Do Romcoms Suggest To Women That Stalking Is Acceptable?

A new academic study into the effects of romcoms on female audiences suggests films which include aggressive stalker-like pursuits of women like ‘There’s Something About Mary’ or ‘Love Actually’ can make women more likely to tolerate obsessive behaviour from prospective partners.

The report, ‘I Did It Because I Never Stopped Loving You’, by gender and sexuality expert Julia R Lippman of the University of Michigan examined the responses of women to questions posed to them after watching a series of clips from a variety of different films.

- The Story That Was Cut From Love Actually
- 10 Things You Might Not Know About Love Actually

The results found that women who’d been shown clips from films like ‘There’s Something About Mary’, in which Ben Stiller’s character hires a private investigator to track down his childhood sweetheart, were more likely to accept “stalker myths” than those who’d watched scary films with aggressive male behaviour towards women like ‘Sleeping With The Enemy’, or even those who’d just watched nature documentaries.

“After watching excerpts from one of these six films, participants completed a series of survey measures, including one that assessed their endorsement of stalking myths,” Lippman said. “Stalking myths are false or exaggerated beliefs about stalking that minimise its seriousness, which means that someone who more strongly endorses these tends to take stalking less seriously.”

“[Such movies] can encourage women to discount their instincts,” Lippman added in an interview with Canada’s Global News. “This is a problem because research shows that instincts can serve as powerful cues to help keep us safe.

“At their core, all these films are trading in the ‘love conquers all’ myth,” she added. “Even though, of course, it doesn’t. Love is great, but so is respect for other people.”

Watch below: 19 Questions Everyone Asks After Watching ‘Love Actually’…

Image credits: Universal Pictures