RomComshavefadedfrommovietheatersinrecentyears,dismissedascheesyor outdated.Thatneedstochange.RomanticComedieshavepotentialformasspsychological changeandhaveconnectionstopositiveaspectsofmediapsychology,likepositive reinforcementandpersonalization,tocreatemediathatisrepresentativeandcomfortingtothe viewerinmoderntimes.
Romanticcomediesareattheirmosteffectivewhentheyhaveaformulabecauseit makesthemmorepredictableandreliabletothebrain,leavingtheviewerwithasenseofease.
Whendoingalabbasedontrendrecallandprediction,Iwasstruckbyhowmanymediatrends thereareandhowfasttheymove.Eacharticleinthereadingshaddifferenttrendsondisplay and,I’msure,thatifmorewerelookedup,thatlistwouldexpand.Inmygroup,westruggledto keeptrackofallofthetrendsthatwehadexperiencedandthatwethoughtweregoingtohappen. Ourinteractionswithtechnologyweresovastandfast-pacedthatwecouldn’tremember everythingandhadsomeideas,butweremostlyinthedarkastowhatwastocome.Inaworld ofthischaos,theromanticcomedyfollowsaformulathatisfamiliar,soitbecomespeacefuland pleasingtothebrain.Theyarepredictable,thusallowingforasenseofcontrolinan“outof control”environment.IfoundmyselfoverwhelmedduringthelabandIwatchedaromantic comedythatnighttounwindfromthedaybecauseIknewwhatwasgoingtohappen.Thecouple wasgoingtoenduptogether,astheyalwaysdo.Thereissomethingcomfortingaboutbeingable topredicttheending,evenifthemiscommunicationinthemiddlecomesindifferentflavors.If youreadaboutmicrotrends,itcanbeseenhowfastwearemovingintermsofcontent.So havingabalance—aformula—tomatchthecyclehappeningaroundus,allowsforourbrainsto
comprehendtheinformationinamorereasonableway.Theromanticcomedyactslikeabrain breakforthevoracioustechnologicalworldaroundus.Itusespositivereinforcementtocreatea senseofsecurity Inalabonpositiveandnegativereinforcement,wediscussedwhatpositive andnegativemessaginglookedlikeintermsofadvertisementanditcouldbeeasilyappliedto theoperationoftheromanticcomedy.Itusespositivevisualcueslikebrightcolors,happy peopleandtheactionoffallinginlovetocreatemessagesthatareeasiertoprocess.Theconflict thathappenswithinthemiddleofaromanticcomedycanactasanegativemessageasitbrings theviewerbacktoreality,but,ultimately,itbalancesoutthepositivemessagesforeffective storytelling.
Whatiswonderfulaboutromanticcomediesisthatthegenrehasthepotentialtomove justasquicklyastheworldaroundit,withinitsformula,tocreatemorepersonalizedand inclusivenarratives.Untilrecently,racialandsexualdiversitywasnotpresentinromantic comedies—provenbyTomHanksandMegRyanplayingoppositeeachotherthreedifferent times.Butloveisn’tonesizefitsall.Storiesabouttwogirlsfallinginloveweren'tthere.I couldn’tseeitandwecan’tbewhatwecan’tsee.However,withreleaseslike“CrazyRich Asians”,“AlwaysBeMyMaybe”and“Love,Simon”,eventheNetflixseries“Heartstopper”, we’reseeingashiftinwhoisbeingrepresented.Youngmediaconsumersseethemselvesinthe positivemediathatthey’reconsumingandreinforcesthatwhattheylooklikeorwhattheirlove lookslikeshouldbecelebratedandrepresentedonlargescreens.Queerindividualsbenefit enormouslyasqueernessisnormalizedmoreeasily,givethemtoolsforcomingout,andgive contextforwhataqueerrelationshipcanlooklikeifnorolemodelsarepresent.Itprovidesa guide,anditisn’tperfect,butnorelationshipguidesare.ThishappenedformewhenIwatched
figureouthowtodealmeaningfullywithanotherhumanbeing”.AndIbelievethat,despiteall intellectualargumentsaside,that’swhattheultimatevalueoftheromanticcomedyis:it’sabout ordinarypeople,forordinarypeople,withtheaimtosparkevenjustalittlebitofhope.
WorksCited:
Hefner,Veronica.“DoesLoveConquerAll?AnExperimentTestingtheAssociationbetween TypesofRomanticComedyContentandReportsofRomanticBeliefsandLife Satisfaction.” American Psychological Association,AmericanPsychologicalAssociation, 26Aug.2018,psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-40446-001.
Morris,EmilyJane,"Theroleofromanticcomediesinthecognitiveprocessesoffemale self-perception"(2013).HonorsProject,SmithCollege,Northampton,MA. https://scholarworks.smith.edu/theses/180
Morris,Wesley.“Rom-ComsWereCornyandRetrograde.WhyDoIMissThemsoMuch?” The New York Times,TheNewYorkTimes,24Apr.2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/04/24/magazine/romantic-comedy-movies.html.
Tierney,John.“GoodNewsBeatsBadonSocialNetworks.” The New York Times,TheNew YorkTimes,18Mar.2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/science/good-news-spreads-faster-on-twitter-and-faceboo k.html.