Why I love romantic comedies
If you tell someone that you're a fan of the romance genre, the worst that can happen is that the person will take you for a hopeless romantic, which, to be honest, isn't even a bad thing. But, God forbid anyone ever finds out that you like romantic comedies.
Rom-coms are supposedly watched by ignorant people who are foolish enough to eat up the substandard plot lines depicting scenarios that are highly unlikely to ever happen to anyone. Now, you might argue that the unrealistic plot part is true for all other genres but that is usually offset by clever plot lines. You don't need to have a high level of understanding to get that boy likes girl, boy and girl have a misunderstanding between them, and finally they still somehow end up together. This simple layout is the basis of all rom-coms.
But to me, that is the beauty of the genre. After a long day, where I've probably spent half my time being stuck in traffic and stressing about education, I want to watch some mindless, comedic, boy-girl drama. I don't have the energy to understand the concept of "inception" at this point, nor do I want to know how a Wall Street brokerage firm works. Most of us are confused souls. Our days consist of the same boring routine where at the end we're left wondering to ourselves about the meaning of it all. That is where rom-coms come to our rescue. It shows us that a simple friendship is enough to turn your normal life into something magical. And the happily ever after endings leave you with a feeling of hope, no matter how fleeting.
Another good thing about rom-coms is how they are like low effort relationships. They don't require much of your attention. You can sleep through the first half of the movie and still revel with joy at the protagonist's happily ever after. You don't need to re-watch scenes or Google certain topics to understand the plot. After a long week of working tirelessly, do you want to put more effort into watching a movie?
Yes, love is definitely not something magical and it is definitely not the answer to any of your problems; but, if you can believe (or try to make yourself believe) in other magical entities such as dragons and wizards, believing that love is not just a biochemical response seems much easier. There's also a greater chance of finding love than turning into a wizard, just saying.
Tasnim Odrika is having an existential crisis at the moment and doesn't really know who she is anymore. Send her compliments at odrika_02@yahoo.com.