What is a Romcom? Plus 10 Examples

What is simply a romcom? Well, different than expanding the compound abbreviation to romanticist comedy, let’s spot if we tin specify the word satisfactorily. A romcom is simply a comedic romance successful which the drama stems from the romance itself. Let’s speech astir however that works.

Is immoderate romance that’s comic automatically a romcom? No! Lots of things are comic without being comedy, and romance is nary exception. A romcom indispensable beryllium some a romance and a comedy, successful circumstantial ways.

First, earlier we get into defining the romcom sub-genre, a speedy explanation of romance arsenic a whole. Romance is simply a genre successful which the cardinal communicative is 2 (or more!) radical falling successful love, with an ending that suggests they volition enactment successful love. There are galore communal beats and tropes, but astatine its core, that’s the genre. So what makes romanticist drama basal retired arsenic a sub-genre?

To reply this question, I’m going to instrumentality a crisp near crook and speech astir a tv genre I fishy we are each acquainted with: the sitcom. Short for concern comedy, sitcoms are (usually) half-hour shows successful which the drama is derived from the situations the characters get themselves into (or find themselves in); the situations are much important than the through-line, and idiosyncratic episodes much important than seasonal and quality arcs, some of which tin often pb to continuity “errors” (we’re going to speech astir the criticisms of romcoms, too). Unlike a romcom, a sitcom mostly keeps the relationships reasonably static, which is wherefore truthful galore halfway families and/or person groups alternatively than a azygous romanticist relationship.

The classical sitcom is I Love Lucy. We’re each astatine slightest passingly acquainted with it. Lucy and Ricky Ricardo are a joined mates surviving successful New York. Lucy is simply a housewife with aspirations of being successful amusement biz. Ricky is simply a Cuban American who is simply a palmy nightclub set leader. The amusement besides stars their neighbors and landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz. The 4 characters get into ridiculous situations successful each episode, with Lucy acting arsenic the “screwball” who gets them into those situations.

What’s a screwball? I americium truthful gladsome you asked! Screwball drama and romanticist drama are chopped from the aforesaid cloth, and astir screwballs are besides romcoms. Both tin beryllium easy traced backmost to the aboriginal days of Hollywood, specifically “talkies” (movies with sound), and galore premier examples of either are really both! It Happened One Night, My Man Godfrey, and Bringing Up Baby are my favourite examples of (classic) movies that perfectly acceptable some sub-genres. For a communicative to suffice arsenic a screwball comedy, the pistillate pb indispensable be, well, a screwball. One of the longstanding standards of some screwballs and romcoms is that they stress sex roles (for amended oregon worse, usually worse), and successful a screwball drama the pistillate is typically brash, forward, and, well, “manly” successful immoderate mode — and ridiculous due to the fact that of it. (Don’t worry, she is astir ever tamed by emotion and marriage!)

Back to romcoms. The genre is mostly defined by 3 aspects: the premise, the beats, and the tropes. The premise is reasonably self-explanatory: it’s the happening you archer radical to person them to ticker the movie, work the book, oregon different devour the story. The beats are the basal crippled points that astir romcoms volition hit, including a conscionable cute to present the main characters to each different and a third-act break-up (or different bump successful the road). And the tropes, portion varying, thin to see the classical miscommunication (in bid to prolong the premise) and often 1 of a drawback container of situations similar opposites pull and only 1 bed.

While some romance and drama person heavy roots going backmost millennia, the romcom novel, arsenic acold arsenic I tin tell, evolved straight from the romcom movie. Romance arsenic a publication genre came from assorted genres including the gothic (see: Jane Eyre) and societal satire (see: Pride & Prejudice). To beryllium sure, a bully romance caller has ever been humorous (what is much ridiculous than love?), but the romcom sub-genre follows the conventions of the romcom movie genre reasonably closely, with immoderate much-needed deviation successful much caller years to marque the genre little cis heteronormative and little white.

Of course, not everyone likes romcoms! But I person recovered that astir of the criticisms of romcoms boil down to the aforesaid complaint: they’re contrived. I’ve fixed this a batch of thought, actually. It started erstwhile (of each things) I was watching White Christmas with Rosemary Clooney’s commentary, successful which she yelled astatine her ain quality for making assumptions astir what she overheard, a misunderstanding that led to the 3rd enactment breakup.

To beryllium sure, there’s plentifulness to dislike successful romcoms. Ridiculous scenarios for radical to meet, mistaken identities, hating each different for (silly) misunderstandings, breaking up alternatively of having 1 (1) conversation…except, well, these are the conventions of the genre! If you hatred them, possibly you should work different genre. Or you mightiness see accepting the tropes and enjoying the originative ways they are used.

This is but a fewer of the galore fantabulous romcoms retired there! In attempting to screen a assortment of tropes and scenarios, I’m definite I’ve missed retired connected immoderate large books. Luckily, we’ve got plenty more lists of romcoms to support you busy.

P.S. I made it each this mode without mentioning Emily Henry, arguably the astir fashionable romcom author. This is astir apt worthy its ain essay, but I americium not convinced her books are romcoms! (Please bash not misunderstand maine present — I emotion them! But I’d possibly reason that they’re modern romance that plays with romcom tropes.)