The Dying Breed of the Rom Com
An in-depth analysis of the slow decline of the genre and what makes modern Rom Coms pale in comparison to the past.
Above is the autumnal backdrop of New York in When Harry Met Sally, arguably the most famous Rom Com of all time.
In the depressing and melancholy days post covid, I scroll tirelessly on Netflix trying to find a comforting Rom Com that I can shut my brain off to, but I’m just met with the same collection - the Golden Era of the 80s, 90s and 2000s. Finding a middle budget movie was like browsing down the aisles of a supermarket in those years, you could always count on finding one to watch at your local cinema on a Friday night. But in the current blockbuster landscape, these gems are hard to find. The top 20 grossing films of the year of the past ten years have often left out the genre of the Rom Com, often in favour of the big action superhero movie or the sequel/reboot/remake of a tired franchise. Many would say that’s just the genre going out of fashion and no longer profitable; believing that the frivolous stories aren’t much of a need in our current society. Yet with 2023's box office success of Anyone But You, making $220 million on a $25 million budget, showcasing the perhaps eagerness and taste for the revival of this genre.
Anyone But You is a 2023 Romantic Comedy starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell as Bea and Ben who fall out over a one night stand and are reunited at a wedding in Australia and begin a fake relationship. Critically it received mixed reviews for its sterile and perhaps soulless portrayal of two conventionally attractive white young actors having sex and kissing in front of Sydney Opera House, but audiences went out to see it - a rare occurrence for a mid-budget movie post-covid - and it became a box office hit. Thus proving that people want the genre back to its full glory; where it can be easy to see a 90 minute movie for date night. If the genre is so loved by audiences then why has it sunk into Netflix movie jail; a film you just put on in the background, watch once and never think about it again? Netflix had almost tired this genre to death with its endless production of teenage Rom Coms e.g. The Kissing Booth, Sierra Burgess is a Loser, Tall Girl, putting an endless amount of mediocre movies on their service. Yet, when a Rom Com that love and care has been put into the project, with the creators behind it carefully crafting cinematography and generating homage to Rom Coms of the past e.g. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. A critical and commercial success, garnering over 80 million watches, and proving that people always care for a well crafted piece of art.
Above is Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell as Bea and Ben in 2023’s Anyone But You.
The Rom Com genre has existed in Hollywood since nearly the beginning of its conception. When the technology for audio recording and the rise of the “talkies” birthed the genre of the screwball comedy: “a sex comedy without the sex” film critic Andrew Sarris states. Under the strict rules of the Hays Code, films could not show anything explicit whether that be sex or language, thus the two romantic leads had to rely on quick banter and repartee with slapstick of a woman dominating in a relationship while the man’s masculinity is threatened. Many of these films focused on the courting face of the relationship and perhaps feminist in their nature with their strong willed heroines and were popular during the Great Depression when people needed a distraction from the melancholy of their life. The first modern Rom Com was Annie Hall (1997), a film by the disgraced Woody Allen, which follows a comedian trying to figure out why his relationship with her ended so abruptly. The film is mainly remembered fondly due to Dianne Keaton’s wit and ends quite subversive in modern Rom Com standards with the two not rekindling their love. As the Rom Com progressed, they became a figurehead in the world of escapism and usually always had their characters ending up together, causing the “greats” to be made: When Harry Met Sally, Bridget Jones’ Diary, 10 Things I Hate About You, Love and Basketball. But what differs these films that are remembered so fondly and are what the Rom Coms of today such as Anyone But You are held up to recreate?
In Broey Deschanel’s video Anatomy of a Rom Com, she outlines the four key components that make a great Rom Com. One that lasts decades, connecting generations of the often female audience together and dreaming of aspiring to have a relationship like the famous Rom Com protagonists.
Above is Cameron Diaz staying at Kate Winslet’s english cottage in The Holiday.
Worldbuilding
Deschanel remarks that she wants the world of her characters to “feel lived and breathed in”. A great Rom Com protagonist, like all of the other great protagonists, must be nuanced and have a distinct personality outside of the main action or in this case the main relationship. Take Bridget Jones, she has a distinct narrative voice narrating in her diary and her eclectic group of friends, she is even the signpost of the Frazzled British woman aesthetic. Another example of worldbuilding is the places that the characters live in, think of the cool and sunny Californian suburbs of 10 Things I hate About You and the contrasting rooms of Kat and Bianca Straford that perfectly encapsulate their clashing personalities. The most famous sets under this genre are that of Nancy Meyers, the most commercially successful director of the Rom Coms, whose films are famous for their female protagonists’ homes such as Cameron Diaz’s Beverly Hills mansion and Kate Winslet’s quaint cottage in the English countryside in The Holiday. Extending to beautiful cinematography of autumnal New York in When Harry Met Sally or the pastel colour saturation of All of the Boys I’ve Loved Before. This liberty does not strictly adhere to the female protagonists with the best male love interests receiving the same thought e.g. Harry and his cynical friend Jess or Patrick Verona’s dingy bar Cameron and Michael go to to convince Patrick to date Kat.
