page_title: Romantic comedy
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Romantic comedy / Description
caption_attribution_description: English: Kathryn Grayson as Billie Van Maaster in the trailer for the 1942 musical romantic comedy film Seven Sweethearts.
context_page_description: Romantic comedy is a subgenre of comedy and slice-of-life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily". Another definition suggests that its "primary distinguishing feature is a love plot in which two sympathetic and well-matched lovers are united or reconciled".
  Romantic comedy films are a certain genre of comedy films as well as of romance films, and may also have elements of screwball comedies. However, a romantic comedy is classified as a film with two genres, not a single new genre. Some television series can also be classified as romantic comedies.
  In a typical romantic comedy the two lovers tend to be young, likeable, and seemingly meant for each other, yet they are kept apart by some complicating circumstance until, surmounting all obstacles, they are finally reunited. A fairy-tale-style happy ending is a typical feature.
context_section_description: The basic plot of a romantic comedy is that two characters meet, part ways due to an argument or other obstacle, then ultimately realize their love for one another and reunite. Sometimes the two leads meet and become involved initially, then must confront challenges to their union. Sometimes they are hesitant to become romantically involved because they believe that they do not like each other, because one of them already has a partner, or because of social pressures. However, the screenwriters leave clues that suggest that the characters are, in fact, attracted to each other and that they would be a good love match. The protagonists often separate or seek time apart to sort out their feelings or deal with the external obstacles to their being together, only to later come back together.
  While the two protagonists are separated, one or both of them usually realizes that they love the other person. Then, one party makes some extravagant effort (sometimes called a grand gesture) to find the other person and declare their love. This is not always the case as sometimes there is an astonishing coincidental encounter where the two meet again. Or one plans a sweet romantic gesture to show that they still care. Then, perhaps with some comic friction or awkwardness, they declare their love for each other and the film ends on a happy note. Even though it is implied that they live a happily ever after, it does not always state what that happy ending will be. The couple does not necessarily get married, or even live together for it to be a "happily ever after". The ending of a romantic comedy is meant to affirm the primary importance of the love relationship in its protagonists' lives, even if they physically separate in the end (e.g. Shakespeare in Love, Roman Holiday). Most of the time the ending gives the audience a sense that if it is true love, it will always prevail no matter what is thrown in the way.
  There are many variations on this basic plot line. Sometimes, instead of the two lead characters ending up in each other's arms, another love match will be made between one of the principal characters and a secondary character (e.g., My Best Friend's Wedding and My Super Ex-Girlfriend). Alternatively, the film may be a rumination on the impossibility of love, as in Woody Allen's film Annie Hall. The basic format of a romantic comedy film can be found in much earlier sources, such as Shakespeare plays like Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
  The convention underlying a romance book or film is there is two people, normally male and a female, who fall in love with each other. They have a good situation going on for a while, but then the couple finds a major obstacle in their way, which usually starts to pull them apart or makes one of them leave. Before they can overcome this obstacle, one (or both) realizes that they are perfect for each other and proclaims their love for the other. The films usually end with the couple either getting married, engaged, or giving some indication that they live "happily ever after".
caption: Kathryn Grayson in Seven Sweethearts (1942), a musical romantic comedy film
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