Whatever Happened to Romantic Comedy?

We've made it to 2012 and the Mayan calendar is still running... Perhaps we'll lick this end of the world thing before we run out of time. ;-)

I had a sudden revelation the other day on why I've not written a contemporary romantic-comedy in a while... I think the genre has gone completely and utterly belly up. What made me come to this horrible and sad conclusion? Hollyweird, of course!


Handsome hubby and I were watching a DVD checked out of the library (our only source of entertainment since we no longer have cable or money to go to theatres in person) the other evening. We figured a title, that was a recent release, looked like it had entertainment potential. Boy, were we ever wrong! Although two capable, big name Hollywood actors played the leads and the title and synopsis on the case gave every indication it would be an enjoyable two hours, hubby found himself reading his book about a half hour into the film, and I only finished it out of a sense of "train wreck fascination" to see if it would get better before the end. Unfortunately, it did not.

A romantic-comedy (PG rated) where the heroine and hero 

at least respect each other in the morning!

http://www.mojocastle.com/LovingWho.html

 I'm debating giving out the name of this movie (because who wants to give publicity to something that's basically dire?), but I will give you some spoilers so in case you come across it, and this rings a bell, you are forewarned.

 Handsome big name male movie lead (formerly hooked up with Demi Moore) falls into bed (i.e., sex) with the beautiful big name female lead (who was much better in Black Swan). Emotionless, cold-hearted, wild sex ensues. Now, I've written some pretty hot tales about acquaintances meeting and having great sex from the get-go, but these two gorgeous folks didn't get my juices going... I've watched hotter sex education films while I was taking a psychology class in college. Anyway, that wasn't the worse part of the movie in our opinions. It was the fact that cold, emotionless sex was suppose to be funny.


Why would anyone who used another human being for their own personal pleasure without a thought to the other be considered funny? Hubby and I chalked it up to us being old-fashioned romantics of a "certain age". That is, we're not under thirty years of age, and we don't sit and text our text buddies all day long about doing naughty things in order to rouse a quick snigger of laughter from the faceless internet crowd who is playing on their iPhones instead of working or attending class. But just the very thought that using another person for physical gratification and kicks is hilarious fills us with disgust and more than a bit of sadness.

I suddenly have an urge to find The Wedding Singer and watch it over and over again. At least the young folks in that movie treated each other with respect and courtesy... Two traits that are very much a turn-on for many of us "old folks".

This year, I'm working on a Young Adult novel series idea that's more science fiction/paranormal in nature and not so comedic. I just don't get the comedy of treating others like objects in contemporary fiction. Maybe one day the old-fashioned screwball romantic-comedy with bickering couples who fall in love (such as in Romancing the Stone) will return to our screens. I'll try to keep my hopes up, but the Mayan calendar is ticking away...


What's your favorite "romantic-comedy"? It can be a movie, play, book or whatever and from any era. List them in the comments below and see if we can't make a library of decent entertainment to fall back upon in in 2012!