How come in movies.....

Correction - here is an attempt an explaining the phenomenon:

What you say may be true for 95% (or so?) of romantic comedy or drama movies, including what we know as "tear jerkers". There are lots of other movies - take action flicks, for instance - that don't even cover this topic at all. There is, for instance, nothing about this in, say, Apocalypse Now, or is there?

Now, the movies you are talking about are what we call "chick flicks" and they seriously cater for womens' emotional needs - you and I don't want to tread on that territory. So they set the rules and by their rules it is as you say: A woman strays, there is an excuse - a guy cheats, he deserves the hell he has coming.

I have to say that I am glad that there is also a new kind of chick flick now where guys don't play such a big role. It seems to be the "Girls just wanna have fun" school of thought that doesn't take guys and relationships so seriously.

But there has always been some light comic relief for us who - like you and me - don't agree with the cliché you complain about.

For instance, I caught a rescreening of The Graduate (Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katherine Ross, 1967)- I found it as fresh as ever, but having aged (matured?) a bit since I last saw it I found myself seeing the characters in a different light from before. For instance, I found some sympathy with Mrs Robinson, the first "cougar" in movie history. I also found that Anne Bancroft who was all of 36 years old when she played that role looked quite attractive. On the other hand, Katherine Ross - generally a teenage heartthrob of mine and quite pretty in this role as well - struck me as an emotionally quite confused little girl. All in all, I suspect that The Graduate would be an excellent example of the "residual" 5% in your measurement system.

But remember, the chicks have their romance movies and we retaliate by having action films where we sometimes ignore them altogether.

"If a woman cheats on a guy, it is okay because she was 'confused' or 'he drove her to it by being too nice and needy'. Then as long as she realizes something, she is still the 'good guy' and ends up happily ever after ....."

I completely agree. It's annoying and sends the wrong message. They are saying that even if you do love him, it's okay to cheat because everything will workout in your favor in the end. It was especially annoying when he met her in the park later and she tried to play herself off as the victim. Come on, what a bunch of BS! No matter how she tried to spin it, what she did was selfish, cowardly and cruel.