# The Romantic Comedy Hall of Shame! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2004, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192 "2004-08-17T03:37:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/41 "2004-08-30T04:29:04Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I think the especially creepy thing about **Pretty in Pink** is that, throughout the film, we see what a sad and broken man Andie’s dad is…all because he was rejected by the only woman he ever loved! What a sad fate for poor Duckie. But even Duckie is getting some hot female attention at the end. I came out of that movie thinking that he’ll do just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/42 "2004-08-30T06:17:02Z")
> [@pokey](#): > > He had a chance in Mr.Wrong! Ellen was all into him til he proved to be nutty. He never _really_ had a chance though, since she’s a lesbian. 😉 > [@](#): > > Wasn’t he in a Sandra Bullock movie where she prefered the guy in the coma? Yup, although IIRC he eventually won out when Mr. Comatose (Peter Gallagher) woke up and proved to be a jerk. But as long as he was unconscious, he was more attractive to Bullock than Pullman. > [@Snooooopy](#): > > But even Duckie is getting some hot female attention at the end. I came out of that movie thinking that he’ll do just fine. Yeah, but how tacked on and unconvincing was that? We’d never even seen this chick before and suddenly she’s Miss Right for Duckie. Anyway, she was actually [Buffy the Vampire Slayer](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001785/), so I don’t think a long-term relationship was gonna work out. The last time I watched **Pretty in Pink** I decided that Duckie was actually a confused young homosexual and would be okay once he came to terms with being gay. Then he can get a better-looking and nicer boyfriend than Andie has. Alternately, he could hook up with Iona. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/43 "2004-08-30T06:22:25Z")
> [@pokey](#): > > He had a chance in Mr.Wrong! Ellen was all into him til he proved to be nutty. Yeah, but even if he wasn’t nutty, he’d still lose. As it turns out, all Mr.'s are Mr. Wrong for Ms. DeGeneres. 😛 Back to the Some Like it Hot thing–I think you may be misremembering the movie a bit. The question at the end wasn’t which of the two men she would choose. It was whether she would choose to be with Joe or not after learning of his multitudinous deceptions. Jerry/Daphne wasn’t even on her radar. While Jerry/Daphne was quite attracted to Sugar, he never pursued her, and they didn’t form any kind of romantic connection. (His attention was diverted by Osgood in any case.) Sugar did form a romantic connection with Joe/Josephine/Junior, even if it was based on a lie. Of course, the REAL question was whether Jerry would choose to be with Osgood… ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/44 "2004-08-30T06:24:15Z")
Gah! **Lamia** beat me to the Ellen DeGeneres joke… ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/45 "2004-08-30T06:44:30Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Yeah, but how tacked on and unconvincing was that? We’d never even seen this chick before and suddenly she’s Miss Right for Duckie. Anyway, she was actually [Buffy the Vampire Slayer](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001785/), so I don’t think a long-term relationship was gonna work out. But Duckie really didn’t need to find the love of his life. Save that for college or whenever. At that point, just getting the chance to make some time with a cute babe probably was plenty for him. She wasn’t Miss Right so much as she was Miss Right Now. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/46 "2004-08-30T06:48:29Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > But even Duckie is getting some hot female attention at the end. I came out of that movie thinking that he’ll do just fine. Ah, “hot female attention”…always the good substitute for unrequited love. …Until your soul shrivels and dies like a flower in a sandstorm, anyway. :S 😉 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/47 "2004-08-30T06:52:15Z")
One of the things I liked about _Mambo Italiano_ was how it didn’t do this. [spoiler]Near the end of the movie, Nino (the closeted guy) is about to get married to this giant bitch of a woman to make everyone else happy. He’s totally (and cruelly) rejected the main character, Angelo, for being out and wanting to live as a gay couple. Anyhow, as the wedding is about to take place, you see Angelo resolutely get into his car and roar off. Just as the priest is going “If anyone has any objections…” etc., the door bangs open … and it’s a late arrival at the wedding. Angelo, on the other hand, has gone and asked out a nice guy from the gay help line where he has (disastrously) volunteered. They end up together, and Nino is shown going on to enjoy frequent “camping trips” with other guys.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/48 "2004-08-30T09:49:50Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > The last time I watched **Pretty in Pink** I decided that Duckie was actually a confused young homosexual and would be okay once he came to terms with being gay. Then he can get a better-looking and nicer boyfriend than Andie has. You know, you may be on to something there. Andie has short hair, a boy’s name, and a body type not very different from a guy’s… ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/49 "2004-08-30T15:38:18Z")
OK, so there are 3 main modes of this contrivance: (a) “Mr.(or Miss) Nice” is just OK, decent, nothing to write home about, and the Protagonist is just with her/him for no apparent good reason other than you just have to be with someone; until Mr.(Miss) Excitement shows up, who’s absolutely _ **perfect** _. (b) Mr/Miss Nice is artificially maneouvered to be “revealed” as nasty, or bad, a cad/bitch, or otherwise Wrong, and thus Mr/Miss Excitement is a chance to escape. © Mr/Miss Nice IS a fine, supportive, understanding, wonderful human being but STILLMr/Miss Excitement has that ineffable magic “something” that trumps everything. Notice that in Scenario (b), the jiltee deserves it, and in Scenario © the pain inflicted on Mr/Miss Nice may be artificially mitigated by the implication that _precisely_ because s/he is so supportive, understanding and sensitive, s/he will be happy that Miss/Mr Lovestruck found her “True Love”, and will move on to reach fulfillment with his/her life (e.g. the modified _Pretty in Pink_ ending). In Scenario (a) the poor sap gets shafted and noone cares. The base premise of these plots is that Love works on a variation of the theological principle of Justification by Faith Alone, and that no amount of being a nice, good person and Doing The Right Thing guarantees it, it’s a gift from Heaven (or from Chemistry) that just is there or isn’t. It does also contain a healthy warning that nobody _owes_ it to love you just because you were good tothem, they have their own will. What makes a movie/play involving this lame, however, is when the plot and characterizations fail to communicate to us how come this choice _makes sense within the universe the story resides in_. Do the actions, events and words in the story communicate _both_ to the Protagonist characters AND the audience that Mr/Miss Lovestruck is doing the right thing, and _how come_ it is right? Or does it seem that WE know because we’re watching the movie but there’s no way THEY would know… or that somehow THEY know something that was neither shown nor said to US? Or does it seem they’re having a bad reaction to their medication? That’s where it all goes wrong. The Twilight Zone (or was it Outer Limits?) once did an episode about these scenarios, in which while within the “Zone” the protagonist tried in vain to warn her younger self that forsaking the socially acceptable, responsible suitor for the one that inspired passion would lead to a life of unhappiness. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/50 "2004-08-30T15:57:07Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > One of the things I liked about _Mambo Italiano_ was how it didn’t do this. > > [spoiler]Near the end of the movie, Nino (the closeted guy) is about to get married to this giant bitch of a woman to make everyone else happy. He’s totally (and cruelly) rejected the main character, Angelo, for being out and wanting to live as a gay couple. Anyhow, as the wedding is about to take place, you see Angelo resolutely get into his car and roar off. Just as the priest is going “If anyone has any objections…” etc., the door bangs open … > > and it’s a late arrival at the wedding. Angelo, on the other hand, has gone and asked out a nice guy from the gay help line where he has (disastrously) volunteered. They end up together, and Nino is shown going on to enjoy frequent “camping trips” with other guys.[/spoiler] I so agree. Just had the chance to watch it the other day, and would have been so pissed off if it had happened. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/51 "2004-08-30T16:17:53Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > 1. **Serendipity**. \ Sure enough, they end up finding, just before they are about to get married to people that we have no reason to think were ever bad to them, the signs that they were meant to be together in the first place. I disagree. The audience is given any number of hints that Beckinsale and whatisface aren’t meant for each other, and that the relationship is falling apart. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/52 "2004-08-30T20:31:46Z")
> [@](#): > > The Twilight Zone (or was it Outer Limits?) once did an episode about these scenarios, in which while within the “Zone” the protagonist tried in vain to warn her younger self that forsaking the socially acceptable, responsible suitor for the one that inspired passion would lead to a life of unhappiness. Twilight Zone. Episode “Spur of the Moment.” Starring Diana Hyland, John Travolta’s first love (and 17 years his senior) who died in his arms (cancer). ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/53 "2004-08-30T22:00:09Z")
Ten years ago, I enjoyed **Four Weddings and A Funeral** with a lovely date, but recently saw it again, and found it lacking. The third act is fairly mean and atrocious, Andie MacDowell’s “acting” is just bad, and Hugh Grant’s stuttering is annoying, though to be fair, this was one of the first films I had seen him in, so in '94 his mannerisms were not set in stone. Here is what annoyed me most on second viewing, and it is not a complaint solely about romantic comedies, some of which I enjoy. I hate movies wherein there is a cameo by a well-known name, and said name does his shtick, and it does not fit the tone of the film at all. Rowan Atkinson as Father Gerald grates on me to no end. Richard Curtis seems to have simply transposed a bit he may have written for Atkinson and put it down in this movie. Gerald’s first scee with Fiona is fine, but the whole nervous “Holy Goat” bit is out of place. IMHO. The funeral and the reading of the Auden poem still get to me, and I still love the oversleeping “Fuck, Fuckity Fuck” scenes with Charles and Scarlett, and Scarlett’s bit about why she doesn’t have a boyfrend, and in fact feel awful while watching the film now, knowing that poor Charlotte Coleman was destined to die alone on the floor of her apartment of a bronchial asthma attack, unable to get to her three inhalers which were found unused. Sorry, this is not quite to the OP’s point. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![MikeCollins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bbce88/32.png) [@MikeCollins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeCollins)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192/54 "2004-08-31T01:11:55Z")
**MaxTheVool** writes: > [@](#): > > I gotta say that I disagree with your view. It’s entirely possible that she truly and deeply loved the man she later married and had children with. In fact, there’s at least one strong hint in that direction… “it was the most erotic experience of my life… well, until then”. I may be remembering the scene chronology wrong, but she said “it was the most erotic moment in my life” (or something to that effect) whilst describing being painted naked by Jack. Bear in mind that afterwards, she made passionate love to the blonde stud in an old-fashioned automobile. So it’s perfectly possible that’s what she was referring to when she said “until then”. **ArchiveGuy** writes: > [@](#): > > I’m no big admirer of the film, but No, that’s not what the movie is pushing. The ending has less to do with “Eternal Love” then it simply represents a spiritual reunion with all the people who died on the boat. Her life was changed/transformed by the events depicted in the movie; nowhere does that represent a slight of her life/accomplishments afterwards, but it does mean it has some value to her. I think eternal love was certainly implied (probably the most important factor to be recognised). Note that although the other survivors were all on board (in her fantasy), the sole focus is Jack standing at the stairway, and upon greeting him she kisses him romantically - and at this point everyone beggins clapping as if to ratify thier expression of “true” love. Also remember that she hardly bears any memories of her (real) husband on her deathbed - except for those pictures on her mantlecase. She only remembers Jack, and by throwing the blue emerald into the ocean before she dies, ultimately declares her undying love for him (yeah sounds corny, but really, who else was there?). She also tells Bill Paxton’s character that it’s only through her word of mouth that he will live on (since she doesn’t even have a picture of him). You can argue that she probably did love the guy she later went on to marry - but let’s face it - he was obviously a pale insignificance compared to the mop with a cool name and a build any female Russian gymnast would be proud of. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-romantic-comedy-hall-of-shame/260192.md?page=2)