In the celluloid world of romantic comedies, shy but decent men get the girl, arguments set up sweet reconciliations, and couples separated by tragedy are always reunited through improbable coincidence. But now researchers are beginning to ask whether the make-believe world projected in "rom-coms" might actually be preventing true love in real life.
Last week, researchers at Heriot Watt University's Family and Personal Relationships Laboratory in Edinburgh, which studies best practices in relationship counseling, completed a study of 40 Hollywood romantic comedies released between 1995-2005. They found that problems typically reported by couples in relationship counseling at their counseling center reflect misconceptions about love and romance depicted in Hollywood films.
"Relationship counselors often face common misconceptions in their clients — that if your partner truly loves you they'd know what you need without you communicating it, that your soul mate is predestined. We did a rigorous content analysis of romantic comedies and found that the same issues were being portrayed in these films," the university's Dr Bjarne Holmes says.
The fact that Hollywood sells us an enhanced version of romance should come as no surprise, of course. But does that portrayal reflect a pre-existing expectation that film buffs hold or does it instill it? As part of their research, Dr Holmes' team had around 130 student volunteers watch the 2001 romantic comedy Serendipity, while another group of the same size watched a David Lynch drama. Viewers of the romantic comedy were found to be more likely to believe in fate and destiny. It was a small study confined to one region, but, Dr Holmes argues, "it does give us some indication of [the effects of romantic comedies]."
Mary-Lou Galician, Head of Media Analysis and Criticism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication at Arizona State University, whose research in the 1990s found similar results to Holmes' study, says uncovering conscious and subconscious romantic motivation is a difficult process, and the role of movies is uncertain. She points to the vexing debate over the effects of violent movies, which some researchers argue encourage aggression, while "others argue just as persuasively that [simulated violence] provides a safe release for human aggression."
Still, Galician — who blames mass media portrayals of romance for the failure of her own early relationships — advises people to be cautious about watching too many romantic comedies, and remain aware that such movies might cause problems in their own relationships. "If there were suggestions something was dangerous for you, even if the results were in small numbers, it might not be a bad idea to be cautious," she says.
Not all relationship experts agree. Phillip Hodson, a fellow at the British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy, says that while romantic comedies can cause problems for couples once they exit the euphoric first few years of a relationship, they also provide a much needed source of hope and inspiration for the unattached. "We need to live by stories that help us deal with tough realities. Idealism has a role to play — it can convince us that no matter how misshapen, decrepit, or dull we are, there is someone out there for us. And you know what? There is! Walk through any shopping mall and you see the most extraordinary pairings," he says. "We all need hope in our lives. And Hollywood trades on hope."
在愛情喜劇的賽璐珞世界里，害羞而得體的男子擁有一個(gè)女子，他們經(jīng)過爭(zhēng)辯而建立起最后甜蜜的和解，被悲劇拆散的情侶們往往經(jīng)過看似不可能的巧合而終成眷屬。但是現(xiàn)在研究者們開始探究是否這些電影中的虛假世界肯能真的會(huì)有礙于現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中的真愛呢？
上周，研究者們?cè)趷鄱”さ暮杖鹜咛卮髮W(xué)的家庭和個(gè)人親屬關(guān)系的實(shí)驗(yàn)室里完成了1995-2005年之間上映的40部好萊塢愛情喜劇的研究。這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)室在親屬關(guān)系顧問服務(wù)方面做出了的研究。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)情侶們?cè)谒麄兊念檰栔行奶岢龅年P(guān)于親屬關(guān)系顧問的典型問題是好萊塢電影反映了愛和浪漫的錯(cuò)誤想法。
“關(guān)系顧問常常面對(duì)他們客戶普遍的錯(cuò)誤想法--那就是如果你的搭檔真的很愛你，那么他們不通過跟你交流就知道你所需要的，性情相投的人是注定如此的。我們對(duì)愛情喜劇做過一個(gè)嚴(yán)格的內(nèi)容分析發(fā)現(xiàn)這些電影描繪了同樣的內(nèi)容，”大學(xué)的布阿恩赫爾姆斯博士如是說。
