This post has been a long time in coming. I've felt so disappointed by the overall, trajectory and direction the romantic comedy genre has been going down for nearly a decade. Every year it seams the overall health of the romantic comedy genre gets sicker and sicker and sicker. At some point someone has to have the balls to stand up and say enough is enough; let's re-think our mindset so that we're producing better romantic comedy movies.
What I'm seeing is that selection of rom-com movies is getting fewer and fewer, and even the ones that get made and get the full Hollywood treatment seamed flawed and skewed at the top-level thinking (or lack thereof). What I'm getting at is the rich legacy of the genre has NOT been passed to this generation of movie-makers. Rather the baton keeps getting fumbled away with each new, flawed release. For the most part I think Hollywood has failed us. They may contend that their offerings are still making money, hence why stop with the shit; but I contend back that is a piss poor excuse for making lousy movies when it well in your power to making better ones, as their a latent desire by people to go to the movie, hence even with poor offerings SOME people will go see them anyway.
In my opinion Hollywood has been trying to re-invent what a rom-com is for the past decade. Started out the with raunch-com movement, but in the last few years has been splicing shit like zombies and computer and sex addiction to the mix. But in my opinion that attempt at change what we precieve a rom-com should be has resulted in an era where the women have been de-valued in a genre they should rule and be honored in.
The time for change is NOW! I feel like we're coming out of the raunch-com era, and re-invetnion era, and it's time for the time of the next evolution of the romantic comedy genre. I feel the raunch-com era began with "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" (2005: Judd Apatow). Now that movie was excellent, so good that it's my #6 favorite rom-com of all time. BUT "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" spawned a trend that Hollywood should now tap a trend of making their romantic comedy movies more crass, and pander to the male side of the ledger, all of which comes at the expense of women and giving them movies which honor them and give them an idealized from of romance to be their gold standard. After the "The 40-Year-Old Virgin", total crap movies like "Knocked Up", "Good Luck Chuck," and "Superbad" came out. But, hey, at least the last one lived up (or should I say down) to its name. Even today raunch-coms are being release the deplorable "Neighbors" was released this year, and there's others of the same vibe, all forgettable and easily dismissed. As far as re-inventing goes look to movies like "Her", "Warm Bodies", "Don Juan" and "Thank You for Sharing".
Harsh words coming from a guy who actually WANTS to be part of the system, eh? Well, I'm no yes-man. And I can honestly tell you from the heart that I wish Hollywood was making better romantic comedy movies, but alas they're not. But I want them too! Why? Because I LOVE romantic comedy movies. The romantic comedy genre is by far my favorite of all genres. Thus, whether I'm allowed to be a player in it or not, I want it to thrive. And right now the status quo is not good enough. Not even close to being good enough. Changes need to happen, and they need to happen at the highest level of thinking at the studio and development levels. So I'm going to state my opions and ways of change to improve this beleaguered genre. Hopefully in all this I'll state some points to ponder to restore this fallen genre back to the place it belongs: at the top admired by millions of its rightful fans.
And how do you know you've made a "good" romantic comedy? If a dating couple leaves the movie theatre and the girl's arm is wrapped around her date's neck and she's smiling you have made a "good" romantic comedy.
Point: Rom-coms are date movies.
Romantic comedy genre direction and improvement idea # 1: Ditch trying to make "realistic" movies and cater more to the ideal and dream level of romance.
I see way to many romantic comedy style movies that are focusing way too hard at intercepting current culture and trying hard to relate to day-to-day life. Romance in the movies is a call to the ideal. It's a call to a higher dream. A romantic comedy is place for women to go too see how idealized romance can be. Some argue that ruins modern romance. But that's a BULLSHIT argument, flawed at its core. Why? Because how else are people supposed to learn to be romantic if they don't learn it from somewhere? Rom-coms are a place to plant seeds of romance for people to try in their own lives to achieve a form of.
Point: romantic comedies are a place for people to go and have a few laughs while stoking the fires of their imagination for their own romantic endeavors.
