Rom-coms!

Conventions of Rom-coms


Rom-coms are sub genres of comedy films, and are based around love and romance, with two main characters conquering different obstacles. Rom-coms are a genre of film and are usually associated with love and aimed at women. Rom-coms contain a basic narrative which involves two protagonists (lead characters) usually a woman and a man, they meet then fall in love and everything is all happy and good, there is usually some obstacle in the relationship, this obstacle could be anything, for example it could be another person,work or something else. The happy couple end up breaking up but eventually they end up realising they love each other and they over come the obstacle. The two protagonists are usually colleagues, friends or strangers. Some event happens which makes them want to start a relationship, the audience gets involved and wants them to get together as well. Rom-coms are very popular because the audience are able to make a connection to the couple and refer them back to real life scenarios. At the end of rom-com film it doesn't always show the couple getting married and having kids but instead showing their love for each other.

A film that differs from the norm is "The Break-up", in this film the two main characters a man and a woman meet up and end up dating, they end up living together and being very happy, but then they begin to argue and the split up and at the end of the film the couple meet up and just have a friendly chat. The chat shows that they aren't together and are still separated. This film doesn't follow the conventions of a rom-com but it's not the only one, the rom-com uses a open-ending this means that it has left the audience on a cliff hanger it also means that there can be a sequel to the film. Many other rom-coms use closed endings, this means that the film is tied up and the audience can tell the film has finished and there wont be a sequel.