Is the Romcom Gone for Good? - Mary Grace Cusumano

Mary Grace Cusumano 

Professor Sinowitz 

ENG 255

13 May 2020

Is the Romcom Gone for Good? 

            As I have mentioned before, I am a sucker for romantic comedies. I love that feeling I get when the man makes some romantic gesture to the woman he loves. I laugh when something awkward happens between the couple. I get sad when they have a falling out during the middle of the film. Most of all, I smile, and sometimes tear up, when the couple defeats all the odds to be together. Romantic comedies are truly an emotional rollercoaster for me. Even though they can be predictable, I still love them. However, I have realized that the romantic comedy genre has taken a turn for the worse. Nothing seems to be spontaneous, lighthearted, corny, or even predictable anymore. I have found myself being utterly disappointed after recent films because there is a lack of predictability and added somberness. I did not have that feeling that I always get, and it bothered me. Wesley Morris’ article “Rom-Coms Were Corny and Retrograde. Why Do I Miss Them so Much?” spoke to me because I had the same thoughts. Many of the tropes of the romantic comedy have disappeared, like happy endings, reverse class snobbery, and love/hate relationships, and I miss them. This is leading me to believe that we are left with a genre that does not exist anymore. 

            On our very first day of class, we discussed the importance of the narrative. J. Hillis Miller’s “Narrative” explains that stories create and reveal the nature of the world. Essentially, stories give order to our lives because there is a beginning, middle, and end. Miller asks, “Why do we need the “same” story over and over?” (Miller, 68). For many people, including myself, the “imitation” (Miller, 68), or repetition of the story is pleasurable. We find reassurance when we know the outcome. This conventional way behind storytelling ensures that we will not be disappointed. We use the same, basic plot of one story and translate it to another setting with different characters to keep us satisfied once the story is over. 

Because this formula is consistently used, this story becomes a foundation of our lives. For example, we are shaped by the stereotypical fairytale and are given a certain expectation about the meaning of love. This expectation reveals our perception of a romantic relationship. One might think that these stories are giving us an unrealistic expectation about love, however, they spark our imagination. When we are young, we are able to dream and imagine things. As we get older, we might realize that our fantasies and love expectations are not reflected into real life, which can be problematic since it can create unattainable fantasies. However, we have to remember that we need to take these stories with a grain of salt.

            Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing has become what we know to be the beginning of the romantic comedy genre and has inspired countless romantic comedy films in Hollywood. The typical romantic comedy pattern that Tamar Jeffers McDonald describes as boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and boy wins girl back originated through Shakespeare’s play, as well as many conventional tropes, like “love at first sight,” love/hate relationships, and big romantic gestures. From Beatrice and Benedick’s back and forth bantering, we learn that two individuals who seem to hate each other, are actually in love. Even though this might not be depicted all of the time in this genre, bickering couples still can show sparks of love. While there are many exaggerated parts to the play, like Hero being publicly shamed and accused of cheating, this play offers insight into the realm of the happy ending. Even though it takes the sight of Hero’s beauty and public humiliation for Claudio and Hero to be together and the role of deception for Beatrice and Benedick to be together, the audience is introduced to the predictability of the happy ending. The happy ending is the centerpiece of the romcom, and gives us that pleasurable experience that many of us claim to love.

            Much Ado About Nothing is the foundation of the romantic comedy genre and has transferred onto the big screen. Tamar Jeffers McDonald states, “A romantic comedy is a film which has its central narrative motor a quest for love, which portrays this quest in a light-hearted way and almost a successful conclusion” (McDonald, 9). Many types of subgenres have generated from the romantic comedy, which have become the basis of the films that many of us admire. The creation of the screwball comedy subgenre of the 1930s to early 1940s produced extremely popular films like It Happened One Night (1934) and Bringing Up Baby (1938). They paid a great deal of attention to the reverse class snobbery, role play, and created a topsy-turvy element into one of the character’s lives. Screwballs are the stories that brought us comic relief, but also the fairytale ending that we all enjoy. For example, in Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night, Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert) and Peter Warne’s (Clark Gable) dynamic relationship demonstrate that two people, who would never have been together because of their economic status, are in fact perfect for each other. Because Ellie escapes from her lavish lifestyle, she doesn't know how to fend for herself, and Peter ends up saving her. As a viewer, this film hit all of my emotions: I laughed at the hitchhiking scene, I was sad when Peter might not come back for Ellie, and my heart warmed when Ellie ran away from her own wedding because she realized how much she loves Peter. The clumsiness and subtle violence of the screwball comedy constructs an idea of what we want in a story and one that will make us happy. Even though the screwball comedy is a subgenre, it still fits into McDonald’s description of a romantic comedy because these films present a quest for love and are lighthearted.

