Why aren't romcoms good anymore?
Rom-coms used to be the biggest genre in Hollywood. In 2003, nearly 20% of all major theatrical releases were romantic comedies. Today that number is less than 1%. So what actually happened?
In this video, I'm breaking down the full story of how the romantic comedy went from sweeping the Oscars in 1934 to being a punchline by 2015 — and why everything Hollywood has tried to do to bring it back has kind of, sort of, completely missed the point.
We're talking about the golden age: what made films like 10 Things I Hate About You work on a level that modern romcoms simply don't, why the enemies-to-lovers trope is literally 400 years old and still gets butchered today, and what Kat Stratford's poem understands about love that a $50 million production budget apparently cannot buy.
We're also talking about Anyone But You — which is a Shakespeare adaptation, just like 10 Things, with two charming leads, a proven trope, and somehow manages to feel like it was written by someone who has heard of human emotions but never personally experienced one. I'll explain exactly why, scene by scene.
This is the full autopsy. The history, the decline, the diagnosis, and the verdict.
note: No hate to ANY movie i mentioned in the video, i love movies and i think all movies are good in their way. Also ignore all the text above it's just for SEO lol.
Music used in the video:
Jazz Lounge relaxing music - SigmaMusicArt
⏱ CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
01:18 - Back in the day
02:57 - The Shift
06:16 - Comparaison
08:33 - Conclusion
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