I have a confession to make-I am a sucker for romantic comedies. I have read endless books in the genre and seen every movie imaginable from ‘When Harry Met Sally’ to ‘Leap Year.’ My favorite authors are Cecilia Ahern, Sophie Kinsella, Kristin Higgins, among others (the list goes on and on and on). My house is littered with book/DVD collections.
Why do I love romantic comedies so much (which some of my friends and family say borders on the obsession)? I guess I like to think we live in a world of possibilities-the possibility of finding love that lasts a lifetime. I know it may sound corney to some but I am a true believer of ‘love at first sight’ and finding a ‘soulmate.’ Couple that with a few laughs along the way and it makes for a great story! I mean who isn’t attracted to a man with a sense of humor? For me, if he can’t make me laugh, he doesn’t have my heart.
The thing is I like the plotline of boy meets girl (or vice versa), they fall in love, mayhem ensues (always with a cast of best friends or close family involved) and the promised ending of a kiss to last a lifetime. I know its repetitive but the formula works. It’s classic Hepburn and Tracy, Hanks and Ryan (or Crystal and Ryan) or Gable and Corbett.
In fact, the very first romantic comedy I ever saw was ‘It Happened One Night.” I was a young girl and I remember watching it with my parents on TV, just when VCRs were gaining popularity. It was in black and white and all of the actors wore three piece suits with hats, the actresses all wore dresses below the knees and I loved everything about it-even for a young girl growing up in the early 1980s! I especially loved the sparing between Claudette and Clark and the electricity that sparked between them. Most of all, I loved the humurous scenes that brought them together-from the hitching a ride by showing some leg, to the shared bedroom with a blanket hanging between the couple to the happy ending of a honeymoon night. I finished the movie that night and knew I was hooked.
From then on, I devoured everything that had the words “romance” and “comedy” in one sentence. It is one of the reasons why I started writing in the genre as well.
So, yes I’m a self proclaimed ‘romantic comedy’ junkie and as long as I am making confessions, I don’t want to recover from it or stay on the wagon. In fact, I am very proud of it. I think it’s made my life a little bit better for the watching/reading.