            After the screwball comedy, the sex comedy subgenre was introduced offering one of the most typical storylines that we have seen in the romantic comedy genre. McDonald says, “Much of the pleasure and energy within the film is derived from the couple’s efforts to resist being a couple, to deny their fitness for each other and the inevitability of their union” (McDonald, 39). One of my favorite films we watched this semester is Pillow Talk (1959) because it portrayed the ‘battle of the sexes’ trope. This idea is not new; it is first introduced through Beatrice and Benedick’s relationship in Much Ado About Nothing. Although it is cheesy, Pillow Talk is definitely one of the films where I felt like I was watching a romantic comedy. Jan Morrow (Dorris Day), who is a hopeless romantic, falls head over heels over a made-up man named Rex played by Brad Allen (Rock Hudson). The humor through the split-screen technology and the concept of the “party line,” is what made the film. From this film, we realize that Brad and Jan are made for each other because they resemble each other immensely. Through the amusement behind the party line, we see how quickly they can both get on each other’s nerves, which adds to the intrigue behind their relationship. Brad is unsatisfied with the stream of women in his life, and Jan does not think that she is going to find the “one.” They are both looking for something, like love, and they do not not realize that it is right in front of them. Since we are conditioned to believe that there will be a happy ending, Brad and Jan’s story demonstrates that the couple’s playful banter is a good thing and a sign that they are actually in love with each other. We know that we will not be disappointed in the end because there lies so much tension between the couple that they must be together.The “battle of the sexes” trope gives the audience the predictable and happy ending that we are looking for. 

            It is indisputable that romantic comedies are built off of one another, where they offer the same conventional tropes through each film. However, there has been a complete shift in the genre. Whenever romantic comedies are released, they try to be products of their time and represent that period of a culture in an accurate way. This coincides with Miller’s claim that stories reveal the nature of our world and its culture. Moving from the radical romantic comedy of The Graduate (1967), which focuses on the importance of self-reflexivity and finding a purpose in life, to Working Girl (1988), which focuses on women’s day-to-day struggles in the workplace, romantic comedies were clearly heading down a different path. Both of these films are unlike anything from the conventional genre. While it is important that movies adapt to the times, is it necessary to drastically change the genre? After watching Rob Reiner’s When Harry Met Sally (1989), I had a moment of happiness and satisfaction. Finally; the romantic comedy genre is back, but in the form of the neo-traditional romantic comedy. I had that same feeling that I always get while watching a romcom: that emotional rollercoaster. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan’s performance on screen reminded me again that true love exists. While every movie is trying to sell you something on screen, I wanted the relationship that Harry and Sally had. I want to marry my best friend. The setting of New York City and their great friendship which turned into love, reinforces the “narrative” that I always want to be told.

            On the other hand, Sophia Coppola’s Lost in Translation (2003) is one of the films we watched this semester that made me extremely frustrated. It left me questioning the future of the romantic comedy genre because of its lack of predictability and undesirable ending. While it portrays the typical “boy-meets-girl” structure, it seems as if Bob (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson) spend most of their time on their own rather than with each other throughout most of the movie. Both Bob and Charlotte are experiencing feelings of being “lost.” As viewers, we think that they will find a sense of belonging with each other, but they don’t. They still feel lost and all of their problems are left unresolved. Bob and Charlotte need each other only for certain moments, but they spend the rest of their time in the film in an autonomous state. In addition, there is nothing even romantic between them within the plot. Lost in Translation teases the audience into thinking something was going to happen between the couple. However, our expectations failed right before our eyes giving us the most disappointment of an ending. 

