Love and Other Drugs is the story of Maggie (Anne Hathaway), a young woman suffering
from Parkinson’s disease and Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal), a successful
pharmaceutical sales rep. Maggie is an attractive free spirit who has strong
walls built up. She refuses to let anyone or anything tie her down. While Jamie
is a charming charismatic man who knows how to “woo” the ladies. When Jamie is
able to score a date with her, they immediately have sex and their relationship
escalades quickly. This leads to Jamie professing his love to Maggie, and she
shuts him out. Her attempt to avoid him failed and their relationship continues
to evolve. They end up at a Parkinson’s discussion group in Chicago and Jamie
asks a man whose wife is in the final stages of the disease for some advice.
The man tells him to run. This puts Jamie into a panic and he begins making
Maggie see different specialists around the country to have tests done. Maggie
feels as if Jamie can only love her if there is hope that she can be cured, she
decides to break up with him. After time apart Jamie realizes he can’t be
without her and chases her down. He tells her that he loves and needs her and she
tells him how she will need him more. Maggie and Jamie decide that they need to
be together (Stuber & Zwick, 2010).
Love and Other Drugs portrays many different sexual scripts. This
movie is interesting because the characters go against the norms and don’t
always behave the way they are “supposed” to in relationships. However,
throughout the movie you can see the behaviors shift in the different sexual
codes. The characters portray contradictory messages and develop over time.
The
first excerpt I analyzed was the “first date” scene. This is not your
stereotypical first date. Maggie starts off by asking Jamie “what’s your game”.
Maggie doesn’t want to play games and she gets straight to business. When Jamie
doesn’t have a response for her she says. “I'm
sorry, right, this is the part where we talk about where we come from and what
we majored in, in college.” Jamie interrupts her and says
“you have beautiful eyes” and she responds with “that’s it? That’s the best you
got?” Throughout the first date Maggie mocks what first dates are supposed to
be like. She gives Jamie a hard time and makes fun of him for how he is
supposed to act. She sends the message to Jamie that she is not like other
girls. Jamie especially sees that when she initiates sex. Jamie is taken by
surprise, but needless to say the scene ends with them having sex.
Maggie
doesn’t allow Jamie to act how men are “supposed” to act in relationships. On
the first date men are supposed to be sweet and charming and formulate the girl
to develop a crush. Maggie knows how men operate and doesn’t allow him to do
this. She doesn’t allow him to sit there and talk about how pretty she is and
all of her interests because she knows his main intention are to have sex with
her. This goes against how women are “supposed” to act in relationships because
they are supposed to let the man take charge. Maggie sets the tone and pace of
how the date is going to go. This is demonstrated in the most at the end of the
date in the following dialogue:
Maggie: Let's go.
James: Excuse me?
Maggie: You wanna close,
right?
You wanna get laid?
James: Now?
Maggie: Mmm. Oh, right,
right, right. I'm supposed to act like I don't know if it's right, so then you
tell me that there is no right or wrong, there's just the moment. And then I
tell you that I can't, while actually signaling to you that I can, which you
don't need, because you're not really listening, because this isn't about
connection for you, this isn't even about sex for you. This is about finding an
hour or two of relief from the pain of being you. And that's fine with me, see,
because all I want is the exact same thing (2010, "First Date Scene").
In Janna L. Kim’s research, From
Sex to Sexuality she examines the different codes of how men and women are
supposed to think, feel, and behave in regards to sexual encounters. Kim
discusses how “women are supposed to be sexually passive, set sexual limits,
and don’t demand their own sexual pleasure” (Kim, 2007). Another code for women
is for them to “wait to be asked out by men” (Kim, 2007). Maggie counters all
of these codes for women in this scene. Not only does she assert her dominance
by taking charge of the conversation, but she immediately discusses what her
sexual needs are, and how she wants them to be met. Maggie initiates sex, and
does not wait for the man to do it. Maggie calls out other traditional women by
saying “ then I tell you I can’t, while actually signaling I can.” She mocks
women who are sexually passive and shows that she certainly is not. She does
not set sexual limits and she calls out on his actions before he can even act
on them.
