Thursday, June 03, 2010

The five Ws and one Heigl

Katherine Heigl is making my head hurt. No, not just because she has made a series of movies that look, sound and indeed are awful. Don’t get me wrong, that makes my head hurt – but that’s not the main reason my head hurts. The main reason my head hurts is because Katherine Heigl’s big screen career embodies one of life’s most eternal and unanswerable questions: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

In the actresses’ case the question becomes: Which came first, Katherine Heigl’s inability to pick good movies or Hollywood’s inability to make good romantic comedies? Since her first major big screen starring role in 2007’s “Knocked Up,” Heigl has given us one uninspired romantic comedy after another. “27 Dresses,” “The Ugly Truth,” this week’s “Killers” (which wasn’t screened for critics – always a good sign) and the upcoming “Life As We Know It.” If you think you’ve seen these movies before, and better, you probably have – “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Woman of the Year,” “True Lies” and “Baby Boom.”

Now, I have nothing really against Katherine. I appreciated how she had T.R. Knight’s back during the whole “Grey’s Anatomy” gay slur kerfuffle. And I have no problems with her acting abilities or outspokenness. But it’s the kind of movies she is selected – bland, generic, uninspired fare that reinforces the uptight single woman stereotype – that makes me and a lot of other people cranky. We could spend hours, days, weeks pondering the five Ws: who, what, when, where and why did people think these movies were a good idea? Which, of course, leads us back to out original question. Is she making bland, generic, uninspired rom-coms because that is all that is out there for actresses or does her taste in rom-coms just really stink? I would say it’s probably a little of both. Yes, romantic comedies have become rote and formulaic. But, no, Katherine isn’t the only one with a long list of crap rom-coms on her resume. (Hey, Jennifer Lopez! Sup, Jennifer Aniston! Hola, Kate Hudson!)

So what’s a gal who admittedly enjoys a nice, cozy rom-com from time to time to do in the face of a cineplex full of Katherine Heigl movies and their unillustrious ilk? Seek indie fare? Retreat to Netflix? Read a Jane Austen novel? Chicken, egg –who knows. I just know I cannot endure any more “unlikely suitor, high-concept hijinks, unnecessary obstacle, true love, happy ending.”

p.s. This does not, in any way, excuse the men who make crap rom-coms. Yes, Ashton Kutcher, I mean you – put down that Nikon, stop Twittering and start making movies that don’t suck.

21 comments:

Unknown said...

Okay, so she has chosen a lot of horrible movies. But I don't get why you would write a whole post about it. It's not even LGBT related?

Norma Desmond said...

... I guess I never assumed everything here had to be LGBT... Was *I* wrong?

Regardless, I completely agree. I feel like I should dislike her more than I do, but I KNOW I can't bring myself to watch one of her movies all the way through.

You know who's AWESOME at terrible rom-coms? Sandra Bullock. As evidenced by her honorary Oscar (in my mind, her Oscar is really for her ability to be totally endearing and amazing whilst tackling awful material... I may or may not have a crush on her).

Anonymous said...

The only reason I like Heigl is because of the whole Addison & Izzie thing...
But YES, Sandra Bullock <3

Lori said...

My first thought on this post was "Heigl? Why Heigl? I don't even like Heigl." Then I had to ask myself why I would dislike a perfectly beautiful woman who seems like a very nice person. And today's post answered all that. She makes seriously sucky movies. She promotes the "uptight single woman" vs. handsome rogue/unhandsome purveyor of excrement jokes model which is so pervasive in heterosexist blah blah blah. Also, her movies suck.

Unknown said...

I love a good romantic comedy, so it makes me very sad that no one is making decent ones anymore. I have not seen and don't plan to see any of K. Heigl's films.

Vicky said...

I miss when she was in Roswell.

Unknown said...

Yah, I cringed thru the lame "27 Dresses" embarrassed for well, everybody.

But to be fair to Heigl, she actually made very critical comments about Knocked Up about how the women are just bitches in the movie and the men are immature boys that somehow are still the heroes and she got SHIT for that (how dare she diss her own movie! *gasp* Or is it...how dare she articulate an opinion?)

So I don't think she's politically unaware of the "messages" of these movies and can't be terribly happy about them.

Which still begs the question, how does she keep ending up in them??

