The Evolution of Rom-Coms

If you have scrolled through Netflix at any given point in the past 10 years, you have undoubtedly told yourself something along the lines of “Who is ever going to watch all of these trashy chick flicks?” Recently, both romantic-comedy buffs and non-fans agree that the quality of the romantic comedy  genre has declined.

But first, what is a romantic comedy, or rom-com? By definition, a rom-com has a love-driven plot and a light-hearted, humorous tone. Their popularity peaked around the 1990s to the 2000s but dipped shortly after because Hollywood and most consumers preferred larger, high-budget productions with equally large profits, as we see with the endless superhero movies released. Studios were not willing to make low-profit-margin romantic comedies anymore. However, with the steep rise in streaming services, rom-coms have never been more ubiquitous. From the comfort of the couch, consumers are not always looking for the pyro-technic heavy blockbusters, but instead want to snuggle in a blanket with a feel-good movie. After all, the classic Hallmark Channel-esque movie, the definition of a rom-com, is only really enjoyable during a cozy holiday season.

Romantic comedies often follow similar tropes, which are plots, themes, or character templates reused abundantly across a genre, therefore making most rom-coms seem predictable, uncreative, and boring. Now, writers can simply piece together these tropes, like haphazardly stringing words together in a game of Mad Libs. Because they only need to change certain details of the same overused plot and can do so for a low cost, the rom-com genre has become greatly oversaturated. This quantity-over-quality mindset from studios supports the assertion that they have gotten “worse.”

Moreover, a problem with modern-day rom-coms lies in the lack of a genre icon. Much of the appeal of popular 90s and 2000s rom-coms lies in the presence of a genre legend, like Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts, or Tom Hanks. Having an immediately recognizable and likable leading actor can push audiences to watch or enjoy, a movie. Nowadays, in part due to their perceived low quality, the movie industry sees a role in a modern rom-com as a meaningless downgrade for actors’ careers. Therefore, famous actors are less likely to commit to the genre to be seen as serious entertainers, leaving a gap in the marketability of romantic comedies.

However, nostalgia plays a key role in this debate. As is usually the case, connoisseurs of the rom-com genre often employ the age-old phrase: “They just don’t make them like they used to!” But, despite its merit, does that phrase ring true? Some of the examples most commonly cited from the Golden Age of rom-coms are How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, 13 Going on 30, 10 Things I Hate About You, When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail, and Clueless, all from the 90s and 2000s. However, one could argue that these movies are also uninventive in some ways. 10 Things I Hate About You, in fact, was made as a modern-day reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew,” and the others follow the same basic tropes of friends-to-lovers, enemies-to-lovers, or both at once. Boiled down, all rom-coms essentially have the same base, so these movies being older and appearing more ground-breaking is a crucial detail to consider when deciding if rom-coms have truly gotten worse over time. 

When it is your weekly Netflix-watching time and you’re thinking to yourself: “They just don’t make them like they used to!” Well, you’re not wrong, but you’re not exactly right, either. There are still plenty of thoroughly thought-out, creative, romantic comedies being released. And no, I’m not talking about Anyone But You. Instead, movies like To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, the successful Netflix-produced film, are heart-warming and refreshing. Crazy Rich Asians added a largely new depth to the romantic comedy genre with hilarious and brilliant execution. Love, Rosie also leaned into the slow-burn romance trope in an extreme way, which made the ending that much more rewarding. All in all, good recent rom-coms are out there—albeit harder to find. But, if you sort through the hundreds of carbon copies, you may just find your next gem, and you can take a break from rewatching The Wedding Planner yet again.