Bridesmaids

Yes, I had to jump on the bandwagon and talk about Bridesmaids. If you haven’t seen this movie yet, please do! I’m a huge Kristen Wiig fan, but when I first saw the trailer, I really didn’t know what to think. This probably sounds awful coming from a woman, but I had a tendency to feel like women-driven comedies don’t really work. Before everyone freaks out at me, I have realized why I thought this. Comedies with a woman in a lead role tend to go down two paths, in my opinion: The Romantic Comedy and the Raunchy Sex Fest.

Romantic Comedies shouldn’t even count as comedies. Are there funny ones? Sure. But is it usually the lead woman playing the funny role? No. It’s usually her quirky best friend sidekick who is only on the screen for a quarter of the movie or her best guy friend who is sweet and awkward and inevitably wins the girl. Whatever, the formula is old. I still enjoy these movies, but they are usually just entertaining, popcorn and couch movies.

Then there’s the Raunchy Sex Fest. I won’t name movie names, but it seems that Cameron Diaz has a lot to do with this genre. In these films, it’s my belief that women go above and beyond the call of duty, trying to outdo the men in sex and fart and excrement jokes. I guess it can work for some people, but not me. It’s not real. Women are funny, but in a different way. Why try to prove how funny you are by acting like one of the guys?

Which is why I loved Bridesmaids. I found this movie completely relatable. I don’t want to give the movie away to those who haven’t seen it, but prior to seeing it, I heard a lot of reviewers applaud it’s approach to female friendships. And that was my favorite part about the movie. The relationships, the insecurities, the jealousy, the competitive nature that runs in our blood. It’s silly, but it’s true. As for the humor, it was pretty perfect to me. I saw a lot of reviews call the film “raunchy.” And yes, there is one particularly nasty part. But it didn’t really change the movie for me. It was silly, but it did it in it’s own way. I guess I found it realistic. Women curse, but don’t have to be potty-mouthed sex fiends all the time to do so. Women talk about sex, but it’s usually a mix of Samantha and Charlotte (Sex and the City, obvz). And friendships and other women, though we may hate to admit it it, are really important to us, sometimes to the point of insanity.

The movie was great, but for many reasons aside from comedy. I choked up at a few parts. I found it relatable, for funny and serious reasons. And, it should be mentioned, I want to shop Kristen Wiig’s wardrobe.

Don’t knock Bridesmaids ‘til you tried it, guys. I really enjoyed it, and I hope you will too!