I recently watched the movie Good Luck Chuck and while it was generally funny, there are a few things I feel need to be addressed.
The premise of this movie is that Chuck has a hex put on him when he is a kid that makes every woman he sleeps with fall in love with and marry the next guy she dates. Of course, Chuck meets a woman that he can finally say those three little words to and does not want to sleep with her for fear that she will marry the next guy she meets.
Let’s start with the good. There was one fascinating moment in the movie which I think should garner some attention. Towards the beginning of the movie, before Chuck has decided to perform a “public service” by sleeping with every woman he meets, his secretary, an obsese black woman, shows up at his house and asks him to sleep with her. There is a terribly stereotypical gag in this section where she rips off her trench coat, revealing some sexy lingerie, leaps onto Chuck and (of course) collapses his table. But here is where the good comes in. While Chuck tries to explain that he does not want to sleep with her, they share this extremely heartfelt moment where she explains that she just wants someone to love and that Chuck can just pretend she is someone else. This could have turned into another gag, but I think the director wanted to show that Chuck isn’t all that bad. Instead of making this sad moment into a joke, Chuck responds by holding her and saying, “No, I’ll pretend it’s you.” One point for fat acceptance.
Now for the bad which, unfortunately, horribly outweighs the good. As you have probably figured out by now if you haven’t seen the movie yet, the premise of the movie is extremely derogatory towards women. The movie perpetuates the stereotype that all women just want to get married and will do anything to find the perfect man, including sleeping with a complete stranger. Additionally, late in the movie, in order to test the hex, Chuck decides to sleep with a woman who “aint’ never gettin’ married.” This woman is obese and when we first meet her, the characters tell us she is “beached over there by the garbage bag full of donut holes.” Again, the directors push the stereotype of fat women everywhere, telling us that all they do is eat junk all day. Chuck is obviously grossed out by this woman and downs one shot after another just to get through dinner with her. Fortunately (though I’m not sure if this is the right choice of words here), the directors also make this woman “worse” than “just” fat. She has back, front, and side acne; she eats like a slob; and she is rude and angry. Turns out she is also something of a wildcat in the bedroom, but that’s besides the point.
In the end, this movie turns out to be less of a love story and more of a tale about the stupid and slutty American woman. Not only is the movie full of gross out jokes about masturbation and off-color comments about women’s breasts (Chuck’s best friend is a plastic surgeon who specializes in breast implants), but it shows the viewer that most women don’t care who they share their bodies with and that fat women are gross.
