Joey W. Hill’s paranormal erotic romance In The Company Of Witches has a light moment that may explain some of the gender discrepancy among fans of the movie Titanic:

She pressed a smile against his muscular biceps, caressed his forearm. The man was built like a brick house. No wonder Ruby had been intoxicated by him. For some reason, she wasn’t pleased with that thought, so she pushed it away to notice he was looking at her TV table. He dropped his head to the pillow behind her, puffed a breath on her neck that sent a shiver down her spine. Almost… playful.

“Titanic,” he said. “Is there any female who doesn’t like that movie?”

She tilted her head to look at him. She had a desire to caress his jaw, but she quelled it. “Only the ones without estrogen. Is there any male who doesn’t hate it? And why is that, by the way?”

“It’s a chick flick on steroids.” He made a pained expression. “A male watches a ninety-minute romance with a woman because he anticipates sex as payment for his attention. Ninety minutes is a fair exchange. A three-hour movie, with a tragic ending that leaves the woman sobbing, needing consolation, not sexual pleasure? That’s above and beyond the call of duty. He has to be flat-on-his-ass in love with her to put up with that shit.”

She elbowed him in the gut, wasn’t at all surprised when he caught it before it could make contact. Wrapping his arms closer around her, he nuzzled her neck…

No need to “not all men” us in the comments; what we have here is a gross generalization for comic effect. There are plenty of men who aren’t so transactional. But it’s hardly uncommon for a man to watch a movie he’s not interested in with a woman he absolutely is interested in, because the viewing offers an opportunity to enjoy closeness and companionship with her. Although the aphrodisiacal effects of closeness and companionship are known, it does not necessarily follow that men can’t value these for their own sake, or in combination with some hoped-for hanky-panky.

Bonus link: Titanic The Way It Should Have Been

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