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Romantic comedy (also known asromcom orrom-com) is a sub-genre ofcomedy andromance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles.[1] Romantic comedy evolved fromancient Greece humor,medieval romance, and 18th-centuryRestoration comedy, later developing into sub-genres likescrewball comedies, career woman comedies, and 1950ssex comedies in Hollywood.
Over time, the genre has expanded beyond traditional structures, incorporating unconventional themes, challenging gender roles, and addressing adult topics while maintaining its core focus on romance and humor. A common convention in romantic comedies is the "meet-cute", a humorous or unexpected encounter that creates initial tension and sets up the romantic storyline.
Comedies, rooted in the fertility rites and satyr plays ofancient Greece, have often incorporated sexual or social elements.[2][3]
TheOxford 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, andAs You Like It being the most purely romantic, whileMuch Ado About Nothing approaches thecomedy of manners andThe Merchant of Venice is closer totragicomedy."[4]
It was not until the development of the literary tradition ofromantic love in the western Europeanmedieval period, though, that "romance" came to refer to "romantic love" situations. They were previously referred to as the heroic adventures of medievalRomance. 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 inChrétien de Troyes'sLancelot, the Knight of the Cart.[5]
The contemporary romantic comedy genre was shaped by 18th-centuryRestoration comedy and 19th-century romanticmelodrama.[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 asWilliam Wycherley'sThe 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 thescrewball 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, starringKatharine Hepburn andSpencer Tracy) post-WWII, and thesex comedy made popular byRock Hudson andDoris Day in the 1950s–1960s.[6]
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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 inWarm 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 inZack 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 like500 Days of Summer, the two main interests do not end up together, leaving the protagonist somewhat distraught. Other films, likeAdam, 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, as seen inForgetting Sarah Marshall, in which the male protagonist is especially in touch with his emotions. It can also be seen inMade 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.[13]
Other remakes of romantic comedies involve similar elements, but they explore more adult themes such as marriage, responsibility, or even disability. Two films byJudd Apatow,This Is 40 andKnocked Up, deal with these issues.This Is 40 chronicles the mid-life crisis of a couple entering their 40s, andKnocked Up addresses unintended pregnancy and the ensuing assuming of responsibility.Silver Linings Playbook deals withmental 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.
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 asRoger Ebert[14] or the Associated Press'sChristy 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 initialclash 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 "whenboy meets girl in a cute way." As an example, he cites "The Meet Cute inLost and Found [which] hasJackson andSegal 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.
{{cite book}}:|website= ignored (help)She has a Meet-Cute (three, actually) with Prince Charmont (Hugh Dancy)
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