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I grew up on Rom-Coms. Bridget Jones’s Diary (the first one) is my favorite , and I love the old “chick flicks” written by Nora Ephron in the Nineties. Rom-coms were once major blockbuster movies being produced with big name actors. Nowadays, they tend to be straight to Netflix films with B list actors. I realize they’re not for everyone. There’s not a lot of action, they tend to reinforce gender norms, and some even glorify stalkerish behavior.I ’ll admit that last one is a HUGE problem. But the one critique of Rom-Coms that I hear the most often is that they are not realistic. Why? Because the plot usually revolves around people not communicating like adults.The counter argument to this is generally “It’s a movie. It’s not supposed to be realistic. It’s supposed to be entertaining”. Another defense is “Superhero movies aren’t realistic, but they do gangbusters in the box office”. 

I’d like to propose a different argument. Rom-coms are, in fact, realistic because the conflict generally comes from characters not communicating properly.

Lack of communication is the root of a lot of drama in life, especially in romantic relationships. Good Rom-coms are great at exploring the drama and using humor to entertain at the same time. After all, miscommunication can be fodder for a lot of comedy. So in my opinion, the trouble with Romantic Comedies is that there aren’t enough good ones. We need more of them, and we need more to be produced by high budget movie studios with A list actors and great writers. And ok, the term “chick flick” needs to disappear. 

Rebecca H. Lee
 

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