A Very Important Question For You All

[apolla]

I like lighthearted, funny films where people live happily ever after, but it has come to my attention that most all Romantic Comedies actually suck like a big old Dyson bag-less vacuum. They suck like Oldham Athletic and they suck like syphilis.

Why do they suck? Is it that most seem to aspire to be 'screwball' but just screw it up? Is it that they always feature Rich People, and almost always Rich White People? Is it that the films' sense of gender equality rarely exists or exists only on a cosmetic level? Is it that they almost always promote a very particular way of living (married, conventional, non-boat-rocking)?

So tell me, if you like rom-coms, what do you wish they did better? What do you wish they'd do at all? What do you wish they'd do differently/not do at all?

Comments

[empressov.livejournal.com]

I usually wish romantic comedies would have either/both more boy kissing or more space battles. But that's just me.

[apolla.livejournal.com]

He's Just Not That Into You had boys who kiss boys and it still came off as... insulting/offensive somehow. Maybe I was just seeing more than was there.

Space battles, on the other hand, are so rarely made of fail.

[sugarjet03.livejournal.com]

All of what you said. Since I got in a relationship, I watch fewer of them than I used to, mostly because I can't deal with their lack of believability and ridiculous expectations for relationships. I like witty banter, and want a fuzzy ending sometimes, but I wish it could happen in a realistic way.

[apolla.livejournal.com]

I think they've become far more formulaic over the last few years - and they were totally formulaic before - and I find it increasingly hard to believe.

I just don't know why we haven't got a decent romcom that's about 'ordinary' (not-rich) people and their ordinary lives?

Actually I do know: it's harder work to make that appear interesting to the kinds of people who go to see Sarah Jessica Parker.

[sugarjet03.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Why go to the extra trouble when they can easily make money be being conventional? Besides, when people aren't rich, they can't use outrageous plot devices to bring them together.

I think that's why I usually prefer TV romances, because they have more time to develop, and are less likely to have outrageous plots to get there (though plenty of shows still utilize them). My favorite TV relationship is Jim and Pam on The Office, because they are middle-class people who are friends who fall in love. And now that they're together you get to see them confront everyday challenges (long-distance relationship, Pam's parent's separating) and how they affect their love for each other, which I find much more romantic than the "kiss and everything's perfect" rom-com thing.