Okay, so why would Hollywood execs and development people pander to the lower level thinking of trying to identify with today's culture so much? I think they're running scared. They're afraid that if they don't go overboard to show reality that today's marketplace won't be able to relate to their movies. What they don't realize is that Hollywood is looked to by today's youth to teach them about romance. That's right not only do people go to movies to be entertained, but with this special genre they're going their to learn. You don't learn a damn thing if all the filmmakers are showing is a strained attempt at throwing a mirror in your face! As a filmmaker you gotta have the guts to go out there and call your audience to attention to your theme.
A good rom-com is like a fairy tale set in modern times. Think about what I'm saying. When a married couple describes their courtship and how they got together their telling their version of their own romantic comedy. It's their fairy tale they're telling, their parroting back life in modern society, no they telling you their version of magic, romantic magic. And in my opinion Hollywood needs to get back to that, romantic magic OVER being a mirror to what a jaded view of life is like right now.
And even in the fallen era, an occassional jem has been minted. Take for instance Disney's "Enchanted" (2007: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey), which has a storyline where a cartoon fairyland suddenly comes to modern-day New York. The ideal meets reality, and the result is something like this...
Romantic comedy genre improvement idea # 2: Hollywood needs to realize that bad set pieces are the real killer to romantic comedies, not a predictable structure.
Set pieces are the lifeblood of romantic comedies. A set piece is a scene in a movie. In a romantic comedy scenes need to be either funny, romantic, funny and romantic, or a least interesting drama. Structure is the composition of all the scenes/set pieces into an overall sequences, as viewed from beginning to end. If you watch enough movies you can see the structure and pacing is a lot the same. But where they differentiate is the scenes the comprise that structure. Some people bemoan the rom-com's as being predictable, this is another IDIOT ARGUMENT. Why? Because I submit to you that if you can make the individual set pieces a pleasure to watch, structure disappears.
Point: Good set pieces trump structure. Always have, always will.
Why do I bring this up? Because I think part of Hollywood's problem is they think the audience needed something new, that they were bored with the romantic comedy genre, that they erroneously came to the conclusion it was the familar structure, when all along it was their own LAZY--should have known before you even filmed it--FLAWED SET PIECES that doomed many of these movies before they were even released. (Not: I put the picture of "Definitely, Maybe" here because I felt this was Hollywood's attempt at shaking up the rom-com structure a bit, giving the guy 3 options of who he was destined to be with, I actually likes this movie btw.). Back to the couples anaolgy as they recount their own courtship; don't they all have a happy ending? And yet we still love to hear how two people found each other, love, and found bliss. This is at the core of what romantic comedies are all about, and sadly Hollywood has lost sight of this.
Romantic comedy genre direction and improvement idea # 3: Hollywood filmmakers need to go a better job with their shot callouts and become more camera savy as a whole to improve their attempts at being funny.
I really feel that most rom-com, and broad comedy movies don't use the camera and shot call out effectively. It's like their's over reliance on the actor to deliver the laughs. I think things need to open up at the screenwriting-to-director level. Camera level shot callouts in the script that build to a comedic punchline. Don't just leave it to the director and his or her sensibilities to call the camera shot, give the screenwriter the leeway to conceptualize the comedy in shot callouts at the script level.
New York, Chicago and Hollywood are filled with brilliant comedians. But a movie is NOT a Saturday Night Live sketch, or stand-up comedy. In a movie you have the ability to call out different shots and add things in that you can't do in a live, stage performance. Reaction shots of actors. Humorous props. What I'm getting at is I feel Hollywood has gotten lazy in the comedy development process. They lean to hard on static camera comedy, and have forgotten how shots can stack up on each other to build a funny climax.
Remember the movie, "A Fish Called Wanda" (1988)"? One of my favorite scenes in that movie is where John Cleese is turning Jamie Lee Curtis on by talking to her in foreign languages.
Their in some strange house, and he's undressing in preparation to have sex once the foreign language foreplay is done, but then the family of that house suddenly comes home. John Cleese is now undressed.
And to cover up his genital he takes a picuture off the coffee table, which is a picture of the mother of that family! This set piece is funny because it starts off as seduction: shot of John Cleese dancing around rattling off sentences in foreign languages. Next shot is of Jamie Lee Curtis' reaction to that: she's into it setting all turned on. Then comes a shot of the family. Then comes a shot of John Cleese's face; o shit, I'm naked! Last comes the caper; the shot where he hides his genitals with a picture of the mother of that family.