            In one of our Moodle discussions for Love and Basketball (2000), we contemplated McDonald’s idea if the romantic comedy genre is selling us too many unrealistic expectations. McDonald questions:

In giving the audience a high degree of closure with the happy ending in films of this genre, are romantic comedies benign, supplying an on-screen fantasy of perpetual bliss usually lacking in real life? Or do they negatively promote daydreams, making audiences long for a perfection which can, realistically, never be accomplished, leaving people dissatisfied with themselves and the relations they do have? (14)

After much contemplation, I have realized that while I do strive for the relationships that many characters have on-screen, I have to remember to be realistic. I try my best not to believe everything that is happening, but I am such a hopeless romantic. Therefore, romantic comedies do supply us with an on-screen fantasy. A lot of these storylines are all too good to be true, but like all popular fairy tales, we continually want to be told a version of the same story. Especially during the neo-traditional genre, everything seems to fall perfectly into place. It is not necessarily a bad thing, but it creates the predictability and happy ending that we enjoy. Doesn’t everyone want someone like Harry to run after them in the streets of New York and say, “I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” (This still has me tearing up). Overall, I think it is important to recognize that it is acceptable for stories to be exaggerated if they make us feel happy. That is one of the main reasons we watch them. 

            In general, we are being told different versions of the same type of story, with a different plot line, setting, and characters, which are almost all about falling in love. Obviously, romantic comedies make everything look so easy and display the relationship perfectly, but they still make us hopeful regardless of the unlikelihood of their actual occurrence. When you turn on a romantic comedy, it is because you want to laugh, smile, cry happy tears, and feel all of the giddy emotions of love. Romantic comedies are a burst of emotions, but we almost always have a pleasurable experience after watching them. Today, it seems that these movies have just vanished. Movies are being labeled as a romantic comedy, yet I feel as if they are more of a romantic drama, if anything. When I turn on a romantic comedy, I do not want to have to think about some hidden meaning, like Lost in Translation (2003), and feel sadness.

            I resonated with Wesley Morris’ article because I feel the exact same way he is feeling. I understand that films must adapt to the times and not always show heterosexual relationships or having women’s only focus to be finding love, but I want to be able to ride the emotional rollercoaster to the happy ending. The romantic comedy genre is determined “to find something funny about loneliness, curiosity, attraction, intimacy, conflict, and rapprochement” (Morris, 2), and through our human nature, we find some way to connect to it. I have realized that I find more enjoyment in films that replicate more of the neo-traditional romantic comedy genre, like How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Along Came Polly (2004), 27 Dresses (2008), or The Proposal (2009). These are ones where I will watch repeatedly, fully knowing the outcome, yet still having that same butterfly feeling as I did the first time watching it. Movies like The Big Sick (2017) are now being labeled as romantic comedies, and while it is an empowering film, I had a hard time feeling that lightheartedness when Emily (Zoe Kazan) is in a coma for the majority of the film.

It seems as if the romantic comedy genre has vanished right before our eyes. Why are we labeling movies as a “romcom” when it feels like I am watching an intense romantic drama? Can we make more movies like the neo-traditional romantic comedy? I find myself entertained by newer films, like The Big Sick, but if I really want to watch a movie that I consider to be a romantic comedy, then I guess I will stick with my tried and true actresses, like Meg Ryan, Katherine Heigl, and Sandra Bullock. In their films, I actually laughed out loud, but at the same time was drawn into the romantic storyline. I guess I am just a sucker for a happy and predictable ending, with a few laughs and tears along the way. 

Works Cited

McDonald, Tamar Jeffers. Romantic Comedy: Boy Meets Girl Meets Genre. Columbia University Press, 2012.

Miller, J. Hillis. Narrative, 1974, pp. 66–79. 

Morris, Wesley. “Rom-Coms Were Corny and Retrograde. Why Do I Miss Them so Much?”. April 24, 2019.