Romantic comedy

For other uses, seeRomantic comedy (disambiguation).

Romantic comedy(also known asromcomorrom-com) is a subgenre ofcomedyandromance fiction,focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as howtrue loveis able to surmount most obstacles.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.

Description

Kathryn GraysoninSeven Sweethearts(1942), a musical romantic comedy film

The basic plot of aromanticcomedyis that two charactersmeet,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 they do not like each other. After all, one of them already has a partner, or because of social pressures. However, the screenwriters leave clues that suggest that the characters are attracted to each other and that they would be a good love match. The characters often split or seek time apart in order to sort out their emotions or deal with external obstacles to their being together, which they eventually overcome.

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 agrand gesture) to find the other person and declare their love. This is not always the case, as sometimes there is a remarkable coincidental encounter where the two meet again. Alternatively, 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 thefilm ends on a happy note.Even though it is implied that they live 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 conclusion 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).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 plotline. 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 WeddingandMy Super Ex-Girlfriend). Alternatively, the film may be a rumination on the impossibility of love, as inWoody Allen's filmAnnie Hall.The basic format of a romantic comedy film can be found in much earlier sources, such asShakespeareplays likeMuch Ado About NothingandA Midsummer Night's Dream.

Evolution and subgenres

Marilyn MonroeandTom Ewellin theSeven 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 moresubgenresand 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"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 inWarm Bodieswhere 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 do not have that barrier between them anymore.Another strange set of circumstances is inZack and Miri Make a Pornowhere the two protagonists are building a relationship while trying to make apornotogether. Both these films take the typical story arc and then add strange circumstances to addoriginality.

Flipping conventions

Montauk station,where Joel and Clementine meet each other again after the erasing of their memories from the filmEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Other romantic comedies flip the standard conventions of the romantic comedy genre. In films like500 Days of Summer,the two main interests do not end up together, leaving the protagonist somewhat distraught. Other films likeAdamhave 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.These films contain characters who possess qualities that diverge from the gender role that society has imposed upon them, as seen inForgetting Sarah Marshallin which the male protagonist is especially in touch with his emotions, andMade of Honorin which the female bridesmaids are shown in a negative and somewhat masculine light in order to advance the likability of the male lead.

Serious elements

Other remakes of romantic comedies involve similar elements, but explore more adult themes such as marriage, responsibility, or even disability. Two films byJudd Apatow,This Is 40andKnocked Up,deal with these issues.This Is 40chronicles the mid-life crisis of a couple entering their 40s, andKnocked Upaddresses unintended pregnancy and the ensuing assuming of responsibility.Silver Linings Playbookdeals withmental illnessand the courage to start a new relationship.

All of these go against thestereotypeof what romantic comedy has become as a genre. Yet the genre of romantic comedy is simply astructure,and all of these elements do not negate the fact that these films are still romantic comedies.

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 asRoger Ebertor the Associated Press'Christy Lemirehave 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 initialpersonality clashor 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 "whenboy meets girlin a cute way. "As an example, he cites" The Meet Cute inLost and Found[which] hasJacksonandSegalrunning 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. "

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

Thehitchhikingscene fromIt Happened One Night

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 asSome 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 theGreat Depressionin the 1930s;screwball comedyfilms made heavy use of contrived romantic "meet cutes", perhaps because the more rigidclass consciousnessand class divisions of this period made cross-social class romances into tantalizing fantasies.

History

Much of the filming forNotting Hilltook place onPortobello Road.

Comedies, rooted in the fertility rites and satyr plays ofancient Greece,have often incorporated sexual or social elements.

TheOxford Dictionary of Literary Termsdefines 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,andAs You Like Itbeing the most purely romantic, whileMuch Ado About Nothingapproaches thecomedy of mannersandThe Merchant of Veniceis closer totragicomedy."

It was not until the development of the literary tradition ofromantic lovein the western Europeanmedievalperiod, though, that "romance" came to refer to "romantic love" situations, rather than the heroic adventures of medievalRomance.Those adventures traditionally focused on a knight's feats on behalf of a lady, and so the modern themes of love were quickly woven into them, as inChrétien de Troyes'sLancelot, the Knight of the Cart.

The contemporary romantic comedy genre was shaped by 18th-centuryRestoration comedyand 19th-century romanticmelodrama.Restoration comedies were typically comedies of manners that relied on knowledge of the complex social rules of high society, particularly related to navigating the marriage-market, an inherent feature of the plot in many of these plays, such asWilliam Wycherley'sThe Country Wife.While the melodramas of the Romantic period had little to do with comedy, they were hybrids incorporating elements of domestic and sentimental tragedies, pantomime "with an emphasis on gesture, on the body, and the thrill of the chase," and other genres of expression such as songs and folk tales.

In the 20th century, as Hollywood grew, the romantic comedy in America mirrored other aspects of society in its rapid changes, developing many subgenres through the decades, such as thescrewball comedyin response to the censorship of the Hays Code in the 1920s–1930s,the career woman comedy (such as George Stevens'Woman of the Year,starringKatharine HepburnandSpencer Tracy) post-WWII, and thesex comedymade popular byRock HudsonandDoris Dayin the 1950s–1960s.

See also

• Bromantic comedy
• Chick flick
• Screwball comedy
• Sex comedy
• Sitcom
• List of romantic comedy films
• List of romantic comedy television series

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) byBox Office Mojo