5 Chick Flicks for the College Crowd

This is a guest post by a fan of Just Chick Flicks, Alexis Montgomery. Alexis  is a content writer for Online Degree Programs, where you can browse through various online degree programs to find a college that suits your needs.

If you’ve never been into chick flicks (you watched your mom sniffle through Steel Magnolias and outright sob when she watched Beaches), you should try to view college as a time to try new things, and include chick flicks on your list. There are a number of eminently enjoyable films aimed at an all-female audience and you (and a roomful of your girlfriends) could learn a thing or two by watching them. Although chick flicks have earned a bad reputation as tissue-fests, there is something empowering about movies that pander to the female psyche, exposing truths that we should all embrace. Here are a few that you absolutely need to see.

1. Pretty Woman (1990) – a rehashing of the classic Cinderella story (or the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold). This movie puts a new twist on women’s lib. Granted, she is a prostitute, but every woman can revel in the reawakening experienced by Vivian (Julia Roberts) as she finds love and realizes her own self-worth, refusing to settle for less than what she feels she deserves. This movie proves that chick flicks can carry a message of empowerment without getting all weepy. Bonus: snappy costumes and a decent soundtrack.

2. When Harry Met Sally (1989) – okay, this one might make you squeeze out a few tears (especially during that last scene), but it is one of the best movies ever made concerning relationships, including falling in love, breaking up, faking an orgasm (in a restaurant), and finding that one person you can’t live without, no matter the flaws. This is hands-down the best role Meg Ryan ever played, peppered (on your paprikash) with some funny bits from comedian Billy Crystal. Best one-liner: “I’ll have what she’s having.”

3. Love Actually (2003) – If you’re looking for a diatribe on relationships that leans a little more towards the sappy, you can find it in this film, which BTW, is astonishingly good. You get the trials and tribulations of eight couples in one great movie, from love at first sight, to an old marriage on the brink of disaster, to a boy with some drumsticks trying to impress a classmate. Very cute and chock full of iconic romantic scenarios that will give you a few ideas for your own relationship.

4. Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead (1991) – Now, most people might not classify this as a chick flick, per se, but since the lead is a female, I think it makes the cut. Sue Ellen (Christina Applegate) takes on a role familiar to male leads like Michael J. Fox in The Secret of My Success. She must scheme her way into a job. She lies on her resumé to land a job at a fashion company in order to pay the bills and take care of her siblings. What she finds is that, although she can’t do the job she was hired for, she is able to use her talents to save the tanking company, as well as run a household. Go girl power! When in doubt, just say, “I’m right on top of that, Rose!”

5. Mean Girls (2004) – Before Lindsay Lohan started sporting that hefty ankle bracelet, she learned how to dress and accessorize to fit in with the most popular girls in school (too bad it included kicking other girls to the curb). This is a great example of what not to do when it comes to dealing with your sistahs, but you can take a lesson from Lohan’s character, Cady, and learn to admit your mistakes with a modicum of grace and give other girls a hand. Let’s face it, we have enough problems without backstabbing each other.