Don Jon

For my gender journal this week, the movie Don Jon caught my attention. After completing the reading for this week from Hardcore Romance, this film popped back into my head after watching it once months ago. Specifically, the article mentioning the idea of “sentimentality” and the “pornification” of culture being similar seemed to be an idea that was reflected in this film. While at first glance this film appears to be yet another romantic comedy, it is actually a surprisingly critical look at how society digests ideas about romance and sex through use of the media. What could be a more perfect topic for this week’s gender journal?

            What is interesting about Don Jon is that the two main characters (who are each other’s love interests) each have equally warped expectations for sex and romance. Jon, the male lead is addicted to porn. In fact, in the trailer he says his porn is one of the most important things he cares about in his life. Throughout the film this leads him to have unrealistic expectations when it comes to sex and generally leaves him disappointed and unfulfilled when it comes to sex and intimacy. His character represents the disconnect between porn and the reality of sex.

            On the other hand, the female lead, Barbara represents the misrepresentation of “sentimentality” that Hardcore Romance talks about. Also in the trailer, it mentions that she is obsessed with the kind of rom coms most people pegged Don Jon to be similar to. In this sense, the film equates Barbara’s “romance addiction” to Jon’s porn addiction. These movies create false expectations for romance and eventually lead to her disappointment with her relationship with Jon.   

            Joseph-Gordon Levitt, who stars in, wrote and produced the film to comment on the influence of mass media and pornography on people’s expectations for sex and romance. He mentioned in an interview that his mother was an active feminist in the ‘60s and ‘70s and that she always pointed out to him the objectification of women often occurring on screen. In a way those opinions come through in the film as well as a different look at how romance can also seem disappointing when compared to the movies and other culturally produced stories. Sentimentality and pornification can be equally damaging in some ways.