What to Expect When You... Subscribe
Let's discuss Notes on Nostalgia's exposition.
If you’re reading this, you decided to subscribe to this newsletter, and I am eternally grateful. But now that you’re here, it’s likely that you’re curious about what Notes on Nostalgia will bring to your inbox as it rolls out more frequently in 2024. If my first post stands as a meet-cute, this one is all about exposition.
Notes on Nostalgia is a free newsletter (For now!) about primarily romantic comedies. The posts will thoughtfully explore and examine the highs and lows of the comforting genre throughout media. But what kinds of posts can you expect?
The following read will explain what to anticipate from book recommendations, Character Close-Ups, Movies and TV Analysis, Relationship Studies, Scene Breakdowns, Soundtrack Deep Dives, and more when you subscribe.
Book Recommendations
If you’re on the BookTok or Bookstagram corners of the internet, there’s a chance you’ve seen how popular romantic comedies are on the printed page. I watched the romance section at a nearby Barnes & Noble blossom in a few months because of the demand by readers. It went from one or two shelves to an entire corner of the store, with tables of hand-picked selections. From old(er) favorites (Nora Ephron’s Heartburn or Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity) to new(er) additions (Beth O’Leary’s Flatshare, Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper, or Bolu Babalola’s Honey and Spice), the genre is thriving. I want to share the ones I read with you.
Character Close-Ups
I love understanding a character through the most minute details. Some posts on Notes on Nostalgia will be deep dives into characters from rom-coms and other nostalgic media, discovering how a fictional person transforms into someone who seems real or trying to figure out why they don’t. We all love Sharpay Evans, right? What makes her appealing enough to get her rom-com, Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure? Did a romantic hero become a dud by the end of a project? Why? Is that character impossible to root for, or did they fall flat? I want to examine it all!
Movies and TV Analysis
As a pop culture writer, I critically engage with mostly new TV shows to pen reviews and features. Notes on Nostalgia will be a place for the projects that fall through the cracks of my other work or those I’ve always wanted to look back on and write about in some way, like any of the Disney Channel Original Movies. These posts will stem from conversations, themes, plot, etcetera, analyzing what makes a rom-com on the big and small screens work — or not. They won’t always be full-length reviews, but they will always be meaningful studies of the projects.
Relationship Studies
What’s a rom-com without a good relationship? Sally Albright and Harry Burns’s love story is a definitive favorite in the genre for a reason (In Nora Ephron we trust!). Rom-com lovers come to movie theaters, turn on a new show, or read the first page of a book to see how two characters fall in love and get that happily ever after. The genre’s evolution means those alluring dynamics aren’t always romantic. Platonic relationships also shine, like Liv and Emma in 2009’s Bride Wars. So, Relationship Studies will pick a pairing, romantic or otherwise, from a rom-com and explore the good and bad from the meet-cute to the HEA.
Scene Breakdowns
Sometimes, a scene from a project sticks to my heart and mind. Whether it be that grand gesture (Crazy Rich Asians’s take on the Race for Your Love trope is a favorite!) that pulls the love story together or a quieter beat that speaks to an internal shift (That dock scene from Red, White & Royal Blue), these posts will dissect everything from how the camera moves throughout a specific set to the meaning behind dialogue. Everything we see or read is intentionally included to tell a specific story. I like to think delving into every aspect of storytelling is informative and creatively inspiring for other writers and casual fans.
Soundtrack Deep Dives
As someone who came of age in the early aughts, my A Cinderella Story CD might as well have had a whole burned into it with how often I played it because I found the use of Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be” so romantic. More recently, Netflix’s Someone Great, written and directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, went viral for its use of Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts,” and rightfully so. Sticking with that streamer, the coming-of-age rom-com partly responsible for the genre’s resurgence, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, has a stellar soundtrack from top to bottom. Soundtrack Deep Dives will explore the songs that score the grand and granular moments.
What does all of this mean for you? If you subscribe, you can comment and join this rom-com-loving community. There, you can suggest any of the above for a future post. Do you have a niche romantic comedy you wish more people loved? I may write about it. Do you want me to take a microscope to an on-screen or on-page relationship that means something to you? Join the conversation.
Notes on Nostalgia is a safe space to love things as loudly as we want. No shame!
Eventually, when Notes on Nostalgia introduces a paid tier, some posts will only be available to paid subscribers. Until then, all this content will be free for everyone to enjoy — together. If you think you may be interested in exclusive content at some point, please pledge a paid subscription now.
See you next time!
💌 Shelby
*Featured photo is courtesy of HBO.