#I'm not the only person who thinks matthew mcconaughey is totally smarmy

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Is the Rom Com Dead? Breaking Down 79 Romantic Comedies | Vanity Fair

There is one statistic in this breakdown that I disagree with: If J.Lo has the greatest number of leading roles, with four titles, then Meg Ryan at least ties with her. When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, Kate & Leopold--that makes four. They even featured clips from each of those films in the video.

And then there’s Julia Roberts with Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, My Best Friend’s Wedding, and Notting Hill--another four. Am I missing something here? Maybe MBFW didn’t make the cut because the leads knew each other before the start of the film (ergo, no meet-cute). But that film is popularly considered to be a romcom. And even if it were disqualified, couldn’t America’s Sweethearts take its place?

Other than that, it’s a pretty cool survey. Seeing the genre’s tropes quantified makes clear just how normative it is, down to the ties and dresses on its respective male and female actors. When romantic comedies are good, it’s because they rise above their formula with magnetic leads, smart dialogue, unique art direction, or interesting world-building. When they’re bad, they simply go through the motions, coming across as lazy, stale, or even cynical. A love story can only be told in earnest, after all, and a manufactured one feels phony in a way that an equally manufactured action movie doesn’t.

In an article on Vox, the culture team has a comprehensive discussion about the nature of romcoms (they’re about joy and wish fulfillment); why we perceive them the way we do (sexism and snobbery); why they’ve declined in recent years (lack of prestige and cultural legitimacy); their 2018 reemergence (via Crazy Rich Asians, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and Set It Up); and how they might sustain a comeback. When asked how they would advise studio executives to handle a romcom resurgence, one contributor, Genevieve Koski, says:

The recent indie/Blumhouse horror revival is the model to follow here: Think small but distinctive, cheap but memorable. Invest in lesser-known talents with a passion for the genre who are eager to bring something new to it while respecting its roots...The rom-com could and should be a strong part of a studio’s portfolio, but overinvesting [financially] in a genre that tends toward the small and the intimate by design is a recipe for a resurgence that’s DOA.

Bonus: This article in Glamour isn’t as well-written or -edited as I would like (it reads like a middle school essay), but it was the only one I could find that concisely traces the history of romantic comedies from the days of silent film to the present, touching on key subgenres, social contexts, and formative works in the genre. I would do independent research on the topic if I had the time.

Other titles I want to throw out there: Selfie is another romcom for the TV era. It was hampered and ultimately doomed by viewers’ disdain for its title, as well as some truly dumb writing; but I enjoyed Karen Gillan in a comedic role, and in the end, I was sad not to see her relationship with John Cho’s character play out. As for movies, TiMER (2009) and Wristcutters (2006) were two very original love stores.