Nicola here, talking about the popularity of romantic comedy, both in contemporary and historical stories. A couple of weeks ago I was at the London Book and Screen Week, interviewing Sarah Morgan about romantic comedies and why they are so appealing and so enduring. Not only did we have the chance for a great chat, we also had a private screening of Sarah’s favourite rom com movie, In Her Shoes, just for us and the audience in a very cool little cinema!
I love a good romantic comedy. The best and most enduring ones are funny, witty, charming and moving, whether they are books or on the screen. I think
they are also thoughtful and complex and tell us about ourselves as humans – about emotions such as desire and love, about relationships and our longings and wishes. They often reflect the attitudes, assumptions and prejudices that prevailed when the films were made and from the very start in the 1930s they had intelligent roles with great dialogue for women. They often show heroines and heroes as well struggling to push back the boundaries that confine their lives. There’s a lot of good things in a package that has so often been underrated.
It feels as though the romantic comedy has universal appeal even if humour, and the things we find amusing, can be a very subjective concept. Of course the rom com also has another great thing going for it; it’s romantic and we understand the appeal of “love conquers all” and the hope offered by a happy ending. It may be escapist but there’s nothing wrong in that and it also doesn’t mean that there can’t be many shades of emotion within the story. The darker side of stories helps the lighter side to stand out. A happy ending can also be achieving independence or a dream as well as a personal relationship. The variety and opportunities are many. In Her Shoes is a great example of that - It’s a movie that features sibling and family relationships, compassion, humour, great performances, working life, personal growth and romance.
The historical Rom Com perhaps doesn’t get marketed as explicitly as comedy but a lot of costume dramas incorporate humour into their stories. If we look at both Jane Austen’s books and the film adaptations, often there is much comedy deriving from the characters and their situations and also the dialogue. As Sarah expressed it on the night: "A lot of comedy springs from the characters and the situations they find themselves in - and what we observe in those situations." We put our own personal sense of humour, spin and experience on what we read or see.
In Pride and Prejudice, Mrs Bennett has five daughters she is intent of marrying off without seeming to realise that her own behaviour is one of the biggest deterrents to this plan. The ghastly Mr Collins is another character brimming with comedy and Mr Bennet’s dry comments add another layer of entertainment. The book and films also possess another requirement of the romantic comedy, the adversarial chemistry in the romantic relationship that so often shows itself through dialogue. The conversation at Netherfield between Elizabeth, Caroline Bingley and Mr Darcy demonstrates:
Caroline Bingley : “No one can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.”
“All this she must possess,” added Darcy, “and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.”
Elizabeth Bennet: “I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any.”
Other historical romcoms also play up the quick fire humour of witty dialogue between the characters. Two of my favourites are St Ives, which is based on a book by Robert Louis Stevenson and not to be confused with the Charles Bronson movie of the same name, and The Abduction Club. Both combine a romantic story with plenty of poignancy with entertaining characters, amusing banter (and bromance as well as romance) plus plenty of slapstick action.
Something that always seems to add humour to a romantic comedy, whether a book or a movie, is a cute animal. This is often a dog but can be just about any animal that behaves in an amusing way. Baby animals are even better! Oddly you don’t see this as frequently in historical films as contemporary ones. Would Pride and Prejudice be enhanced if Mrs Bennet had a lapdog or a kitten?
Like a lot of people I’m very defensive of my favourite books, usually because I have such a vivid imaginary picture of what the story is like and so often the film adaptation doesn’t match up. Sometimes, though, the movie is as good, or even better than the book, and that's a delight. The romantic comedy can make us laugh and make us cry and the historical version has the added benefit of costumes and customs. What could be finer?
Do you enjoy romantic comedy? is there a book, film or adaptation you particularly like? Historical or contemporary? Share your favourites with us!
I love romantic comedies - historical or contemporary. I totally agree with you about Jane Austin. Some of Georgette Heyer's works have given me the giggle also. Two current authors that have some real lol moments in the books are Eloisa James and Julia Quinn.
Humor is subjective. We don't all find the same things funny. Two authors that speak to my funniest of bones are Joan Smith and Barbara Metzger.
I guess Metzger is my all time favorite. It is a talented author who can make you laugh in the middle of a scene that is so sad and tragic that you already have tears in your eyes (A DEBT TO DELIA). Also, I cannot think of a book by her that doesn't somehow involve animals.
One of my favorites by Joan Smith is PERDITA. It's about two ladies who are mistaken for prostitutes. A clean book all the same.
It is hard to pick one favorite by Metzger, but I guess it would have to be MISS TREADWELL'S TALENT. The hero and heroine are repulse and attracted to each other at the same time. She sees him as a heartless rake and he sees her (and her entire household) as minions of the devil.
