Are good rom-com movies obsolete?
Romantic comedies have been popular since the classic Hollywood era, with audiences seemingly drawn to sweet love stories, from Bringing Up Baby to Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Often popular among both men and women, rom-coms, as they are affectionately known, used to make significant box-office earnings.
The 1970s and ‘80s continued to deliver stellar rom-coms in the form of films like What’s Up Doc?, Annie Hall, and When Harry Met Sally. The genre seemed to explode in the 1990s and 2000s, although many of these works began to be considered ‘for women’ in comparison to the universal success of movies like those listed above.
Still, romantic comedies were in high demand, and many movies from the ‘90s and ’00s, from Notting Hill to Legally Blonde, are considered stone-cold classics of the genre. From teen-oriented rom-coms like Mean Girls and 10 Things I Hate About You to iconic titles like Pretty Woman, Clueless, Sleepless in Seattle, 13 Going on 30 and Mamma Mia, it is hard to deny the cultural impact of romantic comedies. Countless rom-coms have earned their place in cinematic history and are remembered for their quotable dialogue, unforgettable outfits, and loveable characters.
While many classic rom-coms indulged in cheesy and unrealistic narratives, that was often part of the allure – half the events of Notting Hill seem farfetched, but so are the plotlines of superhero movies. Studios churned out many rom-coms that remain well-loved today, and it felt as though companies were interested in telling romantic stories instead of just focusing on profit-boosting war epics, sci-fi and action flicks, thrillers and dramas. While these genres appeal to both men and women, it felt like a more diverse range of interests was being represented on screen when genuinely good, entertaining rom-coms were being made.
However, it now feels like only a handful of entertaining, non-cliché rom-coms have been made since the beginning of the 2010s, leaving many people asking: are good rom-coms now obsolete? Unfortunately, the golden age of rom-coms is firmly over, and stumbling upon a genuinely brilliant one is incredibly rare.
The early 2010s saw successful movies like Friends With Benefits, About Time and Easy A emerge, with a few popular entries to the genre coming in the latter years of the decade, such as La La Land and The Big Sick. Yet, the past five years have seen a dearth of good romantic comedies despite Netflix seemingly taking it upon themselves to become one of the sole creators of the genre. They’ve whipped up movies like To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and The Kissing Booth, but although these have been commercially successful, even spawning sequels, they aren’t well-made or enduring pieces of cinema.
So, why are rom-coms failing in our current age? There are many reasons, with one of the most significant being a lack of interest from Hollywood studios. Romantic comedies are typically made on medium budgets, but these days, it is harder for these kinds of works to do incredibly well. The cinematic landscape is changing, and studios simply want to make as much cash as possible. When it became clear that superhero movies – such as those in the Marvel franchise – could make obscene amounts of money, genres like romantic comedies fell to the wayside. Projects that appeal to as many people as possible, such as biopics, epic war films and superhero spectacles, are prioritised over romantic comedies as, at the end of the day, not as many people will go and see them anymore.
The genre seems to have been worn thin, with classic tropes, such as meet-cutes, enemies to lovers, old friends reunited, etc, increasingly becoming cliché. We’ve seen these all before, and something starkly different, such as having a musical element or a sci-fi setting, is often needed for a rom-com to become successful in the current climate.
In recent years, many rom-coms have been re-evaluated, with lots of feminist critics highlighting the misogynistic nature of many movies from the genre. Admittedly, many popular rom-coms are problematic due to their prioritising of heterosexual love that depicts women as ‘in need’ of a man who can save her or bring her happiness. Sometimes, women are pitted against each other, with one being considered the ‘better’ option (the ‘pure’, girl-next-door type usually ‘wins’), or male characters objectify the women, doing whatever they can to attract a partner, even if they barely know anything about her personality.
Thus, in our current culture, with more and more women identifying with feminism and wanting to see female characters defined outside of their relationships with men on screen, rom-coms cannot continue to uphold patriarchal standards or feature predominantly straight, white characters to be successful.
The genre needs a complete overhaul if it wants a comeback because it has the potential to connect with many audiences. Rye Lane, released in 2023, is a great example of a fresh new rom-com, subverting the genre and removing clichés to make something genuinely enjoyable yet still just as romantic. Using unconventional filming and editing techniques, the South London-set movie features two Black leads, something that is rare to see in the romantic comedy genre. Director Raine Allen-Miller’s take on contemporary romance feels like a future classic, telling a story that feels much more relevant to modern audiences than most older rom-coms.
More stories about couples that don’t fit into stereotypical patriarchal moulds, as well as movies that allow female characters proper autonomy and identity outside of their interactions with men, are needed to give romantic comedies a new lease of life. Unfortunately, funding for the genre is becoming increasingly harder to attain, so it might just take the work of an experimental independent filmmaker to truly resurrect the once-beloved world of the rom-com.
