“Are men or women more obsessive about movies?”

Steve Zeitchik at the L.A. Times’ “24 Frames” blog comes up with a fun question:

It’s usually impossible to get a real-world snapshot of men vs. women at the box office — most movies appeal at least a little bit to both genders — and there are usually other movies crowding theaters in a given weekend anyway.

But a rare experiment will take place next weekend. That is, of course, when the testosterone-heavy exploits of Sylvester Stallone’s “The Expendables” will go up against the journey of female discovery that is Julia Roberts’ “Eat Pray Love.” 

It’s as close to a laboratory environment as you can get. For one thing, the two films’ subject matter and intended audience couldn’t sit on further ends of the gender spectrum. There isn’t much in each movie that should appeal, at least according to what Hollywood executives commonly believe, to the non-core gender. “The Expendables” contains few romantic interludes, while “Eat Pray Love” doesn’t feature many mercenary gunfights. Julia Roberts is interested in discovering a foreign country. Sylvester Stallone wants to blow one up.

It’s also a near-perfect test-tube case because the movies are similar in so many other key respects. Both are mid-budget studio films coming out in the dog days of August. Both were made with the goal of pleasing crowds more than critics. Both pictures are driven by one huge-name star accompanied by a host of smaller ones. And the two are going head-to-head with very little competition. (“Inception” should have finally lost some steam; the more modest “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” is the only other wide opener.)

Speaking as a representative of the male gender, I can honestly say I have zero interest in seeing Eat Pray Love. And I only have a nominal bit more interest in seeing The Expendables. How about you?

And to the larger question, is it possible that men or women are more “obsessive” about movies? The fact that so many movies Hollywood produces are targeted toward males, and yet the moviegoing audience in the U.S. last year was 52% women, 48% men (about the breakdown of overall population), does that suggest that women are more passionate about going to see movies? What if there was an actual 50–50 split in terms of movies aimed toward men and movies aimed toward women? Isn’t it like that 52% number would go up significantly?

To put the Hollywood version of female / male world views side by side, at least in terms of target demos, here is the trailer for Eat Pray Love:

And The Expendables:

Wow. Hard to imagine two more different movies.

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