So you know how lots of moms, when faced with the prospect of a gay kid, will say something about how gay people have such sad lives? They should watch He’s Just Not That Into You, because those straight people are pathetic. And boring. And based on broad stereotypes. And poorly acted. And—to be honest, I fast-forwarded through a lot of the subplots, but these people are horrible. Horrible!
And I know that most romantic comedies are about upper-class straight white people, but come on, the movie is set in Baltimore, which is a predominately black city. Everyone with a romantic subplot is white. Don’t worry, though, there are lots of black characters! Like, the waiters the guy from the Mac commercials supervises! And there’s a pair of black women on a bench giving no-nonsense love advice, never to be seen again. And there’s one scene, at the tail end of a montage of young women making excuses for why men won’t call them, where African women outside their grass huts have the following conversation (in subtitles):
Woman One: I’m sure he just forgot your hut number.
Woman Two: Or was eaten by a lion.
Woman Three: You guys are awesome.
In conclusion, this movie is problematic on multiple levels.
But the level I’m concerned with centers largely around Drew Barrymore’s plot. Drew Barrymore’s character works for a local gay newspaper. Don’t worry, she’s not a lesbian. She gets a romantic subplot! The gays are all male, and flutter around her desk to give Drew Barrymore moral support with her heterosexual romantic endeavors. There are three of them, and I don’t think they have names.
There’s also this business here: