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ENTITY reports on leap day movie

Labeled as “the worst film of 2010” by TIME and “a full-bore, PG-rated, sweet rom-com” by Roger Ebert, “Leap Year” is a disappointing Leap Day movie.

Here’s why.

“Leap Year’s” plot

ENTITY reports on leap day movie

The film centers around the Leap Day proposal tradition, an Irish tradition that allows women to propose to men.

The movie stars Amy Adams as Anna, a high-achieving, organized woman who is dating Jeremy, a high-powered heart surgeon.

When she realizes her boyfriend of four years isn’t going to propose anytime soon, she takes it upon herself to do it.  After hearing of the tradition, she plans on proposing to him on Leap Day, especially since he’s Irish. So, after he goes to Dublin for a cardiologist convention, she travels to Ireland to propose on Leap Day.

But, plot twist, her plane gets rerouted to Wales due to turbulence. Then, she has to travel by boat, train, bus and on foot to get to her beau.

On the way, however, she meets Declan, an Irish innkeeper, who makes her question her feelings for Jeremy.

The Leap Year proposal tradition

This Irish tradition, however, has a sexist background.

The tradition claims women can only propose on Feb. 29 for good luck. If the man turns down the proposal, he is required to pay a fine that’s enough to buy fabric for a skirt.

The argument that the tradition is anti-feminist

ENTITY reports on leap day movie

Many female authors have written about the anti-feminist ideals behind the tradition.

Katherine Parkin, who wrote a study about twentieth century leap year marriage proposals, wrote on Huffington Post, “From 1904 into the 1960s, shame and ridicule made it difficult for women to take advantage of the opportunity to propose to men. Critics held that women who asked men to marry them were desperate, aggressive and unfeminine.”

This tradition created the idea that proposing was a man’s job.

The counterargument

Lynn E. Neidermeier, who wrote an essay about the tradition, wrote that Western Kentucky University’s earliest student magazine claimed that Feb. 29 was a day where “‘hopeful ladies are supposed to take bold steps,’ defy the rules of courtship and propose marriage to the object of their affection.”

But the problem of the tradition lies in the whole idea that it’s a tradition for only one day. For one day every four years, women are given the permission to be bold and defy the rules of courtship.

Neidermeier also told the Huffington Post, “You could argue that the tradition is not as ‘anti-feminist’ as it first appears. It could be seen as something that allows the ladies to shake off their cultural shackles and take charge when the objects of their affection are too inexperienced or timid to propose.”

As important as it is to give women the opportunity to take charge, “Leap Year” framed it the wrong way.

Neidermeier continues to explain to Huff Post that the tradition is wrapped in the anti feminist idea that “women need extra help to make up for their own deficiencies, not men’s.”

This idea stems from Sadie Hawkins’ Day. The fictional day comes from the story of Sadie Hawkins, who wasn’t physically beautiful or able to attract a husband. So, she had her father line up local bachelors and then she shot his pistol to send them running. The slowest bachelor was then caught and obliged to marry her.

At the end of the day, the tradition corners woman into a hole where they can propose on one day every four years. That’s it.

The role of women in romantic comedies

ENTITY reports on leap day movie

In a review of “Leap Year,” TIME wrote that romantic comedies were not creating female leads as “successful in business.” Instead they were portrayed as “[nags], a ditz or klutz at human relationships. And when it comes to men, she’s myopic: she can’t see Andy Adorable right in front of her.”

TIME continues to explain that the movie portrays Amy Adams as successful, but too stupid to read her own heart. This ultimately states that women who are successful can’t also be romantic.

But one can also argue that the men in the movie aren’t all that great either. TIME even writes, “Now of course, the guys in modern movie comedies are often dense or boorish, but the men in the audience cheerfully identify with them.”

Ultimately, these romantic comedies give general characteristics to characters to make them relatable to any sort of audience. But in doing so, it fails everything women have worked for to prove their worth and capabilities.

So, if you’re looking for a movie that won’t make you upset about the lack of feminism in it, you probably should stay away from “Leap Year.”

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