Romantic comedy movies lure me to the movie theatre more than any other genre. The comedic tension between characters destined to be together sucks me in every time.
“It is always the same formula,” my husband explained, upon reaching his limits as my rom-com plus-one. “Girl meets boy. They fall in love. They break up. They get back together. The end.” To him, every version is the same story. I wondered, what makes a formulaic story fresh and fun every time I experience it?
Girls Just Get It
Statistically, more women attend rom com movies than men. “At 54%, comedy had the second-highest percentage of women in their audiences, when compared to all major genres, behind only romance (which stood at 59%).” https://stephenfollows.com/patterns-among-successful-comedy-movies/
While searching for that piece of data, I found plenty of articles complaining that these types of movies are marketed to women, brainwashed as we are from listening to fairy tales and believing we need a man to make us complete. But we can agree to disagree on whether these stories resonate on their own or whether women are victims of gender discrimination and false advertising.
Blame Jane Austen
The rom com formula was invented by Jane Austen. Recently, I read Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice for the first time. The book is witty, funny, and incredibly romantic. How did Jane Austen reach across two hundred plus years of gender and societal evolutions to instil the same (arguably better) experience that countless modern rom coms have done?
More to the point, why is Mr. Darcy the quintessential eligible bachelor? The fact that he is rich and handsome is a no brainer. But there is more to the man than wealth and looks.
Re-Tellings Abound
Engaging Mr. Darcy by Rachel Johns, a Pride & Prejudice retelling provides some clues. It begins with Will Darcy irritating Elsie Bennet in a pizza parlour. Elsie is doing her best to churn out pizzas despite the snail like pace of her coworker (the boss’s lazy son). Will (nickname for Fitzwilliam) has a schedule to keep and cannot understand why the pizzas he ordered are not available exactly on time.
Like Darcy’s initial rudeness to Elizabeth in the Jane Austen original, Will exhibits pride and lack of concern for Elsie’s feelings.
”It was like God realized he’d given the guy too much natural good looks and decided to skimp on the personality.”
Just as Elizabeth Bennett dislikes Mr. Darcy for rudely refusing to dance with her, Elsie dislikes “I-Throw-Fitz” Darcy for giving her a hard time about the pizza.
“Love can feel a lot like hate,” Sally Thorne famously wrote in her instant hit novel, The Hating Game.
Sarah Emsley, writing for Literary Ladies Guide, suggests part of the answer lies in Darcy’s willingness to listen to Elizabeth and to heed her advice. “He listens to her…when he shows he can learn how to talk to new acquaintances – and how to respect people whose social status is not equal to his own.” https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/
In other words, he may act like a jerk, but he listens when it counts.
The Darcy Profile Is A Winning Combination of What We Look For In A Mate
Take my husband, for example. I met him at a dorm party where he was playing Euchre (a card game) in the room he shared with my roommate’s boyfriend. Having spent that summer playing Euchre for fun, I took the empty spot across from my future husband where we played against other partners until there were no more to play against.
What I remember most was his quiet, understated manner. Wearing khaki shorts and a polo shirt, the signature preppy uniform of the 80’s, he made no effort to stand out in the crowd of mostly men around us. By the end of the night, I could not tell if he liked me or not. But as his Euchre partner, I had fun. When it was time to go, he acquiesced when my pushy roommate insisted he drive us home (a very short walk). To sum up my first impression: He was smart, well dressed, quiet, chivalrous, and signalled his ability to learn from my cues during the card game. Like Darcy, he paid attention.
He exhibited a winning combination of traits that I believe Jane Austen understood, which is why writers have been recreating Mr. Darcy and readers have been snapping up these recreations ever since.
Mary Ann Tippett is a book review blogger and author who loves connecting with other readers and writers. If you liked this post, consider buying her a coffee. You might also check out her her book Pairs With Pinot, which was shortlisted for an international award. In that book, she examines a break-through social science study that suggests your soulmate is standing on the other side of a list of questions.