FWD from Week 9 discussion and Response to Heidi's post

I don't quite agree with Heidi on this one. I found 40 year Old Virgin to be a bit on the traditional side in comparison to some of the other radical examples given by McDonald and especially in contrast to Annie Hall, BUT I do think there are a few radical elements involved that might be overlooked. For example, although Carell's character does fit the stereotypical guy meets girl scenario, it's the different characters around him that help Andy go through a character development. Rudd's character, the nastalgic, damaged (two souls intertwined) seems to be the typical heartbroken character; what Woody Allen would be like after Annie Hall's climax. He gives Andy a big box of porn to try and help him because that is probably what he uses to get over his love malfunction. Malco's character tells Andy he needs to better his image, and to attract women with looks, thus forcing him to wax portions of his hamburger meat off, ironically making a huge smiley face on his stomach. Rogen's character, being the silent poetic type, tells Andy to plant a seed (marijuana reference) and ask questions to women, and once again Andy attempts, but doesn't really get anywhere except a confusing, mislead conversation. All three characters, including the others in the workplace, help develop Andy's character in comparison to the real world around him. They reinforce the stereotypes of sexually active adults to contrast the rarity of a virgin adult. Since the film purposely recognizes the "boy meets girl" scenario, and at the same time develops the theme with radical supporting characters, I would consider this film within the radical romance sub-genre.

I feel I must also mention, since this film really doesn't ever show any sexual activity (minus some pornography, failed attempt flashbacks and wet dreams), and becomes the central conflict of Andy's character, the theme of the film and the fable taboo in the workplace, this film might
be considered a sex comedy as well. Yes, he does finally have intercourse in the end with someone he loves, but that's the big pay off for beating around the bush for two hours (by bush I mean false love or just sex, the object of what Andy is not trying to achieve based on his friends recommendations). If Andy would have taken the drunk girl, the book store girl, the weird bath tub freak or any others besides Keener's character, the same message would not be well received. Andy would only fall into the trap that his friends put him into. Through Andy's trial
and error, patience and experimentation he gains a valuable lesson in love and not just the overused term: SEX.