By Ella Kate McCord
Rom-coms are always a girl’s best friend. Whether they make you cry or laugh or die from envy, you can never go wrong. They make you feel so many emotions all at once that you can watch them in whatever mood.
My favorite rom-com is The Longest Ride about a cowboy who falls in love with a city girl. It goes into two different love stories like The Notebook and is the best movie of all time, in my opinion. My friends and I always watch it when we go to my lake house so whenever I think about it, I think of the lake and summer which is my favorite time of the year.
Walking around the hall, I came upon a group of girls and thought it was the perfect opportunity to ask them questions about their favorite rom-com. Right when I asked this question every girl in the alcove looked up and started blurting out a ton of fan-favorite rom-coms.
“10 Things I Hate About You, Sleepless in Seattle, Notebook, Love Actually,” Junior Davida Ohayon responded. Shortly following Davida, juniors Daley Bowman and Lyla Nelson both said their favorite is “How to Lose A Guy In Ten Days.”
These are all classic rom-coms from years ago that we have all grown up watching. Some are cheesy and some are sad but they are all classics.
After having long conversations about the different movies and why they are our favorites, I asked about the most recent rom-com that has come out, Anyone But You. It has been trending all over TikTok, social media, and among many girls.
One reason may be that it reminds people of the classic rom-coms that used to come out more often. Anyone But You is about two lovers who meet at a coffee shop, bond over everything, and, after a night together, end on bad terms. They reconnect years later at a wedding and this is when the whole love story starts to unfold again.
Not everyone was a fan. Daley Bowman, who watched this movie twice says, “I rate it a 6/10 just because the acting was not that great and I feel many people have said that the actors didn’t have chemistry and I agree, I feel like it was random.”
Lyla and Davida felt differently. “I rate it a 9/10. It made me want to go to Australia really badly,” Davida said. “It was predictable and cheesy but in a good way,” Lyla agreed. “I loved it and I thought the characters were perfect along with the songs in the movie.”
I absolutely loved the movie and thought that it was a great addition to the holiday season. I saw it twice over break and could watch it so many more times. It was simple, cheesy (in a good way), and I was so happy to finally see another rom-com in theaters.
Compared to other rom-coms, it felt a little more modern because it included everything from fun songs to style and lingo that we all use today. I think that this cheesy rom-com was just what every girl needed even if it was predictable.
Of course, it’s not only girls who like rom-coms. Senior Alex Hall said he likes them “on occasion.” While he sometimes will watch them he enjoys action movies a lot more. “I just feel like most rom-coms have the same dragged-out plot,” he says. Still, he has heard about Anyone But You and really does want to see it.
Mr. Newman, a rom-com lover, was very excited when I brought up the topic. When Mr. Newman was growing up, it was the prime time for rom-coms. “When I was a teenager, I think it was probably the golden age,” he said.
The classic When Harry Met Sally came out when he was a junior in high school. “For some reason, I was drawn to a story about a funny, cerebral guy who falls in love with Meg Ryan,” he said. He said there were quite a few romantic comedies he saw then that made him desperate to live in his own romance. “When I wasn’t with somebody or dating somebody, etc, I always found them a combination of really painful to watch and then also kind of a wish fulfillment,” he said.
Fortunately for him, he got his wish. He’s been married for thirty years. “I’ve had three decades to watch romantic comedies with my wife, which is nice,” he said. “Just this past weekend, we rewatched the Diane Keaton/Jack Nicholson romcom Something’s Gotta Give about two sixty-something people who fall in love. It’s absolutely nuts that I’m only one decade away from the characters.”
