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Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles.^[1]

History

Comedies, rooted in the fertility rites and satyr plays of ancient Greece, have often incorporated sexual or social elements.^[2]^[3]

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines 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, and As You Like It being the most purely romantic, while Much Ado About Nothing approaches the comedy of manners and The Merchant of Venice is closer to tragicomedy."^[4]

It was not until the development of the literary tradition of romantic love in the western European medieval period, though, that "romance" came to refer to "romantic love" situations. They were previously referred to as the heroic adventures of medieval Romance. Those adventures traditionally focused on a knight's feats on behalf of a lady, so the modern themes of love were quickly woven into them, as in Chrétien de Troyes's Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart.^[5]

The contemporary romantic comedy genre was shaped by 18th-century Restoration comedy and 19th-century romantic melodrama.^[6] 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 as William Wycherley's The Country Wife.^[7] 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.^[8]

In the 20th century, as Hollywood grew, the romantic comedy in America mirrored other aspects of society in its rapid changes, developing many sub-genres through the decades. We can see this through the screwball comedy in response to the censorship of the Hays Code in the 1920s–1930s,^[9] the career woman comedy (such as George Stevens' Woman of the Year, starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy) post-WWII, and the sex comedy made popular by Rock Hudson and Doris Day in the 1950s–1960s.^[6]

Evolution

Over the years, romantic comedies have slowly been becoming more popular to both men and women.^{[citation needed]} They have begun to spread out of their conventional and traditional structure into other territory, and to explore 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"^[10] but with more complexity.

Some romantic comedies have adopted special circumstances for the main characters, as in Warm Bodies where 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 a barrier between them anymore.^[11] Another strange set of circumstances is in Zack and Miri Make a Porno where the two protagonists are building a relationship while trying to make a pornographic film together. Both these films take the typical story arc and then add strange circumstances to add originality.

Other romantic comedies flip the standard conventions of the romantic comedy genre. In films like 500 Days of Summer, the two main interests do not end up together, leaving the protagonist somewhat distraught. Other films, like Adam, have the two main interests end up separated but still content and pursuing other goals and love interests.

Some romantic comedies use reversal of gender roles to add comedic effect.^[12] These films contain characters who possess qualities that diverge from the gender role that society has imposed upon them. It can be seen in Made of Honor, in which the female bridesmaids are shown in a negative and somewhat masculine light in order to advance the likability of the male lead. However, the genre as a whole still applies numerous negative stereotypes to men and particularly women. The reversal of gender roles is only for comedic effect and does not aim to challenge or remove these unwanted gender stereotypes. ^[13]

Other remakes of romantic comedies involve similar elements, but they explore more adult themes such as marriage, responsibility, or even disability. Two films by Judd Apatow, This Is 40 and Knocked Up, deal with these issues. This Is 40 chronicles the mid-life crisis of a couple entering their 40s, and Knocked Up addresses unintended pregnancy and the ensuing assuming of responsibility. Silver Linings Playbook deals with mental illness and the courage to start a new relationship.

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

Contrived romantic encounters: 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 as Roger Ebert^[14] or the Associated Press's Christy Lemire^[15] have called a "meet-cute" situation. During a "meet-cute", scriptwriters often create a sense of awkwardness between the two potential partners by depicting an initial clash of personalities or 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 "when boy meets girl in a cute way." As an example, he cites "The Meet Cute in Lost and Found [which] has Jackson and Segal running 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."^[16]

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.

References

^ Johnson, Bill. "The Art of the Romantic Comedy". Archived from the original on 2012-09-10.
^ "comedy". World Encyclopedia. Philip's. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
^ Bermel, Albert (January 2005). comedy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860174-6. Retrieved 2 July 2022. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
^ Cited in Answers.com http://www.answers.com/topic/romantic-comedy-1 Accessed June 20, 2011
^ C.S Lewis, The Allegory of Love, p 19 ISBN 0-19-281220-3
^ ^a ^b Kuhn, Annette; Westwell, Guy (25 June 2020). "romantic comedy". A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-883209-6. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
^ Baldick, Chris (23 July 2015). "Restoration comedy". The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-871544-3. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
^ "melodrama". An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age. Oxford University Press. 1999. ISBN 978-0-19-924543-7. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
^ Gehring, Wes D. "Defining Screwball". USA Today. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
^ "Romantic comedy – Define Romantic comedy at Dictionary.com". Dictionary.com.
^ Johnson, Bill. "The Art of the Romantic Comedy". A Story is a Promise. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
^ The Big romance of Something Wild?: romantic comedy today
^ Guys Are the New Girls
^ Ebert, Roger (18 April 2004). "Ella Enchanted". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2004. Retrieved 13 February 2019. She has a Meet-Cute (three, actually) with Prince Charmont (Hugh Dancy)
^ "Review: McGregor, Plummer delight in 'Beginners'". Deseret News. Deseret. Jun 1, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2021.
^ Ebert, Roger (28 June 1979). "Lost and Found". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2006. Retrieved 13 February 2019.

External links

Romantic Comedy Movies – worldwide movies from the 1940s to upcoming releases, with box office performance from The Numbers
Market Performance of Romantic Comedies – U.S. movies box office performance from The Numbers