why the hate for rom-coms?

Gaze

Gaze

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INFPishy
I've always liked romantic comedies but they're not highly regarded for many reasons.

So, why the hate?

Are there any redeeming qualities in rom-coms?
 
I like most rom-coms but sometimes they can just be horrible, as with other movies of other genres.
 
Romantic comedies are just a little too unrealistic for me. Sure I like to laugh but the humor in those movies are just not amusing to me, usually. They all have pretty much the same plot and become too predictable.
 
Some of them can be funny, but I tend not to like them in general.

Two exceptions (both happen to be Sandler movies though I'm not regularly a fan of his):

1. The Wedding Singer
2. Punchdrunk Love

I found The Wedding Singer to be genuinely funny even though it was excessively cheesy and unrealistic. I loved Punchdrunk Love because it was so dark and the characters were so far from your typical formula types.

Otherwise I'd agree that the genre tends to be way too predictable (they get together, duh) and the humor does not make up for it 98% of the time. I don't relate to GQ-style dudes hooking up with A-list actresses in midlife, and the whole lovable loser meets supermodel thing just doesn't happen. Oh yeah, and the indie/rebel teen guy hooking up with the nerd (teen model wearing glasses)/cheerleader. BAH!
 
Res said:
I've always liked romantic comedies but they're not highly regarded for many reasons.

So, why the hate?

Are there any redeeming qualities in rom-coms?
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To the degree I avoid romantic comedies it's usually because of the predictability of the plot. It's usually eye-roll worthy. I used to be an avid Harlequin Romance reader as a child and as a result I have the romance plot trajectory memorized. Also, the romantic characters are often just paper doll cutouts rather than complex characters. I tend to like fictional presentations that cause me to consider an aspect of humanity in a way I had not considered before. Romantic comedies usually just tread the same ground with different faces and background.

That said, I do sometimes have the desire to watch a romantic comedy. It can be fun.

For me the redeeming qualities are that it does typically have a predictable plot that I can just sink into and even feel some pleasure in forecasting. There is almost inevitably pretty people in pretty places. Sometimes I like that visual stimulation. There is also the simple emotional stimulation of the romance. I don't know if everyone has that button, but I am a sucker for participating as observer in the portrayal of two people doing a dance of intimacy. It meets some need in me to occasionally watch a simplified expression of that dance brought down to basic elements and lightened by laughter.
 
slant said:
Love is gay. I mean gay in a non-homosexual way.
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I agree. Love does have that mirth and play feeling, that abandon to the experience of bliss feeling, that skipping through a meadow of wildflowers feeling, that lighthearted feeling you get when you ride a unicorn to the top of a rainbow and then fling its poo down on your friends. :tongue:


cheers,
Ian
 
Love is a very serious matter, of which most romantic comedies make a mockery. Comedy-dramas can often pull plenty of laughter out of it without being insultingly irreverent, but the stereotypical romantic comedy cannot.
 
I can enjoy a romantic comedy. Drama is much more engaging but a romantic comedy is nice light entertainment when I want to destress and not think. There were some good rom-coms in the '90s. I like Bollywood too which is just a really really long musical romantic comedy.
 
Rom Coms are okay. Some are fun and I enjoy watching them. For me it is about the acting. Some pairings are just terrible and sometimes the acting is too horrible to enjoy. I am sentimental so if it is well written and well acted, I can grab a hankey and watch.
 
I hate the typical rom coms that follow the same exact template.
She's a smart savy business woman who doesn't have time for love. He's an idiot but he's got a nice smile.
Will they find love?
Along the way they have to make sure to have a few zany not as attractive friends to egg them on and provide comic relief.
That formula gets really boring after awhile.
Also I hate how the leading lady always has to consult with her pack of idiot bimbo friends (and one friend is always a slut) at the gym. It's just so unrealistic and annoying.


But, there are some good ones out there. Like Love Actually or Shallow Hal or Kissing Jessica Stein
 
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They're okay, but, as others have mentioned, many of them tend to be strikingly similar, so, for me, they just get boring. You already know what's going to happen in the end as you're walking into the theater. The characters really do tend to fall into archetypes (to which I sometimes have a difficult time relating). You know?

I can watch one every now and then, though, and there really are some good ones out there. They just don't seem to make up the majority, I suppose.
 
In the majority of cases, the films themselves are neither romantic or funny and give negative stereotypes of woman (as well as men). The modern rom-com consists of a neurotic woman whom is supposedly independent but has something missing in life, at which point she just forgets her years of self sufficiency and becomes an emotional wreck. There is then a bunch of scenes which have older females act and appear to have the mental age of an 12 year old, as they worry about triviality, pettiness and unrealistic requirements for love.
I love the rom-com genre but the modern format is insulting and rehashed to death (in my opinion). I much prefer the fifties formats, where woman were strong and the guy wants her for been a smart funny person not a dittsy money pit.
 
Jake: Oh hii Jennifer.
Jennifer: OMG Jake you're so hot
Jake: It's been 5 seconds now, let's marry.

2 weeks later

Jake: Oh hii Jessica.
Jessica: Hi wanna have sex
Jake: No sry lol im already with a girl.


Even less realistic than any fantasy movie, but more boring.
 
Sloe Djinn said:
@Res

[MENTION=2434]Sloe Djinn[/MENTION]

What are some of your favorites and why?
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Runaway Bride
Two Weeks Notice
Best Friends Wedding
The Ugly Truth
Leap Year
Made of Honor

And the list goes on. . .

An old classic - Bringing Up Baby with Cary Grant / Katherine Hepburn


They are guilty pleasures :D I've always liked them because of the light nature of the dialogue, the crazy scenarios, and the chemistry and banter back and forth between the male and female leads. They're just fun. And also, the cinematography, especially lighting, and the settings or locations where they film are quite gorgeous. I think my interest is partly aesthetic. I like the look of the films - the production design essentially.
 
They are like love songs. No love, so no happy reminders, just sad ones. It is a fantasy, but not one I can lose myself in. Maybe women find that easier. Like pornography for emotions? Maybe.
 
I dislike them in general, and on principle. As someone else mentioned they tend to be formulaic or ridiculously pedantic. Or they're stereotypes about one or both genders.

But as another person said, the 1950s romantic comedies actually were pretty savvy. Everyone had snappy dialog that was both fast and furious. And the man got in just as many zingers as the woman. I think what also helped was they weren't necessarily just about romance; there was an additional plot, or mystery, or murder thrown in there. If they ever did go the romance route, there were plenty of pitfalls and serious situations, and you really didn't know if they'd get together in the end. Sometimes they didn't.

Today's rom-coms feel like they don't believe the average audience can handle a "real" plot. Even some of the 80s rom-coms had an occasional plot thrown in ("Romancing the Stone" for example). But it's been a while since a rom-com's appeared with a different "bent."

Me, I'm not into the "standard." If you're going to fall in love, then give me another genre with it - science fiction or fantasy, mystery, drama, chiller...you name it. The comedic aspect of falling in love has been done to death, IMO.
 
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