Confessions of a (Former) Teenage Drama Queen & a Brief History of Rom-Coms
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For as long as I can remember, people have told me that my passion for romantic comedies is trivial. However, box office numbers prove that common interest is one that drives pop culture with financial effect. 2002’s My Big Fat Greek Wedding is the highest-grossing rom-com ever. While not a rom-com but overtly romantic, The Twilight Saga grossed $2.5 billion across all five films, and Stephenie Meyer’s books broke Waterstone’s sales record (previously held by the Harry Potter books) by becoming the fastest to sell a million copies.
For much of its history, the romantic comedy has been deemed a “chick flick” or a “guilty pleasure.” Those descriptors underscore how the genre is often treated unfairly while acknowledging the audience these projects primarily target — women. Many are women-led, but no audience should feel guilty about enjoying rom-coms — or, better yet, finding comfort in them.
Rom-coms aren’t only providing that easy-going delight on the big screen anymore. With BookTok, a community on TikTok made up predominantly of women, romance books with similar formulas are becoming all the rage online — and in bookstores. The University of Liverpool recently shared an article (originally published as part of The Conversation’s Quarter Life series) by Natalie Wall, a Ph.D. researcher in its Department of English, that discussed how times are changing from when young women’s reading interests weren’t taken seriously.
But my love story with romantic comedies didn’t start with books or blockbusters; it began on a much smaller screen with Disney Channel Original Movies.
I’m lucky to have grown up in what I believe to be the golden age of Disney Channel, with TV shows like Hannah Montana, That’s So Raven, and Wizards of Waverly Place accompanying my coming-of-age experiences. I also had the likes of the Camp Rock and High School Musical franchises scoring my childhood.
If those coming-of-age romantic comedies aren’t commemorated for launching careers like Demi Lovato’s and Zac Efron’s (They should be!), they deserve recognition for their prevalence in pop culture. High School Musical 2 more than doubled the ratings of 2006’s original movie, drawing a record-breaking 17.2 million viewers. The musical franchise would spawn a successful spinoff series on Disney+ in 2019 — High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
The mockumentary-style musical comedy series aired on the streaming service for four seasons and made history for the franchise. HSMTMTS introduced the first gay romance to HSM with Carlos and Seb’s story in the Season 1 episode, “Homecoming.” They wouldn’t be the show’s last LGBTQIA+ love story, either.
Showrunner Tim Federle told The LA Times in 2019, “This is a story that would have changed my life if I had seen it when I was a kid. And the reason it would have changed my life is because it’s no big deal. It’s actually just real life.” Representation is essential in media, including YA stories. Notably, Disney Channel didn’t introduce a gay main character until 2017 with Andi Mack’s Cyrus.
I’m privileged to have grown up with love stories (A Cinderella Story’s Sam & Austin or She’s the Man’s Viola & Duke) that reflect my life. Thankfully and necessarily, projects have become more diverse as rom-coms evolve. Gone are the days when rom-coms solely focused on white, cisgender, straight couples.
Directed by Greg Berlanti and based on Becky Albertalli’s bestselling novel, 2018’s Love, Simon made history as Hollywood’s first major studio movie to feature a gay teen romance. “I wish it wasn’t 2018 and that we weren’t the first teen rom-com with a gay lead to receive major studio backing. I wish we were the 10 or the 12 – there’d be a lot less pressure in many regards,” Berlanti told HuffPost. By 2020, the movie would launch a spinoff series on Hulu titled Love, Victor.
Diverging from the film’s white protagonist, the show that aired for three seasons “takes a welcome and refreshing pivot away from model minority representation and toward greater inclusivity,” per them’s Naveen Kumar. Love, Victor would be in welcome company among rom-coms on the small screen, like New Girl, The Mindy Project, You’re the Worst, Insecure, Never Have I Ever, and Starstruck.
Still, romantic comedies would continue to make it big on the silver screen. Jon M. Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians — one of the best rom-coms and one of my all-time favorite movies — made $237 million worldwide at the box office in 2018. Marina Fang reported that the film became the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the past decade in the United States, surpassing 2009’s The Proposal.
Moreover, Crazy Rich Asians, based on Kevin Kwan’s book trilogy, is the first modern Hollywood studio film to feature an all-Asian cast and an Asian-American lead since The Joy Luck Club in 1993. As of 2022, a sequel and a spinoff movie, starring Gemma Chan and Harry Shum Jr., are reportedly in the works.
With streaming as a popular home for new content, rom-coms are becoming a staple for different services, especially around the holidays. 2020’s Happiest Season, starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis, broke streaming records for Hulu as “the most-watched film across the streaming website during opening weekend and had the most hours watched among all the site’s original films.” Among all the seasonably cheery A Christmas Prince and The Princess Switch movies, 2021’s Single All the Way, starring Michael Urie and Philemon Chambers, made history as Netflix’s first Christmas romantic comedy featuring a gay couple.
More recently, Rye Lane on Hulu presented the idea of a modern When Harry Met Sally set in London from screenwriters Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia, with director Raine Allen-Miller making the film a love letter to the neighborhoods of Brixton and Peckham in South London. The 2023 film, starring Vivian Oparah and David Jonsson, plays with the genre’s formula, proving that rom-coms are ever-evolving. Not to mention, Rye Lane sees two Black leads fall in love, which is still all too rare in mainstream media, including romantic comedies.
Oparah spoke about the film’s reception to NBC News, “For it to resonate with so many different pockets of the Black community feels really lucky and unique. It seems that quite a lot of people feel seen by it. You make art for people to feel seen or understood or represented. For that to be fulfilled feels super special.”
Time and time again, romantic comedies have proven their worth according to the people who make them, those who consume them, and the businesses that profit from them. There is a reason why The Holiday and While You Were Sleeping are holiday staples, and people quote Pretty Women to make a point (“Big mistake. Big. Huge!”). Yes, rom-com eras have ebbed and flowed in the zeitgeist over the years (1980s-1990s, 2000s-2010s, and the recent boom). Still, they have consistently shown an interest in evolving with deeper stories for wider audiences.
As a pop culture writer, I’m constantly engaging with current media, but I always find myself returning to the tried and true staple of romantic comedies. And so, this space was born as a place to embrace sentimentality. This newsletter is about elevating big and complicated feelings, not suppressing them.
So, this newsletter is me living out my dream of wanting to be the main character in a romantic comedy with a glamorized writing job in a big city. It’s a safe space to engage with media that means something to me and, hopefully, you. This newsletter is where I’ll spill my thoughts like Hilary Duff’s Holly Hamilton does on her blog via her iBook (!) in 2005’s The Perfect Man. I’m channeling Carrie Bradshaw, Andie Anderson, and Jenna Rink (“I am a tough…bitch!”).
Even though I am a Senior Writer at Fangirlish and a Weekday News Editor at Tell-Tale TV, who has also written for other online outlets, this newsletter is a space to write even more about the things I love. Really, this newsletter is whatever dreams are made of, and I hope you’ll join me on this journey.
This newsletter is coming to an inbox near you in 2024.
💌 Shelby
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