Romantic Comedies

In analyzing scenes from various romantic comedy films, we discovered very specific gender roles in every one. First, the women's role was always filled by a young, beautiful, thin actress who would portray a sweet, feminine character in the movie. On the other hand, the male role was filled by a fairly unattractive, out-of-shape actor who would portray a bitter or awkward character. The roles were always stereotyped in this way; the main concerns were the woman's beauty and the man's ineptitude.

The setting, storylines and themes also followed predictable paths. The settings were idyllic—beautiful, clean beaches or large, light-filled houses. The storylines followed a classic "chase" scene where the man had to win the woman, a "fight" scene where the couple bickers, and a "rescue" scene where they fall in love. The themes included such cliches as happy endings, love conquers all, and the underdog always prevails.

The value assumptions inherent in these films are very limiting in regard to the social norms portrayed. All of the films assume heterosexuality as the norm; they potray physical beauty as being more important than intelligence or morality; and they consider love to be worth any price.

Of course, while romantic comedies send all the wrong messages, we still seem to enjoy watching them. We must like pretending the world can be a happy, beautiful place where anyone can fall in love with anyone else and live happily ever after. If anything, they are good for escaping real life.