One of my favorite genres of movies
is the romantic comedy. I’m not talking about any specific movie here, just the
genre. Romantic comedies rock the world; lets face it, everyone loves RomComs!
Sure we know what’s going to happen, even before we see the movie and have seen
only the first 5 seconds of the trailer, but something about those movies is
just magical.
Now my question that I seek to
answer through my (not so) scientific experiments is why people love romantic
comedies.
There is a basic code for Romantic
Comedies: Romance + Comedy = Rom Com. But what is romance and comedy? Let’s find out, shall we?
1)
Well, humans were meant to live in harmony
together and be together, that’s why we had more then one generation, therefore,
love is a natural instinct of humans. If romance was not real, I don’t think
the human race would have lasted as long as it has. But there is more then just
one level of romance. For instance:
a)
The super
passionate romance: this is the kind of romance that a lot love stories try
to illustrate. Basically super passionate romances are the kind when the two
people love each other so much they would kill themselves if they cannot be
with the other (Which is why Rom Coms rarely use this romance for their movies);
but if you do this wrong it ends up coming off as stupid and winy. Because of
this, only a handful of romantics pull off the whole super passionate bit well.
For instance:
·
Gone With the Wind: Scarlett and Rett are
so perfect for each other that it seems like they would die without each other.
Now we both know this isn’t true, the
famous ending of the story gives away the fact that they brake up in the end,
but there is a faint hope that the two get back together again. If there wasn’t
that hope, I doubt that Scarlett would have lived very much longer.
·
Antony and Cleopatra: At the end of this
story, Antony commits suicide after being told that his love, Cleopatra, has committed
suicide. However, Cleopatra had not committed suicide, but soon after she found
out that Antony was dead she did just that. But not only does she kill herself,
she kills herself by snake, which is, of course, very painful. Need I say why
this demonstrates passionate love?
·
Romeo and Juliet: We all know how this
story ends. Juliet pretends to be dead, Romeo thinks she really is dead, he
kills himself, Juliet wakes up, she sees
Romeo dead, and kills herself. By showing that they could not, or would not, live
without each other, they show, in one way, the deepest type of passion romance.
b)
The
perfect match romance: this is the type of romance that the man and the
woman work extremely well together, and they love each other deeply, but still
are in touch with their rational side, that is, they wouldn’t kill themselves
if the other were to die, which is the only difference from the passionate
romance. This type of romance has deep, profound themes and motifs, but it
tends to be fun loving and a little quirky. This is the type of romance that
the better romantic movies tend to be in. For example:
·
Pride and Prejudice: Now you know Elisabeth and Darcy are perfect
for each other, I know Elisabeth and
Darcy are perfect for each other, but do Elisabeth
and Darcy know they are perfect
for each other? Not until the end of the book. You have to see them grow into
better people first. When they do grow into the perfect couple, they love each
other very deeply, you can tell. However, there is a rational side to their
love, and you get the feeling that they would kill each other if the other
died. Of course, we can’t know for sure, considering Jane Austen didn’t write
about the death of the beloved characters.
·
The
Sound of Music: Maria falls in love with Georg when she was working as his
governess. This movie is very sweet, but it is also very deep at some points.
And making Georg a widower also makes the love a little more profound.
·
Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Holly Golightly
is a sweet, naïve, eccentric girl who falls in love with Paul (or Fred, as
Holly calls him), a writer who needs help getting on his feet. There are a lot
of seriously immoral acts that happen throughout this classic movie, but the
two are so sweet together that you almost don’t seem to notice. However, if one
of them were to die, the other would not kill themselves, so this I defiantly
not a passion romance, but a perfect match one.
