'Guilty Pleasures'

Those who study the rom-com as a genre will benefit from the fresh outlook on how these films are appreciated on the fringes of fan culture. Additionally, scholars focused on European reception studies will enjoy Guilluy’s deft articulation of how different European audiences respond to the comedy stylings of contemporary Hollywood. * EuropeNow *
At last, a serious study of romantic comedy, so often dismissed as 'chick lit' for frivolous feminine filmgoers. Alice Guilluy explores with great subtlety the pleasures and problems of female rom-com consumption through three European viewing groups, addressing one exemplary film, Sweet Home Alabama. The result is an original and lively contribution to audience studies, offering new insights into the role of romance in women's imaginative lives -- Helen Taylor, University of Exeter, UK
There is much pleasure to be gained from Alice Guilluy’s absorbing investigation of European viewers’ consumption of the Hollywood romcom, and no guilt, since this book fully justifies its readers’ attention. Guilty Pleasures delivers a provocative and robust defence of an often-derided genre, and in so doing both brings to light the tacit assumptions about taste, gender and class that underlie such critical snobbery, and casts doubt on their validity. -- Tamar Jeffers McDonald, University of Kent, UK
This is a fascinating exploration of the romantic comedy’s feminist viewers and the cultural taboo of ‘woke’ audiences enjoying the ‘guilty pleasure’ of watching these movies. -- Maria DeBlassie, University of New Mexico’s Honors College, USA
Embrace the politics of pleasure in Guilluy’s groundbreaking feminist fieldwork and brilliant analysis on rom-com audience reception, where viewers negotiate the heady pleasure of critique and heart-tingling delight of emotional and social engagement! Gratification guaranteed for film and gender scholars alike. -- Catherine M. Roach, The University of Alabama, USA