Get the humor? It's all about reversals, comebacks, and an escalating situation that ends with a punchline. All handled by camera shot call outs, reactionary shots; the camera is not filming from a static position, but rather is jumping about catching the drama of the moment and comedy highlights as the scene unfolds. This set piece would not be half as funny if you filmed it all the same shot. Rather, the comedy comes together in the editing room. See what I'm talking about now? Stacking up shots to build to comedic climax.
I mean I really thought "A Million Ways to Die in the West" had a strong premise, but it died on the vine in the comedy department. Why? Because the filmmakers and development people didn't breakdown their comedic moments effectively. And "A Million Ways to Die in the West" isn't the only rom-com style movie that I see failing in the shot callout/edit phase; this phenomenon happens far to regularly.
Romantic comedy directions and improvement idea # 4: Ditch all the sexually explicit material, and learn the power of inference and the audience members abiltiy to put the sexually infering material together for themselves.
I think a lot of comedy goes out the window when you get raunchy and show people in the nude or in the blows of sex. It is FAR BETTER to infer dirty things, then to show nudity and dirty acts of sex on film. A good story teller and filmmaker can infer dirty things, and use the camera in such a way that protects the actress and actor. I remember this movie I watched years ago, "Observe and Report", where Seth Rogen was a mall cop and he was chasing a flasher around a mall. All I really remember about that movie was the insensitivity of the filmmakers in showing the pervert running around the mall with his ding-a-ling clearly visible. Why show that?! Not funny. Not dramatic. Just raunchy. Just gross. Better to just show the top of the man, then in a separate shot his bare thighs running--NEVER showing the groin.
This blatant insensitivity and crassness in ALLOWING this make the final cut of the movie makes me wonder if there's a bunch of perverts at the top calling the shots in Hollywood. I mean why else would you show genitalia in a MAINSTREAM movie?!? Showing that stuff insults a lot of people's sensitivities, gets them to tune out, resulting in a lower box office draw once word of mouth spread, and worse still makes people leery about seeing the next Hollywood offering, fearing the same treatment is yet to happen again.
Point: Excessive, sexually visuals revolts people, and gets them to tune you out.
All I can figure is that the higher ups making movies frequent strip clubs, and like to see nudity and people in the blows of sex; such crassness on the screen is a reflection of their own personal tastes. Hope I'm wrong about that, but that's my gut feeling.
Point: it's far better to insinuate the sex, than to show it. When you show sex, you get people to tune you out, and that's something you never want to do.
Romantic comedy direction and improvement idea # 5. Find a new "it" girl to be the next rom-com queen.
Meg Ryan will always be my favorite rom-com actress. I just love her. But her time has come and gone, and the rom-com genre is in need of a new queen. A fresh face who's pretty, funny, and can nail the drama points. Obvious choice, hottest actress going right now: Jennifer Lawrence. BUT I defer and think someone new is needed. HUGE fan of Katherine Heigl, back in the late 2000s I thought she was "it", but now after several bombs I think her time has come and gone, it's time for someone knew to grab the reins and be our queen.
Past rom-com queens include:
- Meg Ryan
- Andie MacDowell
- Sandra Bullock
- Drew Barrymore
- Jennifer Aniston
- Renee Zellwegger
- Kate Hudson
- Katherine Heigl
Well, I've said a lot. And I've spoken from my heart. I am NOT HAPPY with the way Hollywood has totally trashed the rom-com genre and left it in desolation. The romantic comedy is a place for women to be treasured. It is a place where women and who they are is celebrated. A woman will ALWAYS be the central attraction of a rom-com:
Celebrating women in games of courtship.
Strive for the higher ideals, Hollywood. Realize that you have a chance to enrich MILLIONS of people's lives with the products you put out. Think of your legacy. Make better movies. Adjust your mindsets so that's even possible. Pay closer attention to the technical details of comedy--especially as pertains to camera shot call outs. Go beyond the easy crutch of using past SNL cast members and stand-up comics, and realize the benefit of comedy visionaries both at the script level, development level and directing level. Currently Hollywood's production of romantic comedy movies is flawed. Changes need to made, and new direction is needed.
- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA