An ode to the rom-com
“People always ask why I like romantic comedies so much. It's because even under extraordinary circumstances, the right two people can end up together” – Mindy Kaling.
This is a post for all of the Cool Girls out there who’re still insisting ‘Reservoir Dogs’ is their favourite film – when really, all of their Netflix suggestions point towards ‘Clueless.’ There is nothing cosier than a romantic comedy. I’m referring to a very specific type. Sure, I can quote Noah Calhoun's entire “I want all of you, every day speech” to Allie in ‘The Notebook’, and I recently tried to make my boyfriend write one of his university assignments on ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’, but the ones that my inner hopeless romantic holds on a pedestal have to pre-date the noughties and star Tom Hanks — or someone with a similar haircut. I'm talking ‘When Harry Met Sally’, ‘Sleepless in Seattle’, ‘You've Got Mail’, ‘10 Things I Hate About You’, and ‘Pretty Woman’.
Most of my romantic comedy education was shaped by my mum and my nanna; a great way to get children to shut up while simultaneously getting to do something that you enjoy, is by putting on one of your favourite films and assuring them it's a must-see. For some unknown reason, my dad doing this with ‘Die Hard’ and ‘Resident Evil’ didn't have the desired effect, but my sister and I would spend hours on end watching ‘Dirty Dancing’, re-watching it, fast-forwarding it to our favourite parts and replaying them over and over, and then forcing our grandad to re-enact the iconic lift scene with us. We were enthralled.
Whenever I have one of those days or I'm feeling a little uninspired, putting on a boy-meets-girl classic is one of my go-to remedies. Some people have a bottle of wine, I have a bottle of wine and an hour-and-a-half of a predictable love story with extra cheese (sometimes the cheese is literal — it depends how bad the day was). There's just something about Annie Reed waiting for Sam Baldwin at the top of the Empire State Building; Patrick Verona spending his bet winnings on a new guitar for Kat Stratford; and Harry Burns telling Sally Albright “When you realise you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible” that makes me feel so content.
A massive part of it is definitely the clothes — you read my pre-noughties conditions at the beginning of this piece — if a trench coat or a turtleneck doesn't feature at some point, then it probably won't make my Top 10 (you think I'm joking, but I recently purchased a huge oversized mac with undeniable ‘80s vibes because it makes me feel like Meg Ryan). Another part is the music — obviously. A huge chunk of my iPod shuffle is comprised of rom-com soundtracks — and yes, I love to stare dramatically out of the window and pretend I'm waiting for the love of my life to come chasing after me when I'm on the bus. My favourite part is the journey: there’s a certain art to depicting the ups and downs of two people falling in love, and managing to inspire your audience to be invested in a relationship to the point of tears in ninety minutes. Finally, I'm not usually one for predictable endings — I hate obvious conclusions in books and I'm big on spontaneity — but the happy ending is a staple part of the genre. If Laura Ziskin hadn't ditched J. F. Lawton's dark ending of Kit and Vivian using Edward's money to fund a trip to Disneyland for the fairy-tale conclusion of Edward and Vivian ending up together in ‘Pretty Woman’, I’d probably feel completely differently about it.
When life’s getting on top of me and I feel like stepping out of my head for a while, I need to know that two people can come from completely different worlds, run rival businesses, and live in different states — and they'll still end up together. Whatever happens — whether I never drink nearly enough water, miss opportunities and take things for granted, say all of the wrong things, or I’m fired from my job, I'll still end up where I need to be.