The 1989 romantic comedy, When Harry Met Sally, follows two characters over the course of 10 years who grapple with the central question, “Can men and women ever just be friends?” The pair is at odds with each other while Sally believes it is possible for men and women to be friends and Harry believes sexual attraction always interferes with cross-sex friendships. This question becomes more difficult to answer as Harry and Sally’s bond becomes closer and they are confused on the nature of their own…
Romantic Comedy Erotic Irony A jocular aspect makes them serious instead of funny. Yet, the drama in these films is drawn from an intense philosophical background. Woody Allen embarks on a journey to laugh at our most intrinsic irrationalities. Sometimes, the viewer can conclude is that Allen is telling the history of our stupidity. Thus, erotic irony is a fusion between desire and…
Pretty Woman (1990) is an American romantic comedy produced by Touchstone Pictures. In Pretty Woman, Vivian Ward, one of the central characters, works as a prostitute in Los Angeles, California. Edward Lewis, a rich, businessman hires Vivian as an escort for a weeklong period, to serve as his date to various functions and events. And over the course of the week, a relationship between the two matures. The movie is considered a modern day Cinderella story, seeing that it focuses on the way in which…
concessions to the usual values of comedy; there is no affirmation of the value of friendship or love, no banishing of villains, no triumph of happiness” (xvii). What I believe Campbell has failed to address is the existence of sub-genres of comedy. The style of comedy he describes was common in the Renaissance, but was not the only style at the time. The affirmation of friendship or love, and banishing villains is entirely too centered on assuming that Epicene is a Romantic Comedy. Epicene, I argue is a lot…
“If you’re a bird, then I’m a bird” (The Notebook). This quotation by Ryan Gosling in the popular movie The Notebook offers romance and comedy combined. Where did this mix of comedy and romance originate? Romantic comedies were developed through art, poetry, and literature. It has urbanized over the years from several cultural influences such as war and the Renaissance, which happened throughout Europe beginning in the fourteenth century and lasting into the seventeenth century (Spielvogel). There…
Due to differing contextual influences, Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion (1912) and Gary Marshall’s film Pretty Woman (1990) portray unique perspectives on the values of social hierarchy and gender roles. Shaw and Marshall both explore the transformation and social mobility of a young woman in order to comment on the social constructs of class divisions and gender roles within society. In Pygmalion, Shaw satirises the social hierarchy of early 20th century England whilst also criticising the rigid…
time of flapper dresses and men laying their coats down for women to walk over. It is for this nostalgic reason that Charlin Chaplin’s City Lights has survived as a classic silent film for over eighty years. Released in 1931, City Lights is a romantic comedy that follows the story of the Tramp, a clumsy man with a humorous mustache, who develops an unlikely relationship with a blind girl and saves an alcoholic millionaire from suicide. While this film is still popular today, there are many aspects…
A 43-year-old woman lies about her age and falls for a younger man but then breaks up with him to avoid telling him the truth and now twenty years later they are reunited and their romance rekindles, but he still doesn’t know her true age. STORY COMMENTS SALAD DAYS presents as a romantic comedy with a high-concept premise. The story has an appealing hook with the idea of a 43-year-old woman who lies about her age. She pretends to be 30 years old and then fall for an even younger man. The situation…
The 2012 romantic comedy Think Like a Man reads like a menist manifesto masquerading as a film for women. Throughout the course of the film there are many conversations about gender roles and sexuality in contemporary society, though these conversations are both crude and frankly outdated. The film itself is based on a book written by Steve Harvey titled Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man. With the title alone we are given our first example of just how problematic the ideology of the film is. Writer…
German social psychoanalyst, once said that romantic exchanges create the building blocks that allow both partners in the relationship to propel themselves forward in society and in life. However, he also noted in his book, The Art of Loving, that relationships where both partners did not give and take equally, whether emotionally or physically, would impede the growth of the lovers and eventually lead to toxicity. Similarly, Marc Webb 's romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer follows Tom Hansen, a…