Weddings and wedding movies are big business. Most little girls (or so the media tells us) dream of their wedding day. What dress they will wear, the bridesmaids, the music, the food, the cake and the groom. Oftentimes it’s an extension of the princess fantasy. Movies and TV shows (The Bachelor/Bachelorette, Say Yes to the Dress, Four Weddings) reinforce the importance, not of marriage, but of weddings.
Wedding movies range from serious and dramatic to romantic comedy to screwball zany. Yet they overwhelmingly tell tales of white, upper-class, heteronormative characters. Although some wedding films do transgress stereotypes and gender boundaries. But wedding movies, along with the entire rom-com genre, are often categorized as “girl stuff,” aka not as important as other films simply because they feature female protagonists and deal with themes of love, marriage and relationships.
Whether you love them or they frustrate the hell out of you, we want to explore wedding films. How are women depicted? What do they say about femininity and masculinity? What about themes of gender, race, class and sexuality?
Here are some suggestions to get you started, but please feel free to propose your own!
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
The Five-Year Engagement
Shrek
Royal Wedding