Mike Roberts

If you want Truth then Romance

It’s only so rare that a romantic comedy is realistic. We do manage to sit through the sappy and rather humorous films like Love Actually (Richard Curtis, 2003) because we know that we are going to somehow feel warm and yet humorously satisfied. While even the most masculine men will still sit with their girlfriends to watch these films, psychologically we ingest the morals and messages of these films. Some romantic comedies make us want to fall in love, others reevaluate our current or lack of relationships. However we do forget that in reality it is rather uncommon to propose to a woman you have known for less than a month. But what if a romantic comedy was realistic? Would the characters we have learned to love over a two hour run time be hitched by the end? Would every moment feel ever so romantic? Would their arguments be relatable or could their relationship be a mundane representation of our realities? But despite the relationship focus, in a romantic comedy we look for the two factors; Romance and comedy. Using the traditional archetype, ladies interested in a romantic comedy may perhaps be looking for a heroine they can relate to. Someone who has experienced abandonment, loss, self loathing and a want in life to find the man of her dreams like the charming Lucy Eleanor Moderatz played by Sandra Bullock from While you were sleeping (Jon Turtletaub, 2003). Some women may use these films to dream upon the man who would go the distance for them like the memorable performance from Heath Ledger as Patrick Verona in 10 Things I hate about you (Gil Junger, 1999). As a male, continuing this archetype, we could be looking for the extraordinary situation in which we find ourselves with a hopeless romantic, chasing after the girl who is just out of our league, Notting Hill showed this (Roger Mitchell, 1999).