Watching rom-coms makes women think stalking is romantic – US study

Women who watch romantic comedies such as "There's Something About Mary" and "Love Actually" become more forgiving of otherwise creepy behavior from men, a study by Julia R. Lippman of the University of Michigan reveals.

In particular, women who are exposed to seemingly grand romantic gestures such as Ben Stiller's hiring a private detective to stalk Mary (Cameron Diaz) may minimize the dangers of stalking by regarding such behavior as simply being "persistent."

For Lippman's study, aptly titled "I Did It Because I Never Stopped Loving You", a group of women who watched "There's Something About Mary" and another group who watched the thriller "Enough"—in which Jennifer Lopez plays a woman dealing with an abusive husband—were quizzed about stalking behavior. Lippman found that the group who watched the rom-com took the dangers of the behavior less seriously.

This led her to conclude that when obsessive behavior is presented as romantic, it subtly encourages women to tolerate acts that should be reported to the police.

"Love is great, but so is respecting people," The Guardian quotes Lippman.

Lippman's study warns against the normalization of aggressive behavior that infringes on another person's privacy. The behavior featured in movies, she says, may lead to an increase in stalking-supportive beliefs. — Aya Tantiangco/BM, GMA News