How to make a perfect romcom – an expert explains the recipe for romance
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Tuesday, September 26, 2023
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My guess is that some of you – perhaps more than would admit it – would pick a romantic comedy.
Key Points:
- My guess is that some of you – perhaps more than would admit it – would pick a romantic comedy.
- Over the years the romcom has been designated as “chick flick”, dismissed at awards ceremonies (the best picture Oscar primarily goes to drama films) and frequently panned by critics.
- A 2013 article from the New York Times found that the romcom was one of the genres most likely to divide audience and critical opinion.
- Like many other things that are classified as “women’s things”, the romcom is often spoken of as a “guilty pleasure”.
The perfect romcom
- So what are the ingredients for a perfect romcom?
- Within a romcom, there typically has to be miscommunication – and lots of it.
- In Hallmark Christmas films (their own sub-genre of the romcom) like Just In Time for Christmas (2015), women often have to choose between their career and their relationship, a common recurrence for the Christmas sub-genre especially.
- In a moment where definitions and understandings of identity are shifting, the romcom provides an ideal place to think through these issues in a comforting way.
- Although there may be classics and new challengers emerging for the title of the best, the perfect romcom is one that shows that, despite all the challenges life may throw at us, there is sometimes a happy ending.