Romantic Comedy (Elizabeth Sankey, 2019): United Kingdom

Reviewed by Shayne Casso-Cloonan. Viewed at the AFI Fest 2019.

Between the ages of 12 and 20, I talked to men and would further my friendships with them by telling them how much I don’t like romantic comedies. I would bag on how lame I thought they were, how the female characters were always too girly (like duh), and how the ending was always so happy and sweet; like, I want to know what happened after their big white wedding?! The truth is, I absolutely love them. They cater directly to my aesthetic insecurities as a female-identifying individual, and pull me into a void of hatred towards men, while also wanting to fall in love with one of them. While similar information is brought to light in the essay-film Romantic Comedy, there is so much more information that director Elizabeth Sankey presents that I had never thought of.

Narrated by Sankey, along with commentary by other industry members, such as actress Jessica Barden, and director Charlie Lyne, the audience was given insight into the varying opinions of the genre, and how the overall repetition of the rom-com narrative is nearly the same in every single film. The film’s visual is entirely composed of clips from at least 20 different films, starting in the 1930s. It was nicely arranged by starting with early versions of the romanic comedy genre, then moving all the way up to present-day versions. Thoughtfully mentioned, these types of films can be quite damaging to the female identifying persons watching them, as they often represent a very narrow view of how women should look and behave. They may potentially be even more damaging to the male identifying persons watching them, as they often show men in a very aggressive and emotionally manipulative light. Sankey states: “[the women] are always eventually dominated by the men,” and although she was fully aware of this, it didn’t stop her from watching the films. It’s true, though. I feel the same way.

Throughout every romantic comedy, without fail, there is some declaration of love, whether that be: “I can’t stop thinking about you,” “I like you,” or “I love you.” Not all of these instances are all that sweet; Sankey makes the point that “the rom-com heroine loves everything that a man loves.” So, if a man declares his love for a woman, then it is almost immediately assumed that she is supposed to love him back. Even though this idea is absolutely ridiculous, it really does leave a mark on the viewer. Part of the reason that I would tell boys that I didn’t like rom-coms is because it wasn’t cool! And, honestly, I have lived a lot of my young life having conversations in which I completely manipulated my hopes and desires for that exact reason. A clip selected for the film shows Cameron Diaz as the oh-so cool girl, whose character states that she likes: “beer! Not light beer, but beer,” this is of course because women are stereotypically known for not being able to drink heavier beers, which is dumb, but also highly accurate when it comes to my personal taste.

Sankey bring up another point, which is arguably the most important point she makes in the entire film. She shows that in nearly all popular rom-com films, the main characters are white, sexually straight, and financially in the middle class. Although this is changing, and these films are becoming more diverse, it is a slow change, and these films don’t often get the recognition that they should.

Overall, this is a fantastically informative film, that I would highly recommend to anyone and everyone, especially those that love romantic comedies. It gets you feeling nostalgic and shocked at the same time! I hate that I love them so much!