Creating the Couple: Love, Marriage, and Hollywood Performance

by Virginia Wright Wexman

This examination of the changing relationships between men and women in modern culture argues that Hollywood film has often been a powerful mirror of American romance and sexuality. The author notes also how changing acting styles have led to new types of relationships being depicted on screen.

302 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Angie Fehl · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nonfiction piece that gets into how, when, and even where Americans have historically tended to fall in love and marry and the movie industry's influence on all that. Wexman's cinematic points of reference span from the origins of the film industry up to more modern examples, using them to look how we as a nation can be subliminally influenced in our day to day by the movies we love.

Sounds like kind of a fascinating topic, right?! Yeah, I thought so too! And maybe so in the hands of a writer with a stronger storyteller gene. I ended up actually finding this not all that interesting -- not sure if it was the examples she uses or her writing style itself, or a combination -- but this cinema buff found this one kinda dull. Also found the feminist lean a little tiresome after awhile.