當(dāng)然，事實(shí)上好萊塢賣給我們一部浪漫的加強(qiáng)版是意料之中的事情。但是那些描繪反映影迷們所把握的那些先前存在的期待或會(huì)對(duì)他們灌輸那樣的思想嗎？做為他們研究的一部分，赫爾姆斯博士的隊(duì)伍中有大概130個(gè)學(xué)生志愿者觀看了2001年的愛情喜劇《緣分天注定》，而另一個(gè)小組有同樣多的人數(shù)觀看了大衛(wèi)·林奇的一部影片。結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，看了《緣分天注定》的學(xué)生更信奉命運(yùn)和宿命。這是局限于一個(gè)地區(qū)的一項(xiàng)小的研究，但是，赫爾姆斯博士指出：“這確實(shí)給了我們一些指示[關(guān)于愛情喜劇的影響]。”
在亞利桑那州立大學(xué)新聞和大眾傳播學(xué)克朗凱學(xué)院任媒體分析和批評(píng)工作的領(lǐng)袖的瑪麗-璐，是加利西亞人，她在上世紀(jì)90年代的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)跟赫爾姆斯的研究結(jié)果很相似，她說暴露出有意的和潛意識(shí)的愛情動(dòng)機(jī)是一個(gè)很難的過程，而其電影的作用是很不確定的。她在對(duì)暴力電影作用的激烈爭(zhēng)論中指出，一些研究者主張暴力電影可以鼓勵(lì)進(jìn)攻的野心，而另外一些研究者的觀點(diǎn)是偽裝的暴力為人類的野心提供一個(gè)安全的釋放方式，貌似有說服力。
還有一個(gè)加利西亞人，他責(zé)備大眾媒體對(duì)她自己先前愛情關(guān)系失敗的描述，建議人們看許多愛情喜劇是要謹(jǐn)慎，并且要意識(shí)到那樣的電影可能會(huì)對(duì)自己的親屬關(guān)系引發(fā)許多問題。她說：“如果有人告訴你某些事情對(duì)你很危險(xiǎn)，即使危險(xiǎn)結(jié)果只占少數(shù)，但你謹(jǐn)慎點(diǎn)可能未必是個(gè)壞主意?！?BR> 并不是所有的親屬關(guān)系專家同意這樣的觀點(diǎn)。菲利普-霍得森在英國社團(tuán)咨詢與心理治療中心工作，他說愛情喜劇對(duì)于那些沉浸于婚后開始幾年的愉快相處中的情侶們可能會(huì)引發(fā)一些問題，但這些電影也會(huì)為那些未婚的情侶提供一些必要的希望和靈感的來源?！拔覀冃枰适聨椭覀兲幚憩F(xiàn)實(shí)生活中棘手的困難。理想主義有一個(gè)作用--它使我們相信，無論我們多么畸形，衰老，或呆滯，總會(huì)有人幫助我們。你知道是什么嗎？這里就有！穿行在任何一個(gè)購物商場(chǎng)，你會(huì)看到好多特殊的配偶，”他說，“我們?cè)谏钪卸夹枰邢Ｍ?，好萊塢可以買賣希望?！?
Last week, researchers at Heriot Watt University's Family and Personal Relationships Laboratory in Edinburgh, which studies best practices in relationship counseling, completed a study of 40 Hollywood romantic comedies released between 1995-2005. They found that problems typically reported by couples in relationship counseling at their counseling center reflect misconceptions about love and romance depicted in Hollywood films.
"Relationship counselors often face common misconceptions in their clients — that if your partner truly loves you they'd know what you need without you communicating it, that your soul mate is predestined. We did a rigorous content analysis of romantic comedies and found that the same issues were being portrayed in these films," the university's Dr Bjarne Holmes says.
The fact that Hollywood sells us an enhanced version of romance should come as no surprise, of course. But does that portrayal reflect a pre-existing expectation that film buffs hold or does it instill it? As part of their research, Dr Holmes' team had around 130 student volunteers watch the 2001 romantic comedy Serendipity, while another group of the same size watched a David Lynch drama. Viewers of the romantic comedy were found to be more likely to believe in fate and destiny. It was a small study confined to one region, but, Dr Holmes argues, "it does give us some indication of [the effects of romantic comedies]."
Mary-Lou Galician, Head of Media Analysis and Criticism at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication at Arizona State University, whose research in the 1990s found similar results to Holmes' study, says uncovering conscious and subconscious romantic motivation is a difficult process, and the role of movies is uncertain. She points to the vexing debate over the effects of violent movies, which some researchers argue encourage aggression, while "others argue just as persuasively that [simulated violence] provides a safe release for human aggression."
Still, Galician — who blames mass media portrayals of romance for the failure of her own early relationships — advises people to be cautious about watching too many romantic comedies, and remain aware that such movies might cause problems in their own relationships. "If there were suggestions something was dangerous for you, even if the results were in small numbers, it might not be a bad idea to be cautious," she says.
Not all relationship experts agree. Phillip Hodson, a fellow at the British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy, says that while romantic comedies can cause problems for couples once they exit the euphoric first few years of a relationship, they also provide a much needed source of hope and inspiration for the unattached. "We need to live by stories that help us deal with tough realities. Idealism has a role to play — it can convince us that no matter how misshapen, decrepit, or dull we are, there is someone out there for us. And you know what? There is! Walk through any shopping mall and you see the most extraordinary pairings," he says. "We all need hope in our lives. And Hollywood trades on hope."
