Romantic comedy
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Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and
slice-of-life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on
romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles.[1] One
dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love
story that ends happily".[2] Another definition suggests that its "primary
distinguishing feature is a love plot in which two sympathetic and well-matched
lovers are united or reconciled".[3]
Romantic comedy films are a certain genre of comedy films as well as of romance
films, and may also have elements of screwball comedies. However, a romantic comedy
is classified as a film with two genres, not a single new genre.[4] Some television
series can also be classified as romantic comedies.
In a typical romantic comedy the two lovers tend to be young, likeable, and
seemingly meant for each other, yet they are kept apart by some complicating
circumstance (e.g., class differences, parental interference, a previous girlfriend
or boyfriend) until, surmounting all obstacles, they are finally united. A fairy-
tale-style happy ending is a typical feature.[3]
Contents
1 Description
2 Evolution and subgenres
2.1 Extreme circumstances
2.2 Flipping conventions
2.3 Reversing gender roles
2.4 Serious elements
3 Contrived romantic encounters: the "meet cute"
3.1 Use of "meet cute" situations
4 History
5 Effects of romantic comedies
5.1 On society today
5.2 The illusion of love
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
Description
This section is written like a personal reflection, personal essay, or
argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings or presents
an original argument about a topic. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an
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message)
Kathryn Grayson in Seven Sweethearts (1942), a musical romantic comedy film
The basic plot of a romantic comedy is that two characters meet, part ways due to
an argument or other obstacle, then ultimately realize their love for one another
and reunite. Sometimes the two leads meet and become involved initially, then must
confront challenges to their union. Sometimes they are hesitant to become
romantically involved because they believe that they do not like each other,
because one of them already has a partner, or because of social pressures. However,
the screenwriters leave clues that suggest that the characters are, in fact,
attracted to each other and that they would be a good love match. The protagonists
often separate or seek time apart to sort out their feelings or deal with the
external obstacles to their being together, only to later come back together.
While the two protagonists are separated, one or both of them usually realizes that
they love the other person. Then, one party makes some extravagant effort
(sometimes called a grand gesture) to find the other person and declare their love.
This is not always the case as sometimes there is an astonishing coincidental
encounter where the two meet again. Or one plans a sweet romantic gesture to show
that they still care. Then, perhaps with some comic friction or awkwardness, they
declare their love for each other and the film ends on a happy note. Even though it
is implied that they live a happily ever after, it does not always state what that
happy ending will be. The couple does not necessarily get married, or even live
together for it to be a "happily ever after". The ending of a romantic comedy is
meant to affirm the primary importance of the love relationship in its
protagonists' lives, even if they physically separate in the end (e.g. Shakespeare
in Love, Roman Holiday).[5] Most of the time the ending gives the audience a sense
that if it is true love, it will always prevail no matter what is thrown in the
way.
There are many variations on this basic plot line. Sometimes, instead of the two
lead characters ending up in each other's arms, another love match will be made
between one of the principal characters and a secondary character (e.g., My Best
Friend's Wedding and My Super Ex-Girlfriend). Alternatively, the film may be a
rumination on the impossibility of love, as in Woody Allen's film Annie Hall. The
basic format of a romantic comedy film can be found in much earlier sources, such
as Shakespeare plays like Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Evolution and subgenres
Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell in the Seven Year Itch (1955) trailer.
Over the years, romantic comedies have slowly been becoming more popular to both
men and women. They have begun to spread out of their conventional and traditional
structure into other territory. This territory explores more subgenres and more
complex topics. These films still follow the typical plot of "a light and humorous
movie, play, etc., whose central plot is a happy love story"[6] but with more
complexity. These are a few ways romantic comedies are adding more subtlety and
complexity into the genre. Two ways they are adding to the complexity are through
the general obstacles that come between the couple and the general morals that the
characters feel throughout the entire film.
Extreme circumstances
Some romantic comedies have adopted extreme or strange circumstances for the main
characters, as in Warm Bodies where the protagonist is a zombie who falls in love
with a human girl after eating her boyfriend. The effect of their love towards each
other is that it starts spreading to the other zombies and even starts to cure
them. With the zombie cure, the two main characters can now be together since they
don't have that barrier between them anymore.[7] Another strange set of
circumstances is in Zack and Miri Make a Porno where the two protagonists are
building a relationship while trying to make a porno together. Both these films
take the typical story arc and then add strange circumstances to add originality.
Flipping conventions
Other romantic comedies flip the standard conventions of the romantic comedy genre.
