As a guy, it’s not hard to imagine that I am not a fan of Romantic Comedies, or any Romance movie in general. What you might not be aware of, however, is how terrible an influence most RomComs have on society and why they are a bad genre in the film industry. I was once scrolling through YouTube when I found a video by cracked.com where they enlightened me to this idea.
Any story, whether it’s depicted on screen or a book, is always written or conveyed in a way that it’s relatable to audiences. Even the Sci-Fi or Fantasy types always have some sort of realistic approach in character development or the character interaction (which is also why we get so upset when an actor does a terrible performance in films and ruins it for the viewers, *cough* George Clooney in “Batman & Robin” *cough*). So it’s very unrealistic in these RomComs when the protagonist realizes that he/she was an idiot and makes this huge romantic gesture to win back the love of their life. Not only does this not happen in real life, but everyone is tricked into believing it can happen and that it's not creepy at all.
Picture this: it’s your wedding and you’re at the altar with your groom/bride. All of a sudden this guy/girl you dated briefly but broke up with because they couldn’t grow up or have a healthy relationship comes running in and proclaims their eternal love for you. Not only is this just a douchey move to pull off in front of your friends and family, but now you’re standing there with the person you’re about to marry, and with the crazy ex that looks like a stalking lunatic. This is exactly what happens all of the time in RomComs.
They also give off a terrible message to both guys and girls. Guys are led to believe that in order to be happy, they have to live every day like Ted Mosby from “How I Met Your Mother” (who we can all agree was not the reason we continued to watch the show). If you’re unfamiliar with Ted, he spends every episode -- most notably with Robin, but also with the random everyday girls he meets in the later seasons -- showering girls with “romantic” gestures that are made fun of by the rest of his friends because they were horrible ideas.
Girls are also negatively influenced by RomComs in the sense that they are depicted as indecisive and need a Ted Mosby to shower them with affection so that they can realize who their true love is. Needless to say, this is all bull. Sure, the protagonists in RomComs learn valuable life lessons about maturity or what it means to be in a relationship, but their response is horrible. They are so committed to the idea of true love that they won’t let go of the past and would definitely interrupt their ex’s wedding (which I feel is the point of no return).
I will admit, however, that not every RomCom shares this aspect, and the best example I can give is “The Five-Year Engagement.” Not only is this a remarkably funny film, but it does what most RomComs don’t get right.
1. It tells the story from both Jason Segel and Emily Blunt’s perspectives as their characters develop throughout the movie and learn their lessons equally, making it so that all audiences can relate to the protagonists.
2. It teaches us that no relationship is easy and one must work hard at it in order to find happiness, and that there is no such thing as a perfect couple but there is such thing as a compatible couple (yes, there is a difference).
3. There is no insane romantic gesture plotted to win the other back, not counting the (spoiler) wedding at the end since they were already together at the time. That just made it a nice and memorable wedding.
In general, Romantic films, whether comedy or not, are non-relatable and give off terrible messages to viewers save for a certain few. If we just take a step back and realize this, people may have an easier time falling in love without the advice of the entertainment industry whispering in their ear.