I can only guess that it's what she's being offered and all her people are telling her she has to strike while the iron is hot (tho BB, it's cooling off). Maybe she just wants to be Roz Russell or Carole Lombard and keeps looking for her Girl Friday?

But I'm not mad at her. Just kinda sad for her. She's a smart, aware cookie whose totally LGBT cool and down with the Rainbow - and the stink of some of Grey's weirdness has somehow stuck to her, too, leaving people with really odd projected feelings on the actress herself. IMO.

Ha. Didn't know I felt so strongly about her to ramble like this...

Unknown said...

And oh? PS

TOTALLY agree about Sandy. That I love her and Blind Side was really kinda...bad. Simple minded and Hallmark-y and manipulative BAD. Not sure how she won a freakin' Oscar for that.

But I LOVE Sandy.

CAB's Adventures said...

Dorothy - just think if we could all pool our money and they would let it be you and your closet 2000 friends... lunch with Piper Perabo

http://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/truecolors10/catalog_items/111613

Anonymous said...

there is sookie!
I like sookie,
by the way,
now you're on Roubini mode?

I actually don't get,
but I feel something unpleasant?

It is long tiredsome thing that I mentioned
zilione times.

I have no interest, and never want to involve
the grey anatomy forever. I'm warning you.
why you bring this and even makes me comment
about? how many times should I say?
why you keep doing that?

If you don't want, I won't post.

whoever bother me, I will give them someday
exactly what they bother. how old, whoever
you're don't count.

simple.

go home and play your friends and wife.

thanks for the post,

I said it before, there is thing that easy to solve
when good public go with,
there is good thing goes very awful there is
bad public around.

you didn't chose but you're in the second
I believe.

so now, yes, I'm in roubini mode, too.
what about hell's kitchen mode?
I never want to eat the food, cus
the food heard what he said, and the
chef's hates in the food.

but, have a nice day! birds singing beautifully
who knows what they actually singing?

K. said...

Last Anonymous poster: That's not Sookie. TOTALLY different actress.

Anonymous said...

Seems like people like hating on KH right now.

the movies do suck, but so do SOOOOO many others. Rom Com is not well done anymore. They are just broad and bland. ANd now they are often crude, you know, so guys will watch. This assumes guys are crude and it is insulting to them and the material is often offensive to our side.

oh well....beware the cineplex!

Sophie said...

@K. I think she meant Sookie from Gilmore Girls (who snagged a line about poop in the Life As We Know It trailer) not Sookie from ... True Blood?

Anonymous said...

yeah, that's ggirls sookie,
the best chef.at independence Inn.?

people don't seem like hating KH forever.
if you can ds, you can delete my comments
above the k.said.

I got temper.
reasonably.

Anonymous said...

Why hate on Katherine Heigl for doing what so many before her have done? Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Drew Barrymore, Meg Ryan...need I say more? All of their careers took off with a series of romantic comedies (some good, some not so). So the romantic comedies of today aren't as good and don't have as much heart as the rom coms of the '80s and '90s...that's not Katherine Heigl's fault. If someone offered any one of us millions of dollars to make a crappy movie...show of hands...who would turn that down, especially in this economy? Didn't think so. She's just doing what so many before her have done. And I wish her as much success as her predecessors.

Anonymous said...

How in this world can you compare Katherine to Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, Drew Barrymore and Meg Ryan? Not even close! Give credit where credit is due.

Patricia said...

I think there are two more "Ws" to fill up the equation: hoW much and hoW long. Ladies get good money for this (with almost no effort) and.. for how long thay can go till they lose their good looks and have to act for real?

Anonymous said...

Last anonymous poster...you give credit where credit is due! No matter how you feel about her personally, Katherine Heigl is very a talented actress. Just not as well liked, apparently.

Anonymous said...

her acting abilities???

Anonymous said...

Obviously none of us know her as a person. You may believe she's a talented actress but I do not. You can't compare a rookie to Michael Jordan. Heigl isn't even in the same league to make crap movies. Have fun watching her in the future.

Anonymous said...

You don't think those other actresses made crap movies early in their careers? And I never said I was an adoring fan running out to watch every movie she's put out; because its quite actually the opposite. All I'm saying is let's give her a little time before we go bashing her for making movies that few people want to watch. Every actor has been there so why are we picking on her?