Last week I watched While You Were Sleeping, which is but one leaf on my ‘Christmas Movies – Romcoms’ branch. I love this movie. It is cute and funny and genuinely romantic, and it stars Sandra Bullock, a fine actress who has contributed much goodness to the genre. I <3 Sandy, man. And speaking of Sandy, WYWS also features Peter Gallagher, aka Top 5 telly dad Sandy Cohen (RIP, The O.C.) and Bill Pullman, who has one of the sexiest voices of the modern screen era (srsly). So yeah, judge me if you must – but understand that it is you who lacks true moral fibre. Also, leave this blog now for there is nothing for you here.
I’m sure you all know the plot of the film by now (c’mon, son – it was made in 1995), so I won’t enchant you with the delightful details. As I watched Lucy go about charming the Callaghan family, I realised something. Lucy was different to most of the romcom heroines I’ve been seeing in recent years. Sure, she was a pretty white lady looking for love, and yeah, serendipity was her constant companion. But Lucy also had a job, and it was not a wafty magazine/media job, oh no. Lucy was blue collar. She wore what looked like a polyester blend tabard and worked a mindless job in a token booth at on the Chicago transit system. LUCY WAS WORKING CLASS! Here she is in her booth with the special pre-9/11 plexiglass, longingly staring after Peter’s retreating hot bod:
Carrie-style, I couldn’t help but wonder – where are all the working class romcom heroines? They’re outchea in real life, why not onscreen? Everyone works in the media, doing flowery lady jobs (sometimes they’re actual florists) and generally being tough-but-fragrant. No one ever seems to stack tins in those delightful retail pyramids, like I did for a number of years. I began a mental tally, which spilled out onto paper. So here we go – 19 Hollywood (and one French) romcoms, from 2000 to 2010, off the top of my head and what their leading ladies did for pink wine money:
| Movie | Year | Starring… | Lady job |
| Serendipity | 2001 | Kate Beckinsale | Unspecified..? |
| He’s Just Not That Into You | 2009 | Ginnifer Goodwin | Tea? Spice? office |
| Wedding Planner | 2001 | Jennifer Lopez | Wedding planner |
| Music and Lyrics | 2007 | Drew Barrymore | Housesitter |
| Confessions of a Shopaholic | 2009 | Isla Fisher | Journalist |
| The Proposal | 2009 | Sandra Bullock | Editor (publishing) |
| How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days | 2003 | Kate Hudson | Magazine writer |
| Maid In Manhattan | 2002 | Jennifer Lopez | Hotel housekeeper |
| 27 Dresses | 2008 | Katherine Heigl | PA |
| The Back Up Plan | 2010 | Jennifer Lopez | Dog shop owner |
| The Wedding Date | 2005 | Debra Messing | Airline customer exec |
| Brown Sugar | 2002 | Sanaa Lathan | Magazine editor |
| Going The Distance | 2010 | Drew Barrymore | Trainee journalist |
| Hitch | 2005 | Eva Mendes | Showbiz journalist |
| Something New | 2006 | Sanaa Lathan | Lawyer (Partner) |
| High Fidelity | 2000 | Iben Hjejle | Lawyer |
| The Holiday | 2006 | Cameron DiazKate Winslet | Movie trailer-makerObits writer/journalist |
| Bridget Jones’ Diary | 2001 | Renee Zellweger | PR,TV presenter |
| Amélie | 2001 | Audrey Tatou | Waitress |
Not an exhaustive list, I know. Even so, whither art thou, cinema usher? Or the woman working the till in Tesco? I want to see the story of Rose the Latina cashier at Zabar’s in You’ve Got Mail, dammit. I know romcoms are meant to be aspirational (ugh), light affairs where things like the heroine’s relative poverty go uncommented on (usually). But screenwriters: I urge you to try and write more stories about people who don’t look like and have the salary of Scarlett Johnasson. I need more polyester blend uniforms in my cinema life.
Also, apropos of nothing, here’s a photo of a contractually obliged Sandra Bullock in a super-frumpy/traditional/old-fashioned/ugly* wedding dress. They’re always a winner on her because she’s luminous, innit:
*delete as appropriate
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The only exception to the rule I can think of off-hand – and it is a rule, Maid in Manhattan another exception – is Win a Date with Tad Hamilton (I know). Ginnifer Goodwin and That Other Kate (Bosworth?) are check out chicks.
I always thought it was interesting that most of the big reality TV shows from the early 00′s on in the US focussed on class differences, when it’s something widely evaded in other TV shows/movies.
& I wanna add that it was way more common in 30s/40s screwball comedies to have genuine class barriers played with – practically every key romantic comedy did it.
Might I add to your list Zooey Deschanel’s character in Elf? She works retail at Gimbels and states, “They shut off my water,” near the beginning of the film.
Too true about the ‘lady jobs’. I find that it is more often the Indie films than blockbusters that provide us with working class heroines. Michelle Williams in Wendy and Lucy. Jennifer Anniston in The Good Girl? Actually, Waitress is a good example of working class women, with the lead women all working in a diner in the South (god, I love that film). But it does seem a shape that the working class women in these Indie films all have slightly less savoury fates than their shiny New York/Media Katherine Hiegl counterparts. It would be a nice change to have a film where the women is working class, in a blue-collar job without this involving drudgery and depression or their love interests ultimately going for someone glossier. Great post-food for thought!
PS, Also of note-Reality Bites?..
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