Communication Currents

Each year Americans spend nearly $9 billion and countless hours watching movies. Romantic comedy films have been a successful movie genre ever since the cinema became popular in the early 20th century. But why are these films so appealing? This study investigated the messages in romantic comedies and the link between viewing these films and learning about romantic, or idealistic, beliefs about love relationships. Results demonstrate romantic ideals are prevalent in these films and individuals who watched these movies in order to learn about love and relationships reported stronger belief in romantic ideals than those who watched these movies for other reasons.

In the first study, we analyzed the romantic themes featured in over 50 of the highest-grossing romantic comedies from the past 10 years. We looked for statements related to the four parts of the romantic ideal: love conquers all, idealization of your partner, soul mates, and love at first sight.

We found that nearly all (98%) of the movies contained at least one romantic ideal expression.  On average there were roughly 7 idealistic expressions per film - or 1 ideal every 14 minutes exposing viewers to a steady dose of these ideals in a single film. At the end of Runaway Bride (1999), when Richard Gere uttered the seemingly saccharine, “I guarantee that if I don’t ask you to be mine, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life…because I know in my heart, you’re the only one for me,” to Julia Roberts, he was also demonstrating the romantic ideal of soul mates. Whereas many moviegoers may feel these romantic comedies are laden with such ideals, the most surprising finding of our study showed that the movies were significantly more realistic than not. In fact, a typical viewer actually views more realistic romantic expressions than ideal ones, at a 2:1 ratio.

Why, then, are romantic comedies conceptualized as being idealistic? Critical cultural scholars argue that the happy endings (i.e., ideal takeaway theme) common in these films lead people to assume the movies are overly idealistic. In addition, these expressed ideals are often rewarded and that could influence viewers to pay more attention to these idealistic themes. For example, in the film Sex and The City (2008), a male character tenderly declares to a woman, “You’re the one.”  She responds by smiling, hugging, and kissing him. Conversely, realistic expressions were more likely punished with character reactions. For example, in the film The Wedding Planner(2001), Matthew McConaughey’s break-up speech explains: “The reasons we were together in college don’t hold up anymore. We’re different people now.” The woman reacts by staring at him angrily, and crying. The overall message in these films is that ideals are treated well, and challenges are treated poorly.

In terms of general themes, roughly three-fourths of the movies we analyzed were judged as perpetuating an overarching romantic ideal message. As an example, Maid in Manhattan (2002) tells the story of a New York hotel cleaning lady who falls in love with a famous senator.  The couple ultimately gets married after finding a way to overcome a series of major obstacles, including being dishonest with one another, coming from radically different social classes, identifying with different ethnicities, and dealing with significant issues at their respective places of employment. Despite the fact viewers encounter expressions that challenge romantic ideals more frequently than they see ideal expressions, both evidence and theory suggest the takeaway message has the most impact on viewers.

The second study explored the link between watching romantic comedies and viewer beliefs.  For this study, we surveyed 335 undergraduates (29% male) and asked them to report on their exposure to romantic comedy films as well as their beliefs about romance. We predicted that those who are regular romantic comedy watchers would have stronger romantic beliefs than those who rarely watch them. We also expected young people who watched with the intention to learn about romance should also report stronger romantic beliefs than those who view these movies for other reasons.

Whereas the findings indicate that exposure to romantic comedies is related to young people’s endorsement of romantic beliefs, the relationship is not as robust as one might think. In general, repeated viewing was positively related to only one of the four beliefs that comprise the romantic ideal: idealization of one’s partner. Furthermore, individuals who reported watching romantic comedies in order to learn were more likely to endorse romantic beliefs than were those who watch for other reasons, independent of actual viewing.

This surprising finding can likely be explained by the pervasiveness of romantic ideals in Western culture. Long before John Hughes penned his scripts, Aristotle wrote, “Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” Romantic novels often include the love conquers all theme.  And, even tweens (and honest adults) are exposed to these themes strongly when they chose to cheer for Team Edward or Team Jacob in the Twilight series. But, unlike romantic comedies, these mediums do not use comedy to discredit the ideal statements.

Whereas it is tempting to conclude that romantic comedies have little influence above all other movies featuring romantic ideals – our data found a few findings to counter this. First, we found a relationship between viewing romantic comedies and belief in one of the ideals – idealization of other. Second, we found people who watch romantic comedies with a desire to learn more about love, dating, and relationships are more attuned to the romantic content of these films. For the viewer who is paying attention to the romantic content of these films, the ideal substance is more likely to stick with the viewer, if only because that is the content that receives the most positive reactions by other characters on screen.

For a genre often criticized for being unrealistic, our results demonstrate romantic comedies are less idealistic than the common conception. This study also suggests that repeated viewing of romantic comedies could encourage viewers to think of their own relational partners as wonderful and perfect, which previous research has demonstrated can have a positive impact on relational functioning. Finally, the findings also suggest the greatest impact of viewing will be on those people who watch romantic comedies in order to learn about love and romance. So, unless you are watching these chick flicks in order to learn how to act on your next date, rest assured that the idealism in these films will most likely not influence you too strongly. That is, you probably will not come to believe that next fight you have with your significant other will end with one of you running through the airport to save the relationship.