Abstract
In this chapter, the author explains how Nancy Meyers' work has exhibited a dexterous command of genre filmmaking, in which she has pursued observant cultural commentary on the gendered inequities of contemporary dating, sex and ageing, despite the romcom's reputation for triteness. With reference to What Women Want, she demonstrates how, while her films can be readily yoked to conservative interpretations, so too do they open up awkward spaces and questions that disrupt feminist readings. As Deborah M. Sims notes, in reviews of Meyers' films 'the irrelevance of romantic comedy is clearly signalled through snarky tone and snide remarks'. But in addition, comments repeatedly express derision not only for the 'women's' genre of the romcom, and for the female protagonists and audiences seemingly central to Meyers' commercial success, but implicitly also for her as a woman director – in a manner which film scholarship, and feminist film criticism particularly, to date has neglected to sufficiently scrutinise and rebuke.
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