Washington Post #ClickJock Tries to Goad Men Into Watching “Little Women”

It never ceases to amaze me how far people, involved with the making of a movie, will go to defend a movie that fails at the box office. But most of the time the blame always centers on the consumer and not those who created the failed product. One only has to look at the Star Wars franchise as a perfect example of this. Or the Elizabeth Banks-directed Charlie’s Angels in which the director blamed men for its failure at the box office. But why does a ClickJock from The Washington Post feel the need to try and goad men into watching “Little Women” which is bombing at the box office? 

The article, written by Monica Hesse, talks about how the writer claims to have received emails from many men who want to see the new “Little Women” movie but are afraid to go see it. Calling them “Little Women Men,” the writer provides a number of examples of what these men wrote to her such as one fellow who writes, “I hope movie theater employees don’t judge people for coming to the theater alone. . . . I have to go see Little Women,”

Now don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of men and women who don’t like to go to the theater by themselves. Just like there are people who don’t like to dine alone. It feels as if they are bucking societal trends and putting a stigma upon themselves by going against the grain. That people who see them eating by themselves would think they are a loser, or mental, or anti-social. 

Which is not always the case. 

For those who like to go alone to the movies, it usually means they have a high level of self-confidence. That they don’t need anyone’s permission or acceptance that they are there on their own. That they don’t care what people think about what movie they are going to see on their own. I know I don’t care whenever I go to see a movie by myself. 

But for the author, these Little Women Men are scared to go see the movie by themselves (as seen by the above quote). Scared of what other people think of them. Are pitiful little children in need of encouragement. 

According to the author:

“The Little Women Men dearly wish that someone would invite them to see the new Greta Gerwig remake, which has excellent reviews. The Little Women Men feel slightly nervous about going to see the movie without a female chaperone…because our society still — still! — gets confused by men displaying traits of nurturing or sentimentality, and these kindly men don’t want to creep anyone out.”

There are some interesting points in here that the author makes that many men would disagree with. Men don’t need a chaperone. They need a reason to go see a movie like “Little Women” that really caters to women and not men. The obvious reason for this is that men and women like different things and there are not many genres where the two sexes will overlap. Anyone with a sense of business knows this (which many people in Hollywood seem to lack these days). It’s why, at the advance screenings of the movie, the attendees were mostly women. Because this is a movie that appeals to the fairer sex.

Or at least it should…. 

Sure, there will be men who will indeed be like the ones who have messaged this author, but not that many. Certainly not enough to save the movie from being another box office bomb. Instead, I would argue that there is not enough interest from women to bother cajoling, batting their eyelashes, or guilting their husbands, boyfriends, or significant others to see the movie with them. Because if you can’t convince the movie’s target audience, which is women, to care enough about this movie to see it, then why blame men for its failure when the majority of them would have no interest in the movie? 

In addition, the author’s argument about how society “gets confused by men displaying traits of nurturing or sentimentality” is a statement I completely disagree with. If it were true, one of the greatest games for gamers wouldn’t be “The Last of Us” or the latest “God of War” game where the male protagonists are fathers doing everything they can to protect their child. Or the countless movies of a father going through hell to get their kid back. How about all of the countless Hallmark movies that utilizes the single father trope. 

So it is not true that society gets confused when men display these traits. Yet, the author is fixated on this as she later writes, “Men need to be reassured, again and again, that there are all kinds of ways to be a man, and one kind involves watching Amy and Jo tearfully make up after Amy nearly drowns in the ice skating pond.”

The other problem is that, for a lot of men, it isn’t worth the money to go see this kind of movie. Going to the theater has continually become expensive and when I want to go see a movie, I want all the bells and whistles there can be to make it worthwhile to go to the theater and drop my hard-earned cash. I don’t want to pay for a movie where all we see is people talking and just going through their life. I want dazzling spectacles, bombastic dialogue, grandeur, and intense scenes. To paraphrase a quote from the movie “Chicago,” “Give me the old razzle dazzle!”

But these Little Women Men? Well, I can’t help you with those guys who say they want to see the movie but don’t have the courage to go see it. I’m the kind of guy who has never been afraid to tell people that I love watching “Sailor Moon,” “Gilmore Girls,” or Hallmark movies. Now I received my fair share of ridicule from other guys I work with but it never bothered me and never stopped me from talking about these things (that’s where society’s predilections come into play but nowhere near as bad as it was a couple decades ago). But if there had been a Gilmore Girls movie chances are I wouldn’t have paid to see it in the theater.

And I disagree with the guy who wrote to the author saying, “There is no one around me (being a man and all) to discuss Little Women films with.” Of course there are! You could talk to other women about it. Personally, I have talked with a lot of guys who also love “Gilmore Girls.” Hell, I had a conversation a couple months back with a group of floorlayers about how we all watch Hallmark Movies. That, despite them being sappy and corny, once we start watching them, we don’t stop until it ends. Yet we wouldn’t go to the movies to see them.

The same goes for “Little Women.” There are some movies that are great for the screen and some that are just for watching at home. This movie is the wait-for-it-to-come-out-on-DVD type of movie. Not just because it doesn’t appeal to men enough to spend money to see it. It is also because there have been countless iterations of “Little Women” which the author brings up but glosses over. 

Personally, I’ll see it. When it comes out on DVD. 

If that makes me a Little Women Man, then so be it. But I’m not wasting my money or time to go see it in the theater. And since I am single, there is no one to try and bat their eyelashes at me or make me feel guilty that I forgot their birthday to even get me to see it (I’m a horrible boyfriend, I know). But if I had a significant other that wanted to see it, then I would go and see it with them because they are interested in it.

Yet that is the problem here. The success of “Little Women” is a woman problem. Not a man problem. And I agree with the author when she concludes, “Little Women Men, you need to go. You can do it, guys.” But I’ll be more direct. To the Little Women Men all I can say is, grow a pair and see the damn movie if you are really interested in it. To the rest of you men out there, it is okay if you are not interested in seeing this movie in the theater. 

This movie will be a box office flop. Because I can say with certainty, there are not enough Little Women Men to help this movie be a box office success. However, it shouldn’t matter. There are more women than men in the United States. You would think that all of them would want to see this movie, right? 

Am I right? Sound off in the comments below!