Yeah, I agree it's more complicated, but I still would say that singling out the one genre that is explicitly aimed at women for its pernicious effects and not other genres makes little sense rationally, it only makes sense if the underlying assumption is that women, more than men, have difficulty separating reality from fantasy, or that in areas of romance we have more difficulty separating reality from fantasy. If the assumption is that all fictional genres, including slasher pics and horror and spy films and westerns etc etc have the ability to seep into unconscious and influence our cultural expectations, then that's different. I personally would argue that all these genres speak to us on some unconscious level.

The Amazing Spider-Man trailer! Looks pretty cool, though I am kind of twitchy about what they may be doing to Peter's backstory.

I would say that singling out one Genre is the problem - that it is just as problematic in other genres. For example i'd credit not just 24 but the whole action genre, most police dramas, most detective dramas with normalizing torture in this country. Even lighthearted Castle has a rogue cop who beat info out of suspects.

The Amazing Spider-Man trailer! Looks pretty cool, though I am kind of twitchy about what they may be doing to Peter's backstory.

We'll have to see. Considering his parents turned out to be spies in the original Marvel universe and his dad helped create the Venom suit (and created the original web forumla) in the Ultimate universe, I'm okay with there being some sort of scientific hijinks in the new movie-verse.

I would say that singling out one Genre is the problem - that it is just as problematic in other genres. For example i'd credit not just 24 but the whole action genre, most police dramas, most detective dramas with normalizing torture in this country. Even lighthearted Castle has a rogue cop who beat info out of suspects.

Plus CSI making people have incredibly distorted ideas of how forensics actually work, to the point where it occaisionally causes problems with juries in the court room.

Considering his parents turned out to be spies in the original Marvel universe

What! I had no idea.

his dad helped create the Venom suit (and created the original web forumla) in the Ultimate universe

Or that! I didn't know his parents were even a thing; it was all Uncle Ben and Aunt May.

The Amazing Spider-Man trailer!

"You found my weakness! Small knives!"

That trailer had 100% more quippiness than all 3 of the Raimi movies put together.

I think I'm pretty excited for this one.

"You found my weakness! Small knives!"

That trailer had 100% more quippiness than all 3 of the Raimi movies put together.

What, you don't think "You're the one who's out, Gobby! Out of your MIND!" counts?

I definitely think that fiction has a huge impact on youths and how they percieve reality. I grew up with a poem in my bathroom talking about "growing your own garden, rather than waiting for a man to bring you flowers" so I'm skewed in a different direction. But I am one to protest against fairytale stories where the end goal is for the princess to have the prince rescue her and otherwise be the damsel in distress (which is one of the reasons Bella Swan pisses me off. She's like the anti-Buffy). The fairytales I grew up on were about passive heroines who let others make decisions for them.

So, yeah, I think media influences perceptions of romance and relationships. But I think that once you hit, say, your thirties, you gotta start taking responsibility for your life choices and perceptions and stop blaming the media for your failed relationships. There's a point where you are an adult and have to be culpable for your life views and choices, whether they be influenced by family, friends, media, for good or ill, in the end they are your mature choices. So, unless you were raised in a cult and shown only romcoms as the social norm for normal romantic interactions . . .

I am approximately 28 times more excited about the Amazing Spider-Man than I ever was any of the Raimi movies, that's for sure. The backstory sounds cool, I like mechanical web shooters, Emma Stone is more my speed than Kirsten Dunst, and I agree that quippiness rocks. Sign me up.