·
Mostly Martha: This is a German film that
has a very sweet story about Martha, a control-freak cook, who falls in love
with Mario, a sweet easy going French guy. Their love is a very sweet sort of profound
romance that will last the burden of time. No matter how much they love each
other though, they would not commit suicide if the other were to die.
c)
The sweet
romance: this is the one of the easiest types of relationships to show; it
just takes a cute boy (it helps if he’s Irish) and a sweet girl to make this
work. Movies tend to be able to pull this off much, much easier, (for example,
Leap Year is about a Irish boy who falls in love with an American girl, there’s
nothing really deep about the story, it’s just cute. P.S. I Love You has the
same story, but it has much deeper themes and motifs. P.S I Love You would
defiantly be a part of the perfect match romance, because it’s not just a sweet
story, like Leap Year is, it’s a profound love and friendship piece) but there
are those times when they mess sweet romances up, and when they mess it up, you
know it’s bad (for example, 27 Dresses, this movie is not sweet, not cute, and
most defiantly not deep in any way shape or form, I believe this the case
because the main characters sleep with each other before they even get to know
one another, making it unbelievable that they would ever actually fall in love.
It sounds more like a one night stand to me, and not true love.) The boy needs
to be sweet, and the girl needs to be likable, or at least they need to evolve
into those types of people. They really don’t need a huge back story; they just
need to work well together. For example:
·
Roman Holiday: Roman Holiday only takes
place in a day’s time, so there is not a whole lot of back story, but it’s a
sweet story.
·
When
in Rome: this is just a standard romcom, but it is a good one nonetheless.
This movie does lack the profound themes of the Perfect Match romance, and
instead just has a sweet story.
·
The
Holiday: this movie has two love stories in it, making it double fun!
However, there is not much back story or philosophical motifs in it, just a
charming, delightful story.
·
Sabrina: This is a Cinderella story
starring Audrey Hepburn. It’s a sweet story, but it lacks the profound themes
that the Perfect Match romance has to offer.
d)
The
Teenage Romance: this is the lowest type of romance for a reason. It is one
of the least believable romances, because so many of teenage romances don’t
last. There are exceptions, of course,
just like there are exceptions in teenage movies. There are some teen movies
that are great, and that have lasted the burden of time (anything by John
Hughes, for example), and then there are the others…well, you know what I’m
talking about. Teenage romance stories are rarely any good, and mostly they are
for preteens anyway. Lame. For example:
·
Prom: This is a deception of every
proportion. For all you readers who think that high school is like this, well
you wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong! You have no brain cells! (Ok, you may have a
few brain cells). But lets face it, high school is not like it is portrayed in
this movie and it is not going to end happily for Nova and Jesse.
·
Twilight: Twilight is one of those books
that I really dislike. I have nothing against vampires or werewolves; I just
dislike this book/movie. Nothing feels real in this story, like it could
actually happen. Because of this, it comes off as sorta stupid and winy. bleh.
·
High School Musical: Sometimes I wish
that we had songs that would randomly burst out at my school, but then I
remember I can’t sing, so that may be
sorta a downer. this movie is also unbelievable, and will not withstand the
burden of time, and will become dated (actually the first High school Musical
is already dated).
·
Its
Kind of a Funny Story: this is about a boy who is suicidal. This sorta has
a darker plot lie then most teen movies, but it is a full true and true teen
movie that will not last for to much longer in the world of entertainment, and
will be considered dated before to long.
·
The Breakfast Club: At last, a good movie
in the teen romance. The funny thing about this movie is, the romance is a
little unbelievable, it probably won’t last more then three months and it still
lasted the burden of time. I believe it is because John Hughes is just a good
story teller and knows how to appeal to all ages.
2)
One of those wise guys from a long time ago once
said that when comedy is examined, it ceases to exist. This, unfortunately, is
true. How often has it happened when you were younger a movie was funny or
clever, and then became lame as you got older? That happened to me with Karate
Kid and Tuck Everlasting. When I was younger I used to think that those movies
were so cool. Then I got older, I started examining the humor and the style of
those movies, and I realized that those really weren’t very funny, entertaining
movies. They were, well, sorta lame. But
how can we really know what comedy is if we can’t get close enough to examine it?
Well, obviously if there are different people who think different things are
funny, but there are, like romance, levels of comedy.
a)
Sophisticated/
political Humor: this type of
comedy goes over the heads of almost everyone except for a select few. But lets
face it, its not very funny.
b)
Raunchy/
crude Humor: this type of comedy is funniest for two groups, teenagers or
people in their early 20s or any male over the age of 15. This type of comedy
is, well, crude. A lot of people find this funny, and a lot of people find this
repulsive. It’s just like any comedy, some like it, some do not. For example:
·
The Hangover: This movie has a lot of
crude humor, and it has its consequences. I know a lot of people who can’t stand
this movie because it is so crude and raunchy. I also know a lot of people who
love this movie and think it’s one of the funniest movie ever.
