I have a confession to make. You have to promise not to judge me, OK? I love romance novels and movies.
Not like the books with Fabio on the cover with some women fetchingly draped on his arms. Oh God, no. I don’t know what about them I like. Maybe it’s the super predictable plot line or the super cheesy dialogue. But to be honest, I love romance novels and films so much that I hate them. Every time I get to a really predictable, sappy part, whether it just be dialogue between the two love-struck characters or a super predictable plot twist, I just want to throw my book across the room and set it on fire.
Can we just talk about chick flicks real quick? Chick flicks are often defined by movies that appeal specifically to women, normally having a romantic or sentimental theme with a leading female protagonist. So think "The Notebook," "10 Things I Hate About You," "When Harry Met Sally," and "Pretty Woman." They’re all great stories with fantastic characters, but one thing that irks me every time I watch a chick flick is that the main characters are always predominately white. Hollywood has yet to produce a big hit chick flick where the leading female role is a person of color. Come on screen writers, movie producers, and casting directors—produce a film that reflects your audience!
Which brings me to my next problem: Unrealistic characters and plot lines. Ever notice how in romance novels/films all the female protagonists seem to be the same person? OK, let’s take Louisa Clark from "Me Before You" (side note: they’re turning the novel into a movie) and Andrea Sachs from "The Devil Wears Prada." Both Louisa and Andrea are described as being ordinary girls living ordinary lives. They’re quirky and almost naive. Then both women are faced with life changing situations: Louisa having to care for a wheelchair-bound man and Andrea being the assistant of a fashion magazine.
More stereotypical things happen. They fall in love, shit hits the ceiling when they learn some bad news and they both don’t know what to do in their lives, but then things turn around and they live happily ever after. Everything ever written with the themes of love and romance seem to follow a certain formula, which goes something like: Pessimistic girl experiences a life-changing event, meets a guy who is either a complete pretentious asshole or is the social outcast, girl tries to deny her likeliness towards said male character but in some shape or form ends up needing the guy, girl confesses her love and then they live happily ever after. A few examples: "Twilight," "Eleanor & Park," and "Before I Fall," and if we look at films, "Safe Haven."
I’ll admit, some of these films and novels I’ve named are some of my favorites. Some have more of a unique twist compared to the others. I’m not saying we should burn all these romance novels and films, but let’s make them more interesting, authors. Let’s have a terrible, sad ending instead of the two characters getting together. Or how about finally having an interracial couple as the star of the next big chick flick?