The next clip analyzed was the “I love you scene”. Jamie and
Maggie are kissing and suddenly Jamie begins to have a panic attack. He pulls
away and tells Maggie that he loves her. Maggie gets really awkward and tries
to tell him that he doesn’t. She doesn’t know how to handle the situation and
offers him water and tells him that she once loved her cat. Jamie keeps telling
her he loves her and says he has never told that to anyone before. Maggie is
extremely uncomfortable in this scene.
This goes against the how men and women are “supposed” to act.
Maggie is the women and should be notorious for being the romantic, when it is
the opposite. Jamie is the one professing his love to her and showing he is
vulnerable and romantic. Men are stereotypically portrayed as being super macho
and not showing their feelings. This scene runs counter to the traditional
codes.
Kim’s codes for men are that they are supposed to “avoid
commitment and crave space, prefer sexual fulfillment over emotional intimacy,
and treat women as sexual objects” (Kim, 2007). Jamie counters these codes by
being the one to speak out about his emotions. He pulls away from hooking up
with Maggie to talk about his emotions. Jamie’s actions are habitually what
society would assume from the woman in the relationship. Jamie treats Maggie
with respect, and can’t help but pour out his feelings to her. He shows a sign
of weakness when he begins to have a panic attack; this is not the typical
reaction for men because they are always supposed to have a tough guy front.
The final clip analyzed was the “I need you scene”. After Jamie
and Maggie have been apart, Jamie realizes he needs Maggie in his life despite
her illness. He tracks her down while she is on bus and makes the bus pull
over. He persuades her to get off the bus so they can talk. Jamie tells Maggie
how he has never cared about anybody or anything like the way he cares for her.
He tells her how great she is because she believes in him and he has never
experienced anything like that before. She tries to deny that they don’t need
to be together and he keeps telling her that they need each other. She is
worried that she is going to need him more than he needs her, due to her
illness. He assures her that no matter what happens he will always be there to
take care of each other. The scene ends with them agreeing that they both need
to be in each other’s lives.
Yet again, in the film Jamie is showed to have deep feelings and his
vulnerability is exposed. He portrays a man who is not afraid to show his true
feelings and express his love for another woman. He is also the one fighting
for her to be in a relationship and be together. Maggie on the other hand tries
to fight the urge to be happy with Jamie. That is not the accepted way for
women to behave. Women are supposed to be the ones wanting the man to settle
down and fighting for their affection, when in this movie it is the exact
opposite.
More codes regarding the behavior of men say they “want and need
independence, avoid commitment, and crave space” (Kim, 2007). Women are the
ones who “want and need relationships” (Kim, 2007). Jamie is the one who seeks out Maggie to profess his desire
and need for her in his life. He wants to be committed to her. Maggie is the
one who is hesitant about committing to him, and it takes her awhile to give in
to him. Their relationship consistently counters the traditional codes of how
men and women are supposed to act.
Love and Other Drugs completely goes
against the stereotypical norms of how men and women are supposed to act like
and want in relationships. The roles of Jamie and Maggie are completely
flipped. Jamie is one seeking a relationship, showing emotions, and letting a
woman take control. Maggie on the other hand is avoiding commitment, preferring
sexual fulfillment over emotional intimacy, and she is not sexually passive.
There are not too many movies that completely flip the roles of how men and
women act. This movie sends the message that not all men and women act
according to these specific sexual codes. The overall narrative suggests that
it is ok that men and women can act differently and still have a successful
relationship. This movie says that diversity is ok. Love and Other Drugs forces viewers to see a different side of behaviors
of men and women. Personally I think this movie is great because it goes
against traditional stereotypes and helps change the fixed perceptions society
has on how men and women are supposed to act.
Works Cited
Kim, J. L., Sorsoli, C. L., Collins, K., Zylbergold, B. A., Schooler, D., & Tolman, D. L. (2007). From sex to sexuality: Exposing the heterosexual script on primetime network television. Journal of Sex Research, 44(2), 145-157. doi: 10.1080/00224490701263660
Stuber, S. (Producer), & Zwick, E. (Director). (November 24, 2010). Love and Other Drugs [Motion picture]. United States: Fox 2000 Pictures.
