During the ’90s and early ’00s, a classic subgenre resurged that imposed itself as a favorite among women: romcom. The renaissance had considerable success for about two decades, so much so that some very well know actors such as Demi Moore, Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, and Hugh Grants made it their go-to for some time. However, over the last decade, romcoms have made themselves shy as women all around the globe put their foot down and affirmed themselves in our society.
Though they seem innocent enough at first, most romcoms are in fact problematic in the way they portray women and their apparent need for a man to feel complete. Some classic romcoms would simply not work today as they are too far from what women ant today while others remain timeless.
Won’t Work: Chances Are
Let’s start with a movie that should never have been made at all. Chances Are follows a young man named Alex who meets a young woman named Miranda for whom he develops feelings. Turns out Alex is the reincarnation of Miranda’s dead father. Comes the time to meet the family and, naturally, Alex gets his memories back and tries to romance Corinne, Miranda’s mother, despite having romanced his own daughter-from-another-life-time. BUT! Alex realizes that his widow and his best friend should be together so he arranges for them to be an item and goes back to Miranda and Corinne knows that Alex is her dead husband’s reincarnation but she’s fine with it and they all lived happily ever after.
Is there really a need to explain why this movie wouldn’t work today?
Timeless: Bridget Jones’s Diary
The first movie adaptation of the novel of the same name came out almost twenty years ago. Despite the time gap, the tribulations of this 30-something British woman are still very much relatable. Yes, Bridget is looking for love, but that’s just one of the things she seeks in life. She wants the job, the friends AND the men to feel complete and she never relies on any men to bring her a sense of fulfillment.
She is strong, determined and just cynical enough, all qualities that can be admired. She will only settle for the man who accepts her “just as he is”.
Won’t Work: There’s Something About Mary
There’s Something About Mary shows off a big cast (Cameron Diaz, Ben Stiller amongst others) and had a big success when it came out back in 1998, however, it no longer works nowadays.
What at first seemed like a liberating movie where women are open about their need and their sexuality is now cringy and completely out of place. From the jokes to the overall plot, very little can be salvaged and we are left wondering how it could have worked in the first place.
Timeless: Notting Hill
A true classic rom-com that never ages. Notting Hill follows Will (Hugh Grant), a 30-something bookseller living in London and Anna Scott (Julia Roberts), an American actress. The two met when Anna hides from paparazzi in Will’s shop. Their encounter leads to many other serendipity meetings as well as some serious sneaking around. The two characters try to find each other despite living completely different, and seemingly incompatible, lives.
As opposed to many romcoms of the time, the lead woman is not desperate for a man and wasn’t actively looking for love. It just so happened. The characters are both flawed and neither is ever portrayed as a sort of savior for the other. They are simply two human beings trying to make the best out of what life gave them.
Won’t Work: While You Were Sleeping
The plot of this movie is all sorts of wrong, to begin with, so it’s no wonder it wouldn’t work today. The story follows Lucy who after saving a stranger from an incoming train, pretends she is his fiance. As if this wasn’t bad enough, Lucy will later meet and fall in love with Peter’s older brother.
Sure, Lucy was lonely, she had no family and visibly no friends either, so she loved being part of this stranger’s family but her desperate need to belong is not cute at all. In this time when we portray strong, independent women, there is no way this movie would work.
Timeless: Love Actually
Another multi-narrative classic that remains timeless no matter what. The movie follows eight different couples dealing with their love lives through sometimes interrelated stories.
The movie is blessed with an amazing cast and each couple is unique in every way while remaining relatable. The characters are easy to get attached to, the story is both funny and cute. A true classic.
Won’t Work: She’s All That
Using the classic, and very offensive, trope of ’this girl could be hot is only she took her glasses off’, She’s All That follows Zack, the popular guy on campus, who bets he can turn Laney, a dorky, unpopular girl, into a Prom Queen in six weeks.
Hard to say what’s more outrageous in this movie between the fact that some dude thinks he can shape a girl any way he likes or that somehow women can’t be dorky and beautiful at the same time. Big old ’no’ for this movie.
Timeless: 13 Going On 30
Which kid never wished they could wake up adults one day, just to be free to do whatever they want? 13 Going On 30 is one of those hilarious romcoms that makes you forget the end goal is finding love, because, well, it isn’t.
Jenna wished to be independent, to have a good job, to be free to be whoever she wanted to be. It just so happens that she fell in love with her best friend. It doesn’t matter that this movie came out fifteen years ago, it’s still sweet and funny.
Won’t Work: How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days
How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days is all lies and manipulation which makes it truly terrible. The two main characters, Andie and Ben, bet that they can respectively date and drive a man away using “classic mistakes women make” and make a woman fall in love.
They meet, they date, they manipulate and at the end of the day, they fall in love. Awesome example to set, right? Although the intent was to be funny, this movie turns out to be a list of all the bad decisions one can make when in a relationship and is painful to watch.
Timeless: Pretty Woman
A classic among the classics, Pretty Woman never gets old. The plot is great, it is funny, and real and light despite the clear issues between the characters and the difficulties such a situation would cause in real life. The soundtrack is a classic, you would have heard it even if you have never watched the movie. Add to that two amazing actors and you have the recipe for success.
What makes this romcom timeless is that the characters stay true to their personality. Neither changes for the other, they simply accept who they are, what their strengths and weaknesses are and make it work, much like the rest of us do in our day-to-day lives.
