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A Beginner’s Guide to Rom-Coms and Romance Tropes

This article lists ten of different romantic comedy movies and assorts them into particular romance tropes.

A stilt from The Princess Diaries 2.
Anne Hathaway and Callum Blue in The Princess Diaries 2. Credit: Walt Disney Pictures.

Every dynamic love story is often categorized by romance tropes. These are usually subsets created by the viewer to assimilate stories according to their taste. Every rom-com watcher likes their movies to go in a certain pattern and looks for a sense of predictability between the relationships of the two main leads. This article picks up rom-coms at random and shows how the plotline falls under its specific romance trope.

When Harry Met Sally

Credit: Castle Rock Entertainment

Being one of the most top ranked rom-coms of all time, When Harry Met Sally takes the viewer on a humorous but analytical journey on the relationships between men and women. Even though its hard to classify this movie under the ‘Friends to Lovers‘ trope, it ends up being exactly that. Harry and Sally meet 3 times in their life and it’s not until the third time that they decide to be friends.

There is a hate-love relationship between the two leads at first but eventually they find common ground when they meet each other after getting out of long term relationships. Set in New York, like most great rom coms, the movie makes the viewer fall in love with the characters individually as it follows their matter-of-fact conversations and unique character quirks. It’s a movie about love, laughter and most importantly, old friends.

How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days

Credit: Paramount Pictures

Extremely hard to place under a specific trope, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days has one of the most distinctive storylines when compared to other rom-coms. Forced Proximity, Enemies to Lovers, this movie has it all but I suppose if we had to settle down on a trope it would be the ‘Bet’ trope. Andie and Benjamin, our protagonists, take us on a rollercoaster journey when they both get caught up in different situations at their workplace. Andie, a Columbia graduate, works for Composure, the fastest growing women’s magazine in the country and is considered their resident ‘how to’ girl. She wishes to write about more serious topics like war and politics rather than health, fashion and cosmetics. After her editor insinuates that she can drop the ‘how to’ column if writes something truly impressive is when she gets an idea. Inspired from her heartbroken friend who has some unhinged tendencies while dating, she decides to write a ‘how to’ article to drive a man away by actually dating a guy and then acting like her friend.

Benjamin, an advertisement executive wants to branch out from his usual niche of sports equipment and alcoholic beverages and break into the diamond industry. After his boss tells him he isn’t as well suited to pitch the idea as two women (Judy Spears and Judy Green) in his company, he makes a show of claiming that he understands women better than anyone. The Judys, systematically aware of Andie’s plan, try to set Ben up for failure by making a deal with him by where if he gets Andie to fall in love with with him in the span of10 days, he can take over the pitch. His boss agrees to this. Overall, its a recipe for disaster.

10 Things I Hate About You

Credit: Touchstone Pictures

Being inspired by William Shakespeare’s play ‘The Taming of the Shrew‘, this movie is one of the best examples of high school rom-coms. Also following the ‘Bet’ Trope, 10 Things I Hate About You has a dual storyline. It follows two separate romance storylines of two sisters who have a rocky relationship with each other. After Cameron, a newbie, transfers to Padua High School he immediately falls in love with Bianca Stratford. Bianca, who is very desired amongst her peers has an air of unattainability around her because of her overprotective father who doesn’t allow the Stratford girls to date. Kat, Bianca’s sister is her polar opposite as she exudes confidence and intimidates all the boys in her school.

After Joey, a popular senior, expresses interest in Bianca, she tries to talk to her father about changing the dating rules. Kat, who seems completely unimpressed by the boys in her school makes fun of her sister. After seeing his older daughters hostile attitude towards boys in her school, their father makes a rule which states that Bianca can date but only if Kate dates. Bianca leads Cameron on when he asks her out by enlisting his help to find Kat a guy to date. After Cameron uses Joey as a pawn to pay Patrick, the school criminal, to take on the challenge to date Kat things get messy.

Drive Me Crazy

Credit: 20th Century Studios

Considering high school romances, Drive Me Crazy is a very underrated rom-com that follows Nicole and Chase who are childhood friends that fall out before high school. Following the classic ‘Fake Dating‘ trope and the ‘Grumpy x Sunshine’ Trope, the movie revolves around the end of their high school experience which ultimately leads up to one main event: The Centennial. When both of them fall out with their romantic conquests at the same time, they decide to come together and pose as couple till their school centennial aka their final school dance to save themselves from embarrassment.

Making their relationship believable, however, is a whole different story as running in completely different social circles causes chaos and problems. But suppressed old emotions have a way of coming out. This movies showcases the heartfelt bond between childhood friends and how even when years pass, people who knew you well when you were younger have a way of knowing your soul the best.

