The “Slacker-Striver”
Romantic comedy
The Male Slacker
 Late 20s to Early 30s
 A sweats, shorts, t-shirt
kinda guy
 Underachiever
 Favorite Pasttimes:
smokin’ Pot, Drinkin’
beer, surfin’ the web,
Hangin’ with the Guys
 Turn offs: responsibility,
commitment, selling
out, breaking a sweat
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The Female Striver
 Usually the same age,




but appears older
Ambitous
Professional: Works
hard, often as a
corporate exec or in
TV/Public relations
Honest, Serious, and
Beautiful
Her future: settle down,
get married, maybe
have children
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The Relationship
“When she breaks up with him, he talks his situation over with his hopeless pals, who give him bits of
misogynist advice. Suddenly, it’s the end of youth for him. It’s a crisis for her, too, and they can get back
together only if both undertake some drastic alteration: he must act responsibility (get a job, take care of a
kid), and she has to do something crazy (run across a baseball field during a game, tell a joke). He has to
shape up, and she has to loosen up” (Denby, 2007).
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Meet the Other Slacker-Strivers
 Knocked Up (2007)
Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) -
unemployed, aspires to launch
fleshofthestars.com
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Alison Scot (Katherine Heigl) E! Television Network reporter
 High Fidelity (2000)
Rob Gordon (John Cusack) - owns a
floundering used-record store
Laura (Iben Hjejle) - lawyer
 The Break-Up (2006)
Gary Grobowski (Vince Vaughn) Chicago tourbus guide
Brooke Meyers (Jennifer
Aniston) - art dealer
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 Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Shaun (Simon Pegg) appliance salesman
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Kate Ashfield (Liz) - ?
 Dodgeball (2004)
Peter La Fleur (Vince
Vaugn) - owner of failing
gym
Kate Veatch (Christine
Taylor) - accountant who
is assessing the gym
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 Say Anything (1989)
Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack)
- underachiever/aspiring
kickboxer (maybe)
Diane Court (Ione Skye) class valedictorian, on
her way to college
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And…
 Aurora Borealis (2005)
Duncan (Josh Jackson) unemployed
Kate (Juliette Lewis) Nurse
(And let’s not forget all
those other slackers in
movies like Wedding
Crashers, Old School,
50 First Dates, Big
Daddy, and pretty much
any Kevin Smith film).
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Setting/Worlds
 Contemporary
 Western-American/British
 Caucasion
 Middle-class
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Value Assumptions
 juvenile male bonding is hilarious!
 Men are unable to commit
 Growing up means getting boring
 Women mature faster than men
 Woman want to settle down, get
married, have children
Problematic Nature of the
Genre
 There is little room for 3-D female characters
 The relationships in these movies are
inherently unequal
 “Reduces the role of women to vehicles; their
only real function is to make men grow up”
(Denby).
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references
A Fine Romance by David Denby
the New Yorker - July 23, 2007