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Anatomy of the Unrealistic Rom-Com

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at BU chapter.

So I love a good romantic comedy…actually, who am I kidding – I love the bad ones too. My theory is that this stems from growing up watching Bollywood movies. Believe it or not, the majority of Bollywood movies are rom coms and musicals. I’m not saying I exclusively like chick flicks, but when I am bored or looking for a fun and easy way to find almost guaranteed entertainment I look to the rom com. Sometimes, the cheesier the better! As a result of the hours spent watching endless meet cutes and happily ever afters, I like to think that I know a fair amount about rom coms. What I have learned watching them is that the things that happen in rom coms definitely don’t happen in real life. Okay, I probably figured this out after the first one I watched – the rest simply corroborated the hypothesis. But with the vast rom com experience that I have done, I now share with you some of my favorite unrealistic moments!

Notting Hill

Ok there are definitely a lot of unrealistic moments in this one, but really, when is the person you love (but haven’t yet told him/her) going to stand in front of you in a bookstore saying “And don’t forget…I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her”? Really, when?

Dialogue starts at 0:30: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhuTL-rtQa8 

Also, fighting a movie star for the last brownie at dinner by sharing stories of your pathetic-ness. I suppose this one has more of a chance of being realistic, say if you hang out with movies stars on the daily, but for us mere mortals this is more of a hypothetical situation. 

Basically the whole thing, but especially 0:40: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTjIRQU_HdM 

He’s Just Not That Into You

What’s the usual response time to a text you send your crush? Hours right? Well then why does Alex have all the time in the world to chat when Gigi comes a-calling, yeah I don’t really see that happening. Let’s replace bartending with, say, a videogame marathon. It is probably most likely that your phone call is going to get ignored. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCWvVSE0WMk 

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

Let’s start with the premise of this movie, it is not possible to be trying to lose a guy in 10 days but actually keep him. Andie’s tactics to lose her guy are almost basically surefire ways to ensure you are left alone. I highly doubt anyone, romantic interest or even a friend, would stick around after a visit to his/her office which includes being given a dog and really embarrassing stories shared with the rest of the office. 

This entire scene, while hilarious, is not likely to occur in real life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PpBLxJLihI  

This scene is definitely an example of every rom com resolution that occurs when the boy and girl meet and make up. So he is doing his part by stopping her when she is running away but she just so happens to be on a bridge and there just so happens to be a place where her cab driver can stop to let the boy say his part and win her back. While this scene is perfectly adorable and gives the story a nice happy ending, I can’t help but ask if this would even be possible. Could the timing ever be so perfect as to let her be found? Also what cabbie would stop on a bridge to let this happen? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVhrWyZtYFk 

Writers of the Boston University chapter of Her Campus.