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Frequently positioned as the ultimate contemporary disreputable genre, the term “chick flick” warrants analysis for many reasons not least the way in which it undertakes to represent our culture’s confused intimacy norms. Although the term (nearly always carrying a pejorative connotation) has had only a modern usage, it can be seen to have many historical derivations and thus this course applies it retroactively and subversively to a wide range of films made for and marketed to women. Often these films fall into well-recognized generic categories such as the melodrama or the romantic comedy, though not always. The term “chick flick” may also not capture the range and complexity of the category and much of our work will focus on examining the ways that such “formula” fictions exceed standard attributions of cultural meaning. In analyzing how Hollywood has conceptualized the interests and desires of its female audience, we will also consider the broader social framework of gender politics out of which these fictions emerge, anchoring our work in close readings of films as early as 1921 and as recent as 2023. Our discussions will encompass a broad swathe of films ranging from silent melodramas to 21st century feminist meta-commentary and immersive brand experience Barbie.