Romantic Comedy in the 21st Century

The romantic comedy has slowly evolved into a more formidable opponent to all of the other film genres present in the modern entertainment world. Though the romantic comedy is a genre unto itself, that does not downplay the fact that there are many subsets, some successful, some not, in this category. Romantic comedies have been a hit among many studios, mainly because of their ability to be produced at relatively low costs, a trait that studio moguls love, especially when their comedy has a good weekend at the box office. Another reason that many executives love the idea of the romantic comedy is that the movies do not have to have all that successful of a box office reign to bring in a well-sized profit. It is no secret that action films are the highest takers in the box office harvest, with the comedy and drama genres not far behind. This may seem like a rather precarious position for the romantic comedy, but the truth of the matter is that the industry knows exactly what to count on when releasing such films. The advent of the DVD is another great reason why the romantic comedy thrives and will continue to be produced. Many romantic comedies do not do well at the box office, especially in the eyes of the masses, but a romantic comedy’s path to success highly differs from that of a high-budget action movie. A romantic comedy can have a rather modest showing at the box office, a good showing with DVD sales, and then be touted as a success by the industry, which may not be a good thing for some entertainment critics, who oftentimes don’t give any romantic comedies a chance, but they should, especially since the genre is only growing. Movies released in today’s market often have a genre overlap, which has produced many comedy/romantic comedy hits in the modern era. Films like “The Break-Up”, “Wedding Crashers”, “The Girl Next Door”, along with many others, are considered by some to be romantic comedies, not in the traditional sense, but in the sense that studios want the public to see. “Bridget Jones’ Diary” was a huge success as a romantic comedy, but it is in a different subset of the romantic comedy category, which is fine to the public, as well as the industry, because this only means that more people can be reached by the different kinds of romantic comedies that are consistently being made. Marketing is not a modern concept, but it is put to good use when advertising for today’s romantic comedies. Many of these movies are meant for women, some are meant for men, while there are some films located in the abyss of in between, but most of them have their set audience. The ability of the studios to attract both sexes to the studio is not due to the makeup of the movie itself, but is instead reliant on the marketing campaigns that are enlisted for the films. Many women can tell the difference between a comedy and a romantic comedy, but some can’t, and it is that section of the population that the industry focuses on, especially with some of the higher-budget movies, which cannot be successful without some form of genre transcendence. The romantic comedy is a viable art form, and is available to the public in a variety of styles, all of which may sometimes overlap each other. Many of these movies are made in the manner of exploring artistic vision, while some are made because of the relatively failsafe method of production. The traditional romantic comedy still thrives on its system of artistic expression, along with the ability to connect with many females, and some males, but the genre of the romantic comedy is changing. The traditional romantic comedies will not be forced into extinction, but those wishing to view a more traditional version of the genre must know what to look out for, especially when there are invaders afoot.