Cameron Crowe’s Romantic Comedy Jerry McGuire, although probably best known for its satirical depiction of life in a fast-paced sports agency and memorable line of “show me the money,” belted out by NFL hopeful Rod Tidwell (Cuba Gooding Jr.), Jerry McGuire also does a very respectable job of hitting on all the cliché constructions of love that Americans enjoy watching.
Here is the clip, because it is truly fantastic:
As the movie opens, Jerry McGuire (Tom Cruise) is engaged to Avery Bishop (Kelly Preston), and it becomes obvious to the audience that their relationship is most likely doomed to fail, as their relationship appears to be built solely on physical attraction and a love of money. Indeed it fails, as Cruise is first fired from his work, and later blows a deal with a potentially lucrative client. Their relationship ends in a pretty comical altercation, as Preston smacks Cruise in the face after Cruise dumps her for not being supportive enough.
At this point, the character of Dorothy Boyd (Renée Zellweger), has already been introduced, and as Cruise’s relationship with Preston comes to a close, his relationship with Zellweger begins to heat up. Zellweger was initially drawn to, or even childishly enamored with, Cruise when he published a soul-bearing altruistic manifesto, “The Things We Think and Do Not Say: The Future of Our Business," which ultimately gets Cruise fired from his position at his agency.
This following series of relationships, character development, and conceptions of love eerily echo what McDonald outlines in Chapter 3 of ‘The Sex Comedy” as a typical 1950s ‘Sex Comedy’ plot: Only when a man “ceases to be the sexually aggressive he-man he has habitually been” can he win his woman over by “becoming nicer, more loving […] the insights he has gained while not being a wolf” (McDonald, 48). Crowe is attempting to illustrate that being fired from his job, blowing a deal, and loosing his fiancée has caused Cruise to hit rock bottom. The only way Cruise can climb back out out is through becoming a more sensitive, father-like figure.
Crowe’s portrayal of love is right in line with most other typical romantic American comedies. First, it is heterosexual. Secondly, for love to exist, the successful, powerful male must attract an emotionally weaker woman, but only once the man learns a bit of humility can the couple co-exist happily. Furthermore, women who yearn for success, money or power, typically male attributes, are demonized and doomed to fail.
Lastly, it should be noted that Crowe uses the nuclear family as a stabilizing mechanism in all of the movies successful relationships. Part of the reason Cruise ultimately stays with Zellweger is due to the relationship he develops with her son, Ray, (Jonathan Lipnicki). Secondly, Gooding Jr.’s family is portrayed as a boisterous but extremely loving African American family, serving as an extremely solid support system for Gooding Jr. and his career. Cultural studies historian Cantor would believe that this is a classic and cliché depiction of a functional American family, suggesting that “we seek solutions to social problems within the family (by making it responsible for ‘crime’ or ‘social care’ (Baker, 48). Along these lines, Crowe too appears to suggest that the family is the best support structure to turn to when the going gets tough.
Its classic portrayals of love and relationships aside, I do think that Jerry McGuire is a terrific and enjoyable film. Maybe I’ve been duped think in just that manor, but, for now, that’s ok with me.
Works Cited:
Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. 3rd ed. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2008. Print.
McDonald. Chapter 3: “The Sex Comedy.”
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