Life beyond the romantic comedy

Posted by admin on Feb 17, 2009 in From the Editor | 2 comments

You know the type. They bungee jump. They love karaoke. They do endearing things while drunk. And they’re just so fun-loving, you can hardly stand it.

They’re Hollywood’s leading men and women, and there’s a part of most people that want to be them. But in these generalizations, certain traits get the not-good-enough treatment: the shy are made outgoing, the cautious are made carefree. But what if you are shy or cautious – does Hollywood think you’re lame?

There are essentially two status quo, rom-com characterizations. The first type is quirky, energetic and unnaturally smooth, knowing exactly what to do to live life to the fullest. The second type is uptight, quiet or unnaturally shy: people waiting for the first type to show them how to live.

If the lead character is the latter type, the movie inevitably comes to a pivotal point where the other romantic lead shows them how to be fun. Take for example the uptight Katherine Heigel in 27 Dresses. The (heaven-forbid) responsible Heigel only realizes what’s missing in her life after loosening up, getting wasted and singing “Benny and the Jets” in a bar, and then having sex with a near-stranger in a car.

If the lead character is the former type, they seem to exist for the sole purpose of bringing the latter type out of their shell: they have little-to-no personal development or purpose apart from their un-fun counterpart. See Natalie Portman in Garden State for the perfect example, where the quirky-yet-flat idealized lead lives to revitalize Zach Braff. Life lessons in both these cases are only learned when the climatic Hollywood persona of excitement is fulfilled.

These typologies assume and propagate a dangerous message to the masses: if you are not someone “fun” according to the status quo, then you don’t matter. If your interests are so-called quiet or boring, you basically can’t understand life until someone of the idealized “fun” type comes along and shows you how to live.

These invented realities play into people’s desire to act and live a certain way, fulfilling the cinematic imperative to transport people into a different reality. Offering a fictional prototype for life, such movies and characterizations can provide escape – which is fine. It’s when viewers begin to project movie theatre standards on others and themselves the problem begins.

Reality is so much bigger than the box office. In Hollywood, fun and exciting is ridiculously one-dimensional: in reality, one person’s bungee jumping is another person’s knitting. Just because someone doesn’t fit the type doesn’t mean they don’t lead lives that are exciting for them, fulfilling their expectations for themselves or bringing them joy and contentment. Being cautious, quiet or detailed are no less valid personality traits than being spontaneous, carefree or the life of the party. They’re just that: personality traits.

So what if what you’re doing and how you’re doing it would never make the plotline of a rom-com? In real life, you don’t have to be relegated to the role of supportive best friend – you can be the lead in your own story, just how you are.