Why Most Romantic Comedies Suck by Steve Kaplan

[@brunayamaguchi9664]

"How you can possibly stay together without killing each other?" SO RELATABLE

[@marcoestiercol6112]

Fun fact: both comedies (When Harry met Sally and Alex & Emma) directed by Rob Reiner

[@bricksetter4134]

why would you put parentheses on this sentence?!

[@marcoestiercol6112]

@@bricksetter4134 I (don't) know.

[@ccwoodlands1565]

If you watch the KZbin with Rob and Nora talking about the writing of WHMS, you discover how much it changed, developed from the original premise. It wasn't ready until they worked on it and it rewrote it.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

SO... Why do most romantic comedies suck??? (worth note, sometimes it helps to gob it out in text)... I would posit, that it's for about the same reasons other movies and theatricals tend to suck... They suck, because somewhere they break immersion, buy in, or connection. Immersion, predicates upon connection and buy in from the audience. This is as true for cinema and theater as it is for RPG's. (I'm a GM, so trust me here)... Buying in from the audience (Players, for a GM) predicates upon BELIEVABILITY. Here's where I note that "Believability" is the correct term, not reality nor anything related. You can create the whole story on some alternative to reality and as far flung as you like to stretch it, so long as you're BELIEVABLE, you can accomplish the story... full stop... period. BUT, what does Believability rely on? CONSISTENCY... AND in Comedy, especially, this consistency is a very difficult aspect to balance with humor and plot. Worse yet, with the steady lowering of the bar of intellect engaged with comedy, that balance is all the harder to maintain in terms of "what's funny" versus "what's believable"... Adam Sandler is funny, but nothing about any of his work is believable. In pure comedy, this CAN work. It doesn't always, but it can. Romantic Comedy, however, is hard to do, let alone do well, because it absolutely MUST be believable, and that still relies on consistency. SO for consistency to be covered, you must have consistent characters who act and react consistently to their core values, beliefs, and the structure of their whole being. The reality must be consistent, so while it's excusable to have some strange things occur, it's not excusable to unleash a torrent of completely arbitrary crap just because some idiot thinks it's funny. It absolutely must remain consistent with the reality at hand, regardless of how narrow or wide a scope of realism is involved... In essence, if it rains beer on the first day, it's going to rain beer on the last day... AND it should probably rain beer any other day that it's raining. Consistency is amazingly simple in concept, but that does NOT make it easy in execution. Most Rom-Com's actually derail their sense of consistency somewhere in the story, and with that slight drop out of consistency, there's a question that hangs in the aftermath. Whether it's a character who acts completely out of his (or her) scope of personality, or it's a completely ridiculous way for someone to get "written out of the script"... Beamed to the U.S.S. Enterprise when this isn't a Star Trek movie (for instance)... This question gets stuck into the atmosphere of the movie. Left unanswered it grows and lingers... demanding answers. Audience hates unanswered questions without sequels or reason. SO this question, left unattended, will continue to swell and weight down the atmosphere of the movie until it just breaks the immersion... The audience will "wake up" from the storyland you've had them all dreaming along with you, and they will realize for themselves that you don't care about the story. AND if YOU (writer, GM, director, teller) don't care about a story, why the hell would they (audience, Players, readers, listeners)??? Once you've broken immersion, and you've let the audience realize something for themselves, you've lost them. The story sucks, because if you don't care, they sure as hell won't... AND if they don't care for the story, they're not going to care to connect with the Characters... Now, in some cases, it's okay to do something "zany" and "off the wall", and even to create a question to linger in the air a bit. BUT you have to be careful with it. DO NOT leave it unanswered for long, or the audience will answer it for you. If someone acts out of character, you better know and be hard at work setting up the reason WHY in fairly short order. When this tactic is taken, it's okay to build a bit of tension before you drop the shroud of mystery for a "big reveal". Maybe it's just a "side gag" for the entire justification of comedic effect, like one or the other side of the romance has a twin... OR maybe there's a direct plot-related twist, like one or the other discovers some awful family secret just before the wedding... It's worth effort if it's done well. But if you really want to know what makes a movie suck, it's going to be something that breaks immersion... probably... 9/10 times. AND for the record... No. I am not a Rom-Com fan. I CAN (however) tell when a story is well written and well told or not. :o)

[@visforvendetta1326]

I think there are a lot of exceptions to this rule. Sleepless in seattle the two never meet until the end, so it's not about finding a way to stay together it's about finding a way to meet.