·
Knocked Up: This also is a very crude
movie, with a lot of sex jokes and a lot of scenes that some would view as inappropriate.
That’s just Seth Rogan for you though.
c)
Quick
Witted Humor: so this type of comedy is, in my option, the funniest type.
The people have to be fast and witty, or else this sorta falls flat. For the
most part this tends to be the funniest. However, this type of humor is not
really present in movies; it’s more in TV shows. TV shows only have a half hour
or an hour to complete their story for that episode, so they need to talk fast
and they need to get their jokes in fast. Movies, on the other hand, have two
to three hours to complete a story, so they have a little more leeway on how
fast they can deliver their jokes and their talking doesn’t have to be so fast.
Because of that, all my examples for this section are TV shows instead of
movies:
·
Psych: Psych is one of those outrages
shows that references obscure 80s shows all the time. This show is extremely
fast paste, quirky, and witty, and all around funny. This is my favorite show.
·
Gilmore Girls: every one in Gilmore Girls
talks extremely fast and quirky.
·
Community: Community has off the wall
funny references and is a very quirky.
d)
Slapstick
Humor: This humor is the lowest type of comedy because it’s, well, unsophisticated,
and not at all witty. Most of these movies are forgotten within the first two
years of being made. Now there are exceptions, just like there are exceptions
for every type of humor; for instance, Charlie Chaplin is a great old time
comedian and he used slapstick to get his laughs. However, I will say that only
a very small percentage of slapstick comedians actually last the burden of
time. In my option, there is really very little funny about this type of
comedy, other then people tripping over a cake or spilling chili all over their
face. There tends to be a big dog involved as well. Har de har har har. Typically,
only children enjoy this type of comedy. For example:
·
Marmaduke: this is based off of the
comic. It’s about a big dog. That’s about it.
·
The Duke: This is about a small dog. Who
becomes a duke. I’m not kidding.
Now, rarely is a movie just one
type of humor. For example, Saturday Night Live is political humor that is
quick witted and, many times, crude. That’s why comedy is so hard to pin point,
because there is more then just one type in even one movie.
3)
But the real question we’ve been wondering is
how is a romantic comedy formed? What makes it work? Obviously you can’t have
certain romances paired with certain comedies. For example, if you pair a
passionate romance with slapstick comedy, then the passion seems petty and they
don’t blend well. So, I’m going to show which comedies go with which romances.
a) The
Passion Romances go with the Sophisticated/Political Humor: yes, the
political humor works best with this type of romance, mostly because often this
humor is serious, as is the passion Romance
b) The
Perfect Match Romances go with the Quick Witted Humor: The perfect match
romances need to be funny and slightly quirky, just the recipe for quick witted
humor! These types of Romantic Comedies are my absolute favorite.
c) The
Sweet Romance goes with the Quick Witted, and Raunchy/Crude humor: either
the sweet romance is quick witted, or it’s crude, or both! For example, Bride
Maids has quick witted humor and also some crude moments, it’s also very sweet.
d) The
Teenage Romance goes with the Slapstick Humor: what do you know, the two
lowest types of romantic comedies go with each other. I dislike these movies
very, very much.
So why does everyone love romantic comedies
so much? Well, no one can really know for sure why, but I can say this…people
love stories that end happily. In the day to day life that is full of
bitterness, hatred, and struggling just to get by, the way that you can forget
about the strain of living is to simply watch a movie where there is no bad
ending, there is no failure or sadness and everything works out in the end. The
romantic comedy presents this happy ending, and it gives hope to the watchers.
Whoa! I bet you weren’t expecting such a deep thought for such predictable
movies were you?
So there you go, the different types of
romantic comedies dissected. I must say this is definitely a good genre, though
a little predictable. But when you are having fun watching a movie, then who
cares if it’s predictable? Movies are for enjoyment, and I don’t know about
you, but I very much enjoy watching those good old Romantic Comedies.
