With the arrival of Valentine’s Day, many students have found themselves getting into the spirit of love by watching their favorite rom-com classics. Old or new, the romance genre has been a staple in film since the very beginning, dating back to its origins in the silent era.
Film historians have traced the birth of the genre back to Buster Keaton’s famous 1924 silent film, Sherlock Jr., marking its 100th anniversary this year. The comedy follows a hapless film projectionist who imagines embarking on a grand adventure to solve a mysterious theft, and was filmed in locations across 1920s Los Angeles.
“It was really entertaining for its time,” says senior Angel de Leon. “And it’s able to tell a story without any dialogue, which is impressive.”
As sound films became the new norm in the late 1920s and 1930s, the conventions of the “screwball comedy” defined the romantic genre. Incorporating satire, witty dialogue, and unconventional gender dynamics, the genre brought much-needed levity to audiences during the Great Depression.
The most notable of these was Frank Capra’s, It Happened One Night, in 1934; a rom-com about a poor journalist and a rich heiress who, after initially disliking each other, fall in love during a makeshift adventure across the American South. It went on to become the highest-grossing film of its year, winning five Academy Awards and popularizing many now-common conventions within the genre such as the “Enemies to Lovers” trope and a musical sing-along scene between the two leads.
Later that year, however, the infamous Hays Code was introduced, censoring any risque content or profanity in Hollywood studio productions. As a result, the standard in movies remained largely unchallenged for over 30 years.
Still, standout rom-coms like Bringing Up Baby, Roman Holiday, and Singin’ In the Rain were critical standouts within the conventions of the screwball and musical genres. The latter of which, following a silent film star who has to make the difficult transition to sound in movies with an up-and-coming partner, has been continually referred to as one of the greatest films of all time,
“I love how contagious the happiness…feels in Singin’ in the Rain,” says Film Club secretary Lucy Alfaro.
After the Hays Code was abolished in 1968, the road was paved for a new revolution of rom-coms in a period that became known as the “New Hollywood” movement.
That same year, two releases challenged the previous generation’s sensibilities: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, one of the first movies to positively feature an interracial marriage, and The Graduate, which questioned the place of age gaps in relationships. The latter won the Academy Award for Best Director and continues to be celebrated for its unconventional style.
“I think it’s an incredibly entertaining and important development in the history of the New Hollywood movement,” says Speech & Debate captain Jackson Hyde.
After the New Hollywood generation broke conventions and experimented with the limits of what rom-coms could offer, it was 1989’s When Harry Met Sally that arguably set the groundwork for the modern age of the genre. The film follows a series of chance encounters between two college graduates and questions the nature of platonic relationships between men and women.
Throughout the 1990s, a new wave of rom-coms like Pretty Woman, Notting Hill, Clueless, and 10 Things I Hate About You laid the structure groundwork for what a typical rom-com looked like.
As the 21st century arrived, rom-coms began to incorporate more serious and relatable themes that people could connect to as opposed to the melodramatic tone of films prior.
Critically acclaimed films like Amélie dealt with themes of loneliness, while Juno explored the complexities of teen pregnancy. Many independently-produced rom-coms like Sideways and (500) Days of Summer, subverted many traditional tropes of bringing a relationship back together. At the same time, earlier films like But I’m a Cheerleader and In & Out, broached LGBTQ themes.
Still, these films and more became widely accepted by audiences, gaining a cult classic status among fans.
In the years since, movies like Midnight in Paris, Poor Things, and La La Land have struck a middle ground; incorporating many classic techniques of the 20th century, while subverting the genre enough to make it adaptable to the modern era. The latter of which in particular has gained widespread recognition as a modern-day classic for its expressionistic style, melancholy ending, and use of music to tackle its relatable themes.
“There’s times when many people feel lonely and they might not have a lot of hope, but I feel the main character Seb expresses this,” says Video Production Club president Sebastian Gopar-Navarrete about Ryan Gosling’s role in the film. “I personally found it very helpful and relatable.”
Among students, these films and more have come to represent Valentine’s Day and allow their feelings to be represented on screen. With the future open to more revolution and development, the genre isn’t going to fade away anytime soon.
