up lines in an attempt to take Hannah home. This power dynamic also relates well to the research done by Holz and Ivory who argue that men are more often portrayed as dominate and females are passive in heterosexual relationships (Holz Ivory et. al, 2009). They argue that men are more often portrayed as dominant because they are seen making the decisions, making sexual advances, and giving orders (Holz Ivory et. al, 2009) Jacob is seen doing all of these things as he dominates the conversation in this scene, makes multiple sexual advances by referencing his high sexual capabilities, and gives orders about bringing the car around and buying Hannah a drink. This scene reinforces the idea that men should be the dominant aggressors in the relationship.

In the final clip I chose to analyze, (seen blow from 2:21 to 4:27) Cal Weaver’s eighth grade son Robbie is giving a speech at his graduation. His speech started off strong then turned into a sob story about his crush that refuses to acknowledge his existence. Cal steps in to help salvage the situation and ends up giving an emotional and inspirational speech about his views on love and what partners are supposed to get out of relationships. In this scene we see how glaringly different Cal’s views on relationships are from Jacob’s and portrays some ideas discussed in Anne Bader’s research.  

In her article, ‘“Love Will Steer the Stars”’ and Other Improbable Feats” Media Myths in Popular Love Songs” Anne Bader discusses twelve myths that are found in popular love songs. I believe that a few of these myths relate well to this final clip. In 55% of the songs that Bader analyzed, the myth that the, “Right mate ‘completes you’ filling your needs and making your dreams come true” was present (Bader, 2007 p. 149). This myth has a strong presence in the way Cal talks about his relationship with his wife as he makes comments like, “I met my soul mate when I was 15 years old and I have loved her every minute of every day.” This excerpt reflects Bader’s myth and suggests that couples have one true soul mate that will complete them. Another myth that Bader found common in her research was that, “Bickering and fighting a lot mean that a man and a woman love each other passionately” (Bader, 2007 p. 149). This myth is also evident in this clip when Cal makes comments such as, “I have loved her even when I have hated her” ultimately suggesting that constant fighting is just part of what couples do and that it is to be expected.  I think that the presence of these myths discussed by Anne Bader relate well to how Cal processes what it means to be in a relationship while they strongly contrast the research that relates to how Jacob defines what it means to be in a relationship. Ultimately I think that the presence of these contrasting views on what men and women are supposed to get out of relationships drives the plot and brings up some interesting questions about how these conflicting messages affect viewers.

To conclude, the movie “Crazy, Stupid, Love” simultaneously communicates multiple narratives about what men and women are “supposed” to act like and want in relationships. There is the main narrative surrounding Jacob and Cal’s relationship but then there are also two sub narratives that highlight the differences in the types of relationships Jacob and Cal are involved in. Jacob avoids commitment, flaunts his dominance and aggression, and uses multiple strategies to court women. Whereas Cal strives for commitment, believes in soul mates, and feels that he has already found the one woman that will bring him true happiness. By emphasizing two totally different narratives about relationships, I think the movie invites viewers to challenge the dominant view of men as aggressive, dominant, sexually objectifying individuals. Since the movie does end with everyone happily involved in a monogamous relationship, I think that the overall message reflects myths similar to those found in Bader’s research about finding the right match for you and that your soul mate is out there you just have to find him/her. So while there is heavy evidence or male dominance and aggression in heterosexual relationships, the movie ends on a note that favors monogamy and feminine commitment scripts like those discussed in Kim’s research. It still makes me wonder, however, if the simple presence of hyper-masculine, dominant scripts reinforces these ideals as favorable in the eyes of viewers or if the contradiction and overall monogamous and committed relationships in the end overshadows these messages? I guess I will just have to keep pondering!

References

             Bader, A. (2007). “Love will steer the stars” and other improbable feats: Media myths in popular love           songs. In M. – L. Galician & D. L. Merskin (Eds.), Critical thinking about sex, love, and romance          in    the mass media (pp. 141-160). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

             Holz Ivory, A., Gibson, R., & Ivory, J. D. (2009). Gendered relationships on television: Portrayals of           same-sex and heterosexual couples. Mass Communication and Society, 12(2), 170-192.

             

              Kim, J. L., Lynn Sorsoli, C., Collins, K., Zylbergold, B. A., Schooler, D., & Tolman, D. L. (2007).              From sex to sexuality: Exposing the heterosexual script on primetime network television. Journal            of Sex Research, 44(2), 145-157.