In films like 500 Days of Summer, the two main interests do not end up together,
leaving the protagonist somewhat distraught. Other films like Adam have the two
main interests end up separated but still content and pursuing other goals and love
interests.
Reversing gender roles
Some romantic comedies use reversal of gender roles to add comedic effect.[8] These
films contain characters who possess qualities that diverge from the gender role
that society has imposed upon them, as seen in Forgetting Sarah Marshall in which
the male protagonist is especially in touch with his emotions, and Made of Honor in
which the female bridesmaids are shown in a negative and somewhat masculine light
in order to advance the likability of the male lead.[9]
Serious elements
Other remakes of romantic comedies involve similar elements, but explore more adult
themes such as marriage, responsibility, or even disability. Two films by Judd
Apatow, This Is 40 and Knocked Up, deal with these issues. This Is 40 chronicles
the mid-life crisis of a couple entering their 40s, and Knocked Up addresses
unintended pregnancy and the ensuing assuming of responsibility. Silver Linings
Playbook deals with mental illness and the courage to start a new relationship.
All of these go against the stereotype of what romantic comedy has become as a
genre. Yet the genre of romantic comedy is simply a structure, and all of these
elements do not negate the fact that these films are still romantic comedies.
Contrived romantic encounters: the "meet cute"
One of the conventions of romantic comedy films is the entertainment factor in a
contrived encounter of two potential romantic partners in unusual or comic
circumstances, which film critics such as Roger Ebert[10] or the Associated Press'
Christy Lemire[11] have called a "meet-cute" situation. During a "meet-cute",
scriptwriters often create a humorous sense of awkwardness between the two
potential partners by depicting an initial clash of personalities or beliefs, an
embarrassing situation, or by introducing a comical misunderstanding or mistaken
identity situation. Sometimes the term is used without a hyphen (a "meet cute"), or
as a verb ("to meet cute").
Roger Ebert describes the "concept of a Meet Cute" as "when boy meets girl in a
cute way." As an example, he cites "The Meet Cute in Lost and Found [which] has
Jackson and Segal running their cars into each other in Switzerland. Once
recovered, they Meet Cute again when they run into each other while on skis.
Eventually,... they fall in love."[12]
In many romantic comedies, the potential couple comprises polar opposites, two
people of different temperaments, situations, social statuses, or all three (It
Happened One Night), who would not meet or talk under normal circumstances, and the
meet cute's contrived situation provides the opportunity for these two people to
meet.
Use of "meet cute" situations
Certain movies are entirely driven by the meet-cute situation, and contrived
circumstances throw the couple together for much of the screenplay. However, movies
in which the contrived situation is the main feature, such as Some Like It Hot,
rather than the romance being the main feature, are not considered "meet-cutes".
The use of the meet-cute is less marked in television series and novels, because
these formats have more time to establish and develop romantic relationships. In
situation comedies, relationships are static and meet-cute is not necessary, though
flashbacks may recall one (The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mad About You) and lighter fare
may require contrived romantic meetings.
The heyday of "meet cute" in films was during the Great Depression in the 1930s;
screwball comedy films made heavy use of contrived romantic "meet cutes", perhaps
because the more rigid class consciousness and class divisions of this period made
cross-social class romances into tantalizing fantasies.[citation needed]
History
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this
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challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Romantic comedy" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June
2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Comedies since ancient Greece have often incorporated sexual or social elements.
The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines romantic comedy as "a general term
for comedies that deal mainly with the follies and misunderstandings of young
lovers, in a light‐hearted and happily concluded manner which usually avoids
serious satire". This reference states that the "best‐known examples are
Shakespeare's comedies of the late 1590s, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night,
and As You Like It being the most purely romantic, while Much Ado About Nothing
approaches the comedy of manners and The Merchant of Venice is closer to
tragicomedy."[13]
It was not until the creation of romantic love in the western European medieval
period, though, that "romance" came to refer to "romantic love" situations, rather
than the heroic adventures of medieval Romance. These adventures, however, often
revolved about a knight's feats on behalf of a lady, and so the modern themes of
love were quickly woven into them, as in Chrétien de Troyes's Lancelot, the Knight
of the Cart.[14]
Shakespearean comedy and Restoration comedy remain influential. The creation of
huge economic social strata in the Gilded Age[citation needed], combined with the
heightened openness about sex after the Victorian era[citation needed] and the
celebration of Sigmund Freud's theories, and the birth of the film industry in the
early twentieth century, gave birth to the screwball comedy.[citation needed] As
class consciousness declined and World War II unified various social orders, the
savage screwball comedies of the twenties and thirties, proceeding through Rock
Hudson–Doris Day-style comedies, gave way to more innocuous comedies.[citation
needed] In 1972 What's Up, Doc? was a success, although the film follows the
conventions of the screwball comedy, as its tagline confirms: "A Screwball Comedy.