Above is Jane and Kevin in the infamous Benny and the Jets scene in 27 dresses.
Chemistry
Arguably the most important aspect of the Rom Com is the chemistry between the two male leads. The best couples inhabit the same repertoire of the old screwball films and the on and off banter only builds up to the climax of their coupling. My personal favourite is the witty banter and magnetism of Jane and Kevin in 27 Dresses, their constant flirty bantering eventing forms from annoyance to friendship to eventual love. Kevin can be viewed as the one of the most beloved Rom Com leads due to the climax of his and Jane’s hookup in the car being a result of the female gaze. A term coined to describe what women find attractive in men, often clashing with what men believe women want, the best example is Thor v. Loki, men perceive the muscular macho Chris Hemsworth as the most attractive but women prefer the cunningness and complexity of Loki, perhaps suggesting a female audience prefer an emotionally nuanced man. Jane and Kevin’s first kiss arises during a drunken duet of Benny and the Jets by Elton John, with Kevin revealing that at Jane’s favourite wedding he wrote about how he “cried like a baby” - this demonstration of emotional vulnerability causes Jane to fall head over heels. Similarly the slow burn relationship of Harry and Sally from the friendship to lovers with the pining of Harry and the sweetness of Sally makes the betrayal of Harry leaving her sting even more and his love profession at the end even more emotionally charged. The story hangs upon the magnitude of the relationship between the leads.
Above is Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones.
Heroine
The Rom Com genre is perhaps the only female dominated genre in audience and in characters. Deschanel states that the heroine is “a character that we can relate to and who can entertain us for the duration of the film”, as the audience wants to fall in love with the female protagonist as much as their love interest does. The genre leans away from the girlboss female leads of fantasy and sci-fi films, an extremely shallow and surface level way to represent women, and it focuses more on the socially awkward loser who has had a hard time with love. Often, the female protagonists are separated into two categories: the wallflower who has never experienced love before and the women over 30 who are going through an almost mid-life crisis, making us root for them to find their happy ending. In the first category is Lara Jean from To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, an introverted teenage girl whose sister sends out her love letters to her crushes and begins fake dating one of them, over the course of the film Lara does not just fall in love but finds herself and grows to be a more confident person - she acts as a dream for what our teenage love could’ve been. In the second category, is the original archetype of the genre the spinster, a middle aged or older woman who has also been unlucky with love. The best example is perhaps Bridget Jones finding herself lost at 32 in her love life and purpose, the audience can’t help but to root for her in her awkward social mishaps and her journey at improving herself. The genre is one where the woman can exist as a full rounded and nuanced character, and is loved by their male counterparts not despite their flaws but because of them. Take Harry’s final love confession for Sally:
“I love that you get cold when it's 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend the day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. 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.”
Above is the awkward scene of Sally proving how easy it is for women to fake an orgasm to prove a point to Harry.
Writing
In her video, Deschanel concludes that the most important part of a Rom Com film is the writing itself as all of the other aspects she stated before hang upon it. From the birth of the genre, the main connection between the two main leads is the fast paced wit and repertoire of the screwball comedy. Even some of the most critically acclaimed films of the romance genre as a whole have been celebrated over their screenplay such as Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise trilogy that spends 24 hours between Ethan Hawke’s Jesse and Julia Deply’s Celine with the two just talking. The most famous Rom Com directors such as Nora Ephron, Nancy Meyers and Richard Curtis are all writers first and foremost and thus their character dynamic feels like a battle of prose between the main love interests, trying to convince themselves that they are not in love. The genre also has steered away from the slapstick comedy of the screwballs, focusing more on jokes from dialogue such as Sally fake orgasm in the restaurant and the wry relationship of Bridget and her mother. The greatest of Rom Coms make the audience believe in the love between their two main characters realistically by the development of their relationship often turning from flirty bickering to genuine feeling.
Despite Anyone But You’s disappointment for many Rom Com fans due to its mediocre performance in those four categories, there still is somewhat hope for the genre with the film's box office success, demonstrating the interest still in the genre. It is often ridiculed as the “chick flick” genre providing no artistic merit due to its inherently feminine nature but after the wake of the #MeToo movement and the rise of dating apps, many people are feeling pessimistic and nostalgic of the idealised version of love this genre provides. Who knows if the genre is really dead or just needs a bit of TLC.