How accurate is television & movies' depictions of how men & women interact with each other?

Question

Whenever you turn on the television and watch any sitcom, talk show, commercial, etc... and view the relationships between a man and a woman -- why is it that the men are always the ones "messing up", are always the ones "apologizing", and are always being depicted as inept buffoons; while the wife/girlfriend is the "civilized" and "level-headed" one that has to constantly correct him like a baby so everything can run smoothly?

I just want to know how much this reflects real life? Are the women always perfect & flawless, and are the men just more mistake-prone? I always thought men and women are both human, and are therefore both equally capable of making mistakes or committing misdeeds?

Usually, when it comes to real life, I would think that the women are the ones that are emotionally unstable, while the men tend to be more stoic & level-headed.

Answer 1

Television is about entertaining, and honestly, there is not much entertainment value in the every day interaction of men and women.

TV has done just what you describe, make the men look like bumbling, idiotic liars.

I would say that in real life, men do not lie to their wives near as much as TV shows, and women do not cheat on their husbands nearly as often as TV depicts.

To answer your add-on question, TV does this precisely because it is not what happens in real life!  Therefore people find it entertaining.

Answer 2

I don't know why people keep saying the wives are perfect. In almost all cases, they are:

-frigid

-inept at whichever work they do (housework or paid)

-overbearing

-never satisfied

-far less likable than the husbands

Neither depiction of men or women is accurate. It's just comedy, where exaggeration is necessary. And — fun fact — most of it is written by MEN.

Answer 3

Media (mis)representations of men and women are all bananas.

If you believe everything that the media put out then perhaps YOU are bananas too!

Answer 4

They are not intended to be accurate, they are intended to entertain.

Creating stereotypical caricatures has entertained the masses for many years.