Remember them?". The more sexually charged When Harry Met Sally had a successful
box office run in 1989, paving the way for a rebirth for the Hollywood romantic
comedy in the mid-1990s.
The French film industry went in a completely different direction, with less
inhibitions about sex.[citation needed] Virginia Woolf, tired of stories that ended
in 'happily ever after' at the beginning of a serious relationship, called
Middlemarch by George Eliot, with its portrayal of a difficult marriage, "one of
the few English novels written for grown-up people."
Effects of romantic comedies
On society today
With the increase of romantic comedy movies, there has been an apparent change in
the way society views romance. Researchers[15] are asking whether the romances
projected in romantic comedies are preventing true love in real life. The increase
in use of technology has also led the society to spend a great amount of time
engaging in mediated reality and less time with each other. Even though researchers
have only started to explore the impact of romantic comedy films on human romance,
the few studies conducted have already shown correlation between romantic comedies
and the love delusion. Romantic comedies are very popular. They depict
relationships that some scholars think affect how people view relationships outside
of this virtual world.
The illusion of love
In the past, love has not always been the real reason for people coming together.
In some cultures,[16] arranged marriages were common to adhere to and propagate
caste systems or to join kingdoms. Today, love is the root of all romance, and it
is overemphasized through these films. It tells viewers that love conquers all and
will ultimately bring a never-ending happiness that is rarely affected by any
conflict. When people do not experience the romance portrayed in these movies, they
often wonder what they are doing wrong. Although people should be able to tell
between an overly romanticized love and realistic love, they are often caught up in
constantly trying to echo the stories they see on screen.[16] While most know that
the idea of a perfect relationship is unrealistic, some perceptions of love are
heavily influenced by media portrayals.[17]
See also
Bromantic comedy
Situational comedy or "sitcom"
Chick flick
List of romantic comedy films
List of romantic comedy television series
References
Johnson, Bill. "The Art of the Romantic Comedy". Archived from the original on
2012-09-10.
"romantic comedy (noun) American English definition and synonyms - Macmillan
Dictionary". www.macmillandictionary.com.
"Comedy and Tragedy".
Romantic comedy: boy meets girl meets genre. Tamar Jeffers McDonald. Wallflower
Press, 2007. p.3
Mernit, Billy. Writing the Romantic Comedy (Harper Collins, 2000)
"Romantic comedy – Define Romantic comedy at Dictionary.com". Dictionary.com.
Johnson, Bill. The Art of the Romantic Comedy. A Story is a Promise. Archived from
the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
The Big romance of Something Wild?: romantic comedy today
Guys Are the New Girls
Ebert, Roger (18 April 2004). "Ella Enchanted". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the
original on 7 September 2004. Retrieved 13 February 2019. She has a Meet-Cute
(three, actually) with Prince Charmont (Hugh Dancy)
"Review: McGregor, Plummer delight in 'Beginners'". Deseret News. Deseret. Jun 1,
2011. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
Ebert, Roger (28 June 1979). "Lost and Found". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the
original on 3 August 2006. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
Cited in Answers.com http://www.answers.com/topic/romantic-comedy-1 Accessed June
20, 2011
C.S Lewis, The Allegory of Love, p 19 ISBN 0-19-281220-3
Harrell, Eben (23 December 2008). "Are Romantic Movies Bad For You?". TIME. Time
Inc. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
"Does Media Distort Love?". Relevant Magazine. 13 April 2011. Archived from the
original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
Alleyne, Richard (15 December 2018). "Romantic comedies make us 'unrealistic about
relationships', claim scientists". Telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group Limited.
Archived from the original on 2022-01-10. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
External links
Romantic Comedy Movies – from the 1940s to future releases, with box office
performance The Numbers
Market Performance of Romantic Comedies in United States – year-by-year analysis of
box office performance of romantic comedies The Numbers
Romantic Comedy Movies – Top 290 (1978–present) by Box Office Mojo
Top Rated Romance Titles Archived 2016-12-21 at the Wayback Machine by IMDB
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