The Proposal

Credit: Mandeville Films

The ‘Fake Dating’ Trope is probably one of the most interesting tropes to watch unfold as it tends to push the main characters out of their comfort zone and into humorous situations. One of the best examples of this trope is The Proposal. Margaret is an editor in New York who is facing deportation. Not wanting to loose her life and position, she coerces her long-suffering assistant Andrew to get engaged to her. He accepts on the condition that he’d get promoted and that she would publish a book of his choice.

When the authorities get suspicious of their relationship, they are forced to make a trip back to Andrews hometown in Alaska. However, getting caught up in Andrew’s hyper-involved family is not something Margaret expects. When feelings get involved, their already complicated situation gets even more complicated. This is a hilarious fake dating rom-com which focuses on familial bonds and finding love in the most unexpected places.

Love Actually

Credit: Working Title Films

Having a multiple story plotline, Love Actually carries all different kinds of tropes. Focusing on eight different couples and 10 different storylines, the movie offers tropes like forced proximity, forbidden love, young love and hidden in plain sight. Love Actually is best classified as a ‘holiday romance’ as the movie takes place around Christmas and it often reminds throughout that the holidays are the best time to let people you love know how you feel.

Even though the movie is filled with romantic plotlines, it is equally set on depicting platonic and familial love. All of the character’s individual trysts with love come together to give the viewer a great experience. Love Actually still remains to be one of the best holiday romances to exist as it lets its characters discover how complicated relationships can be. The viewer is assured constantly that love actually is all around, if they choose to look for it.

Life As We Know It

Credit: Gold Circle Films

The best example of the ‘Forced Proximity’ trope in any movie, Life as We Know It takes its audience on a very unique viewing journey. The movie starts with Holly, a bakery owner and Messer, a technical sports director being set up on a blind date by their two best friends, Alison and Peter. After the date blows up in their face because of their clearly different personalities, they start hating each other passionately. However, due to their best friends getting married and having a daughter together, they settle on having a tolerant relationship.

After suddenly passing away due to a car accident, Peter and Alison leave behind 1-year-old Sophies guardianship with Holly and Messer. Raising a baby together is way more complicated than expected and definitely forces a lot buried emotions out. Its a story about love, laughter and the importance of family and it proves that found family can be just as song as blood relations.

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Credit: Working Title Films

Four Weddings and a Funeral is a must-watch and comes under the ‘Will they, Won’t they‘ trope. It follows Charles, a bachelor, who over the course of five social occasions, four weddings and a funeral, begins to confront his notions of love. The movie starts with Charles meeting Carrie, a free-spirited woman who he experiences an intense attraction towards. They then meet over different points throughout the movie but somehow always miss each other.

The viewer spends the whole movie rooting for the two to get together which is eventually, after a lot of chaos, achieved in the end. There are many other subplots as the movie also revolves around Charles’s friends who are also on their own romantic journeys. This movie can make one experience emotional highs and lows with great intensity. It’s a classic.

Maid in Manhattan

Credit: Revolution Studios

The ‘Single Parent’ trope is often forgotten about but when remembered, Maid in Manhattan is the first movie that comes to mind. Marisa is a single mother who works as a maid at the Beresford Hotel in Manhattan. One day, she finds herself cleaning a socialites room with her co-worker and seeing the opportunity, gets roped into wearing a Dolce & Gabbana outfit. Her son Ty, at the same time meets Chris Marshall, a politician, in a lift and befriends him. He tries looking for Marisa to ask for her permission to go with Chris to walk his dog.

Chris then meets Marisa, who is under the faux persona of a well-known socialite. He is instantly attracted to her and falls for her intellectually. After their brief meeting, he decides send her an invitation for lunch but when the real owner of the Dolce & Gabbana outfit shows up, he is highly confused. After Chris inquires about her with the hotels head butler, the butler realizes that the woman is Marisa. He asks Marisa to go and end things with Chris to save her career but when she isn’t able to, things get complicated.

The Holiday

Credit: Columbia Pictures

Being a holiday romance, The Holiday has a dual storyline as it focuses on two women- Amanda, the owner of a film trailer company and Iris, a society columnist. Both women live in different parts of the world but after experiencing heartbreak they decide to do a house exchange where they switch places to heal in a new environment during the holidays.

Amanda accidently meets Iris’s bother Graham and they are instantly attracted to each other. Amanda later finds out that he’s a widower with 2 daughters. Their romance can come under the ‘Single Parent’ trope and the ‘Love at First Sight’ trope. Iris on the other hand is on a healing journey and after being manipulated and used by her ex-boyfriend meets Jasper who is going through the same with his girlfriend. They find common ground and realize they deserve better than how they are being treated. Later they act on their attraction towards each other. The movie comes together in the end with both girls having a new year’s dinner with their respective partners.

Written By

An English and Film student at Trinity College Dublin.

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