Miranda.0730: Romantic Comedy Research

How is it Romantic Comedy?

A romcom is a light comic film purposed around showing the development of a romantic relationship. Romantic comedies have the ability to make audiences laugh, cry, and stress over if the main characters will end up together. They are known to generate abundances of money, cause uprisings of actors, and are extremely popular not only in films, but in books as well.

Content:

"Meet cute" is used in the majority of romcom films. It can be described as a charming or amusing first encounter between the two main characters. The use of comedy keeps the audience engaged and adds a feel-good effect to the film.

Production Techniques:

Having two easily loveable main characters is crucial to this genre considering the point of the film is for the audience to root for the main characters to end up together. Music may be helpful in setting a romantic mood or can also be used to lighten the mood.

Marketing:

The target audience of these films are generally women ranging from 16-30 years old. While romcoms can be enjoyed by both males and females, women generally gravitate towards this genre more than men. This is due to the stereotype that women fantasize about having a great love like those in the movies. These films may even provide a sense of hope for some women. Predictability is a huge part of the appeal of romcoms. Viewers predict that the main characters will end up together, the consistent execution of this ending is what causes audiences to watch. Even though they can predict how the movie will end, the journey in between and the obstacles the characters had to face is what keeps the audience engaged. Romcom movie posters all have something in common. They all show both the main characters, and they are physically touching in some way. Whether they are kissing, holding hands, or even back-to-back, showing them physically touching indicates that they will have a romantic relationship.

Samples:

The film Anyone but You (2023) features Beatrice (Sydney Sweeney) and Ben (Glenn Powell) beings with their meet cute which leads to them spending a night at Ben's house where they share very personal information. Beatrice leaves the house the next morning and when she returns a little later, she overhears Ben saying something bad about her to his friend. This leads to them disliking each other, which was demonstrated in further interactions. As it turns out, Ben's close friend is getting married to Beatrice's sister and they decide to have the wedding in Australia meaning that Ben and Beatrice were going to have to stay in the same house together for the wedding. Since their friends and family who were also staying at the house were bothered by their constant bickering, they decided that in order for the engaged couple to have a stress-free wedding week, they were going to pretend to be together. This decision was influenced by both pf them having an ex of theirs also staying at the house, Ben wanted to make his ex jealous and Beatrice wanted to show her ex that she did not miss him. This appeared to be a win-win situation for them but of course they had to face their obstacles in actually convincing the family they were together. Somewhere along the way, the lines started blurring and they realized that while pretending to be in love, they actually fell in love. To end the movie, Ben does a grand gesture to tell Beatrice he is in love with her which is a common characteristic of romcoms. The meet cute, obstacles along the way, and grand gestures are all examples of why this movie fits into the romcom category.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018) starring Lara Jean (Lana Condor) and Peter (Noah Centineo) is a wonderful example of an enjoyable romantic comedy. Lara Jean had written love letters to several boys when she was younger, while she thought all those letters were a complete secret to everyone else, her little sister Kitty noticed she was somewhat lonely and decided to mail them out to each boy without Lara Jean's consent. This caused chaos and brought up a whirlwind of emotions for everybody involved. Peter had recently broken up with his ex-girlfriend and wanted to make her jealous. His solution was to pretend to date Lara Jean in order to make his ex jealous, this was beneficial to Lara Jean because she did not want the other boys that received letters to think she was in love with them. While pretending to be together, real feelings developed for both of them. Obstacles held them back and caused them to have arguments but, in the end, their love for each other was stronger than anything that came between them.