Posted by: Mary T | Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 10:05 AM
I love romantic comedy. I think it’s a higher art form much underrated. There’s a great deal of wit in Georgette Heyer’s novels, one of the reasons I love them. The concluding scenes at the hotel in ‘Devil’s Cub’ make me laugh no matter how many times I’ve read them. I have a new favoycobtemporary romance author, Penelope Janu. ‘In at the Deep End’ is just delightful with all the the light and shade expected - and an adorable dog 🐶! Her second is ‘On the Right Track’ (don’t be fooled by the cover; it is romantic comedy, her publisher just had a moment) and the third is ‘On the Sane Page’.
Posted by: Laura Boon Russell | Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 03:34 PM
That’s Same Page!
Posted by: Laura Boon Russell | Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 03:35 PM
I do love me some romcom. I must have 60 keeper movies and a hundred keeper novels and most of them are romcom and all of them are comedy of some kind. Keep it going, ladies!
Posted by: Jennifer Stevenson | Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 03:50 PM
I am turning into a movie grump; it seems to me that the romantic comedies I've seen that were done in the last 20 years or so are neither funny nor romantic - I wonder if the 21st century is just not that romantic an age.
My appreciation is tempered by having been taught to analyze the comedy, and at its heart, most comedy depends on someone else's discomfort or pain. Until I understood that, I too laughed when Katherine Hepburn knocked over Cary Grant's meticulously assembled dinosaur skeleton - now I just think, that girl's an idiot, she just destroyed his work of many years, a thing he really cared about, for nothing. What a self-centered twit. I can't laugh anymore at somebody else's suffering.
Most of the books I see mentioned here are not romantic comedies to me - they're very serious novels. Pride and Prejudice is about the importance of finding the right mate - and what happens when you pick the wrong one. It's almost a cautionary tale :)
What makes me laugh now? A clever turn of phrase or some cogent observation. I find this in Austen, Heyer, Chesney and several other long time favorites. Otherwise now I would rather read something more serious or a nonfiction title.
Yes, I realize I'm no fun at all anymore ;)
Posted by: Janice | Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 04:35 PM
Mary, that’s a recommendation I cannot ignore. I just one-clicked Miss Treadwell’s Talent. :)
Posted by: Laura Boon Russell | Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 05:39 PM
I like the comedic aspects of Heyer and the comedy of Julia Quinn. I don't look for this as a criterion though. I just want a good story, and truly appreciate the chuckles that do come with many well written stories.
And I get chuckles over scenes like the time Consuelo Vanderbilt stopped her mother-in-law from usurping the duties of a hostess (American Duchess, although I read it first when Mary Jo Putney borrowed it for Wedding of the Century). I chuckle each time I read it.
Posted by: Sue McCormick | Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 07:28 PM
Hi Mary! Oh, I love both Eloisa James and Julia Quinn's humour; I think they have just the right touch for romantic historical comedy. As you say, it's a talented author who can combine moments of humour with pathos.
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 01:44 AM
I remember reading that a while ago and enjoying it very much!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 01:45 AM
Hi Laura, I completely agree about romantic comedy being very clever and much underrated. That scene in Devil's Cub that you mention is one of my all time favourites (in fact the whole book is so funny and absolutely lovely.)
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 01:47 AM
Wow, that's quite a collection, Jennifer! Thank you!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 01:47 AM
LOL, Janice! It's always good to have a range of different views! That's a very interesting observation about most comedy depending on someone else's discomfort or pain. That's one of the reasons I don't really like slapstick because it seems to silly and unkind. I hadn't applied the thought more widely though.
Can Pride and Prejudice not be romantic comedy as well as all those other things? It was a satire of it's time, after all, as many of Jane Austen's books are. And I think one of the problems with the perception of rom com is that it's "light" and people don't always recognise the deeper, darker side.
There is always be pleasure in a well-turned phrase!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 01:51 AM
That does sound like a very funny scene, Sue! Perhaps the best comedy is that which is integrated into the story in the way you describe and makes you smile along the way, rather than drawing attention to itself!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 01:58 AM
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It's one of my go-to books when I'm feeling blue. It makes me laugh, and laughing makes me feel better.
Posted by: Mary T | Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 04:41 AM
I guess it is true that comedy is personal. I never found the romantic comedies of the 30's and 40's particularly funny but I still laugh out loud at all the scenes in "Some Like it Hot". Must give the authors and/or reading of rom/com a try too, which I have not done.
Posted by: Donna H. | Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 08:44 AM
Yes, definitely it's down to personal taste! Which makes it all the cleverer, I suppose, when and author or a film can make so many people laugh!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 09:18 AM
Georgette Heyer is one of the funniest writers I read. I love the comedy in these stories. I also love Mr Bennett. He's so droll and has perfect comic timing.
I too love The Abduction Club. I've lost of the number of times I've watched it. It's based (loosely) on a true story that took place near where I live.
Posted by: Teresa Broderick | Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 02:12 PM
Hi Teresa! It's great to meet another fan of The Abduction Club! Most people don't seem to have heard of it, which is a shame as it's very good. The real story doesn't sound anywhere near as much fun as the film, though, does it!
Posted by: Nicola Cornick | Friday, March 29, 2019 at 01:00 PM