在愛情喜劇的賽璐珞世界里，害羞而得體的男子擁有一個(gè)女子，他們經(jīng)過爭(zhēng)辯而建立起最后甜蜜的和解，被悲劇拆散的情侶們往往經(jīng)過看似不可能的巧合而終成眷屬。但是現(xiàn)在研究者們開始探究是否這些電影中的虛假世界肯能真的會(huì)有礙于現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中的真愛呢？
上周，研究者們?cè)趷鄱”さ暮杖鹜咛卮髮W(xué)的家庭和個(gè)人親屬關(guān)系的實(shí)驗(yàn)室里完成了1995-2005年之間上映的40部好萊塢愛情喜劇的研究。這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)室在親屬關(guān)系顧問服務(wù)方面做出了的研究。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)情侶們?cè)谒麄兊念檰栔行奶岢龅年P(guān)于親屬關(guān)系顧問的典型問題是好萊塢電影反映了愛和浪漫的錯(cuò)誤想法。
“關(guān)系顧問常常面對(duì)他們客戶普遍的錯(cuò)誤想法--那就是如果你的搭檔真的很愛你，那么他們不通過跟你交流就知道你所需要的，性情相投的人是注定如此的。我們對(duì)愛情喜劇做過一個(gè)嚴(yán)格的內(nèi)容分析發(fā)現(xiàn)這些電影描繪了同樣的內(nèi)容，”大學(xué)的布阿恩赫爾姆斯博士如是說。
當(dāng)然，事實(shí)上好萊塢賣給我們一部浪漫的加強(qiáng)版是意料之中的事情。但是那些描繪反映影迷們所把握的那些先前存在的期待或會(huì)對(duì)他們灌輸那樣的思想嗎？做為他們研究的一部分，赫爾姆斯博士的隊(duì)伍中有大概130個(gè)學(xué)生志愿者觀看了2001年的愛情喜劇《緣分天注定》，而另一個(gè)小組有同樣多的人數(shù)觀看了大衛(wèi)·林奇的一部影片。結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，看了《緣分天注定》的學(xué)生更信奉命運(yùn)和宿命。這是局限于一個(gè)地區(qū)的一項(xiàng)小的研究，但是，赫爾姆斯博士指出：“這確實(shí)給了我們一些指示[關(guān)于愛情喜劇的影響]。”
在亞利桑那州立大學(xué)新聞和大眾傳播學(xué)克朗凱學(xué)院任媒體分析和批評(píng)工作的領(lǐng)袖的瑪麗-璐，是加利西亞人，她在上世紀(jì)90年代的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)跟赫爾姆斯的研究結(jié)果很相似，她說暴露出有意的和潛意識(shí)的愛情動(dòng)機(jī)是一個(gè)很難的過程，而其電影的作用是很不確定的。她在對(duì)暴力電影作用的激烈爭(zhēng)論中指出，一些研究者主張暴力電影可以鼓勵(lì)進(jìn)攻的野心，而另外一些研究者的觀點(diǎn)是偽裝的暴力為人類的野心提供一個(gè)安全的釋放方式，貌似有說服力。
還有一個(gè)加利西亞人，他責(zé)備大眾媒體對(duì)她自己先前愛情關(guān)系失敗的描述，建議人們看許多愛情喜劇是要謹(jǐn)慎，并且要意識(shí)到那樣的電影可能會(huì)對(duì)自己的親屬關(guān)系引發(fā)許多問題。她說：“如果有人告訴你某些事情對(duì)你很危險(xiǎn)，即使危險(xiǎn)結(jié)果只占少數(shù)，但你謹(jǐn)慎點(diǎn)可能未必是個(gè)壞主意?！?BR> 并不是所有的親屬關(guān)系專家同意這樣的觀點(diǎn)。菲利普-霍得森在英國社團(tuán)咨詢與心理治療中心工作，他說愛情喜劇對(duì)于那些沉浸于婚后開始幾年的愉快相處中的情侶們可能會(huì)引發(fā)一些問題，但這些電影也會(huì)為那些未婚的情侶提供一些必要的希望和靈感的來源?！拔覀冃枰适聨椭覀兲幚憩F(xiàn)實(shí)生活中棘手的困難。理想主義有一個(gè)作用--它使我們相信，無論我們多么畸形，衰老，或呆滯，總會(huì)有人幫助我們。你知道是什么嗎？這里就有！穿行在任何一個(gè)購物商場(chǎng)，你會(huì)看到好多特殊的配偶，”他說，“我們?cè)谏钪卸夹枰邢Ｍ?，好萊塢可以買賣希望?！?