I never took it that an audience reach of female meant males wouldn’t like it. Since Dramatica says that males are okay with optionlock or time lock, the Audience Reach of female really only comes from the holistic problem solving which keeps linear problem solvers from empathizing with the main character. So my take is that males can love a movie with a female reach, but just have more problems putting themselves in the main characters shoes than a female would.
For instance, I love the Matrix, but I can’t imagine myself in Neo’s place and deciding to jump into Agent Smiths body to explode him from the inside. That part always seemed a bit out there to me, even in a movie as out there as the Matrix. I can accept the idea that everyone is in a computer program. I can put myself in the shoes of a guy who lives in a dream world. I can put myself in the shoes of a guy who has to realize that there is something more to reality than he knows. I can put myself in the shoes of a guy who has to understand that there is no spoon. But I can’t, in those same shoes, imagine jumping inside Agent Smith to destroy him. Doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, just didn’t get that part.
As I typed the examples of how I could imagine myself in Neo’s shoes, it occurred to me that I don’t really know if those are linear or holistic examples, but it made me wonder something. In the hands of a writer who hasn’t heard of Dramatica, could a main character waiver between linear and holistic problem solving (the same way The Dark Knight waivers between Action and Decision drivers, or the way characters can waiver between Steadfast and Changed before deciding)? After all, everyone is supposed to be capable of both, right? Could that be why everyone likes this movie that’s supposed to have a female reach? The guys get the parts where Neo is more linear and the girls get the parts where he is more holistic?