The Proposal: Author's Choice

The Proposal spices up the norm and takes the traditional romantic comedy to a whole different level. Unlike most romantic comedies, The Proposal portrays a balance between gender roles and combines traditional relationship experiences and struggles with a lot of healthy unexpected gender role changes. Here, we see how Margaret takes the lead in first the working relationship but then in the personal relationship as well. In defiance of the usually male-dominated workforce, Margaret not only proves that women are adequate workers but damn good bosses as well. She’s smart, witty, and knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. Her faithful counterpart, Andrew, tosses the stereotypical male gender norms aside as Margaret’s “secretary—assistant—executive assistant.”  He assumes a passive-aggressive role as he struggles to juggle the desire to advance in the workplace and his hatred for Margaret. Throughout the first portion of the movie, we see a pretty atypical [stereotypical] relationship as Margaret continues manipulating and coercing Andrew into marrying her strictly for business purposes. As the movie progresses, however, Andrew assumes more power and Margaret begins showing more emotion and passivity, allowing Andrew to lead her into a new, different relationship. The movie ultimately ends with Andrew choosing Margaret and asking her to marry him so that they can date. This final scene pays homage to the typical boy-meets-girl romantic comedy plot scheme. Through the balance between Margaret’s domineering personality and newfound compassion and Andrew’s passivity and struggle to direct Margaret, The Proposal combines both new and old ideas of traditional gender roles into a hilarious, meaningful film that offers something for adult viewers of all walks of life.