Entertainment media offers us images of life that feed back into our culture and shape our expectation of what is acceptable, normal, and desirable (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorielli, 2002). Therefore, examining how movies and television shows portray weddings can offer insight into the fantasies that underlie the wedding as a social event (Engstrom, 2008). Because the entertainment industry is now so closely intertwined with business interests (Croteau and Hoynes, 2006), the image of the American wedding in the entertainment media does not only perpetuate cultural tropes and traditions but also legitimizes the wedding as an occasion for consumption, furthering the interests of the wedding industry (Blakely, 2008; Engstrom; Mead, 2007). The fantasies proffered in the media thus support those spread by the wedding industry, which seeks to convince brides that weddings are a rite of passage into a new identity as a consumer (Mead).
As part of this emphasis on consumption, wedding imagery in the entertainment media repeats and thus reinforces certain material aspects of weddings “that are almost universally observed among Americans (the bride’s wearing of a white gown, the structure of a civil or religious ceremony followed by a reception with eating, drinking, and dancing)…” (Mead, 2007, p. 8). The elaborate weddings created in Hollywood are filled with lavish, expensive details that, by sheer repetition in countless wedding scenes, become the norm for our own weddings, even if that might break our budget (Engstrom, 2008; Mead). Such images encourage the bride to be a celebrity, much like the celebrities starring the movie weddings, and further the notion that weddings are star vehicles with the bride as the star at their center (Mead).
The following YouTube clip (posted by TCam71 on August 2, 2007 and set to You and Me by Lifehouse) is a sampling of seven mainstream Hollywood movies revolving around romance and weddings: Monster in Law (2005), The Wedding Date (2005), A Walk to Remember (2002), Father of the Bride (1991), The Prince & Me II: The Royal Wedding (2006), My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), and The Runaway Bride (1999).
In the seven wedding scenes, certain similarities are apparent that that tie all of the pictured weddings into the larger cultural fantasy of the dream wedding. With one exception, all the weddings shown in the clips from the seven movies take place in a large church, thus reinforcing the norm of getting married in specific established venues such as a church or temple. Focusing on established locations and tying them to the romance of a movie wedding reduces the legitimacy of other, less traditional (but perhaps cheaper) choices such as simply getting a marriage certificate at city hall (Engstrom, 2008).
The movie wedding scenes also feature elaborately decorated locations and accouterments that emphasize lush beauty and a certain level of luxury to signify the specialness of the occasion. The aisles walked by the various brides are resplendent with colorful, beautiful flowers, gauzy garlands, and the romantic glow of candles. As a sign of status, high-class, highly polished cars drive the members of the bridal parties through the scenery and the bride and groom to their reception. The glimpse we get of the receptions hints at champagne and fancy food among fantastically decorated bowers, tables, and arbors. The wedding parties are made up of several lovely bridesmaids (no one has just one) in lovely coordinated outfits, perfect from their elaborate hairdos to their matching jewelry, dyed shoes, and bouquets. All of these images feed into the idea that what makes the wedding day special is less the commitment to marriage and more the time and money spent on creating the perfect event (Engstrom, 2008; Mead, 2007).
Finally, the brides featured in these seven movies all portray a specific kind of lovely, pretty femininity. Each bride is a vision of beauty in her big white dress of lace and satin and pearls, with her hair perfectly done, and the veil and tiara a crowning glory. The bride is a princess on her wedding day, even when that is not her official title in real life (Blakely, 2008, Engstrom, 2008, Mead, 2007). Although not part of these particular clips, many movies that revolve around weddings also show a montage of the beauty regimen that brides must undergo to achieve this perfect beauty. The hair must be treated, teased and shaped, and the makeup applied flawlessly, so that the end result seems natural and the bride’s look appears effortless. Hiding the costs of beauty, both in terms of the money and time spent on it and the pain and restrictions (diets, sore feet, corsets, pulled hair, etc.) endured for it, is part of a culturally encoded and reinforced femininity that the wedding industry and media draw upon (Engstrom).
Images of weddings such as the ones in these clips, common in mainstream movies, also serve to reinforce traditional gender roles. Several of the brides are shown here being escorted down the aisle by their fathers, a tradition that stems from a time when a daughter was the responsibility and property of her father until he transferred his ownership to her husband. Today, women are supposed to be equal to men, no longer any man’s property, but the symbolism of male ownership remains in our wedding ceremonies because it is part of tradition and ties into the idea of femininity that weddings thrive on (Engstrom, 2008). In fact, many aspects of the modern wedding require women to revert to less emancipated roles. The role of the bride in the traditional wedding as it is dreamed about and shown in the media is to be first and foremost an object of beauty to be admired (Engstrom). In service of this role and in fulfillment of the bride-as-princess fantasy, money must be spent.
The media weddings promote the specialness of the wedding day by highlighting the details of the decor, the dresses, and the accessories. These trappings of the fantasy media wedding require spending money, but the movies and television shows that push the big princess wedding as the pinnacle of romantic love and women’s fulfillment either do not mention the cost or imply that financial sacrifice is necessary and right in pursuit of the romantic dream (Blakely, 2008; Engstrom, 2008). They offer a vision of romantic love that culminates in a big, elaborate, beautiful wedding, thereby successfully blending the emotions evoked by images of love and joy with the material goods that create the perfect wedding scene. The message the movie images send is that the dream wedding guarantees the dream love and the dream wedding can be secured by buying into the wedding industry’s merchandising of the American wedding.
For references, please see the reference page.
Filed under: Analysis, Moving Pictures, brides, on the big screen | Tagged: brides, consumption, dream wedding, pressure of the norm
