MovieChat Forums > Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) Discussion > Any films in which the 'girly' girl wins...

Any films in which the 'girly' girl wins, over a rival?


So we all know that in most Hollywood films, the "girly" or overtly feminine girl always loses out to a more intelligent and/or tomboyish rival. It's a long-standing tradition. From novels like "Jane Eyre," down to films like "Singing in the Rain," "Mean Girls," "Some Kind of Wonderful," "Sydney White," "Starter for 10," etc. etc., movies and TV almost always portray the prom-princess/head-cheerleader type as a vain, shallow girl who gets her comeuppance, while the supposedly "better" girl (the more "intellectual," less "obviously" beautiful plain girl) always triumphs.

The lesson in such films is that they male lead has to learn to look past the supposedly "superficial" popular goddess, and discover that he really loves the more meaningful/smart/wholesome girl.

Are there any films in which the opposite happens? Movies where the the guy chooses the more stereotypically feminine girl over her rival?

I can only think of a few, and their endings are major surprises, because they defy the usual Hollywood logic:

-"My Best Friend's Wedding" (Cameron Diaz's W.A.S.P. character is chosen over Julia Robert)
-"The Mask" (it seems as if the female reporter is being set up as a "wholesome" contrast to the blonde, but it turns out that she's actually the bad one)

Mind you, those aren't in the high-school setting where such female character contrasts are usually set, but they do defy the pattern.

Any others? Any films in which it seems as if the prom-princess/head-cheerleader type is being set up for a fall or comeuppance, but she wins in the end, or the guy chooses her over the usual Hollywood plain-Jane heroine?

A film where someone like Amanda triumphs over someone like Watts, and wins the guy in the end?

reply

Apparently, there's a tradition of having a snooty blonde appear as an antagonist to the main heroine, according to this piece:

http://flavorwire.com/499110/30-legendary-literary-mean-girls-we-love-to-hate



Quote:

Yes, literature (particularly “classic” literature for and about women) loves a mean girl, an archenemy, or an undermining frenemy. This archetype is often realized as a charming blonde who’s either a snob guarding her place against interlopers, or a determined social climber herself. For every spunky heroine, she’s the foil. She’s the prissy antagonist who scorns our protagonist’s rough ways, while her nimble feet fight for their place on the rungs of a novel’s social ladder. She represents the apex of the idea that men can fight each other out in the open, but women are forced to be underhanded in their jockeying for alpha status. Her machinations make plots get thicker and tension ratchet up.

reply

old thread but this movie was just on tv and this got me thinking and struggling to find a movie that fits that hasn't been used.

I have Grease?

I think the bigger question is what is a girly girl, which may be the same question as "what is feminine?" I have no answer to that one.

A much easier question to define but still hard to answer is, Does the pretty, and also popular, girl win? Tick for the Mask and Legally blonde

Both contenders will always be lookers (this is hollywood) but the pretty and unpopular girl will be the usual winner.(I am looking at you Disney writers)

reply

I think this happens in movies because movies are supposed to be a fantasy. If movies showed reality why would anyone want to watch them?

reply