[@RusticChivalry1985]

You're awesome Steve.

[@henryufuma988]

Nice idea. How can I join the workshop? I am from Nigeria.

[@Mysteree]

Yes!

[@bazmurphy7792]

Would love to send Mr. Caplan my rom com script. Listening to him and reflecting on the story I made. I think he would be pleased.

[@melindawolfUS]

I think it sucks in a romcom when the amazing woman finally chooses the ordinary, poorer and less attractive guy at the end after having been betrayed by the hot guy. Propaganda! I hate how many of these films are written and directed by men who arrogantly think they know what women crave. I stopped watching these films as a teen, never looked back. Romance novels are far better. Wish some of those would get made into films, instead!

[@KaceyBakerFilms]

Sometimes believable isn’t funny.

[@SCIFIVAMPIRE]

What screenplays has he written?

[@CauldronShow]

Lovely and truuueee!

[@lemarrthomas3314]

Exactly.

[@roger8654]

Has this guy sold scripts

[@filmcourage]

roger8654 Here's a new video we put together on selling the first screenplay - kzbin.info/www/bejne/iYesmIRvnMyfias

[@lamerafiera]

wise man

[@petermuller7079]

Basically: He just doesn't LIKE RomComs and rather watches realistic movies about long term relationships. RomComs are to those movies what Die Hard is to a documentary about domestic terrorism. They are about butterflies and high emotions and drama and stupidness .... following the footsteps (and beats) of 'Much Ado About Nothing'. (and that's why i never considered Harry & Sally a RomCom) RomComs doesn't suck in general ... they just doesn't meet everybody's taste.

[@LizNeptune]

“Wouldn’t it be funny if…?” Seems to be a question of death!! Yeah, most romantic comedy’s these days are so cringe.

[@EmanuelHoogeveen]

I was with him all the way until the Big Bang Theory example. God that show sucks.

[@ghostwriterscorner502]

Amen. What, the world needed yet another show about nerd stereotypes? Never seen that before. I guess it's par for the course in a world of idiots on reality TV. I heard that Sarah Palin has yet another infantile reality TV show coming. Does EVERYONE in Alaska have a reality TV show? I guess they must have heard how much reality TV show makers take to the bank. I'm sure "Anchorage Convenience Store Clerks" will bring some grandeur to the human race. I have a crazy idea for a TV show: a well-written show, thought provoking, about really SMART people making the world a better place, trying to make a difference and fix the MANY things the Boom Generation fucked up for us, and giving us a better future to strive for, instead of just filling their wallets or going for a cheap laugh about geeks trying to do the blonde. How about that?

[@howardkoor2796]

+Ghostwriters' Corner hope you can be less angry at the world. Good luck.

[@howardkoor2796]

He was explaining process. If it's not your taste, that's another conversation. Steve really understands comedy ...

[@lakshaykochhar6799]

@@howardkoor2796 Yeah, comedy isn't really the strong suit for Big Bang Theory.

[@nickysite1958]

its unrealistic

[@TheHotaru93]

What about Maisson Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2 or Urusei Yatsura? Some of the best Rom coms in all manga and they center around exactly what he says not to do. (Not to mention Love Hina, I''s, KOR and many others)

[@joeofmacabre07]

Chill out, dude. He is talking about the rom coms of Hollywood.😒

[@canaisyoung3601]

Anime doesn't count. It never does in the eyes of mainstream Hollywood.

[@Codemeister1]

I am a rom-com fan and as a devoted fan of the genre I do not agree with Steve's take. First of all I don't agree that most rom-coms suck. This clearly is not true, if it was the genre would have died. Quite the opposite, it is one of the most popular genres out there; one only need to check the offerings on the streaming services to see that. Believable? This guy is a screenwriter? Movies are enjoyable because for a moment in time we get to leave the normal world and enter a fantasy world where the rules don't apply. How would superhero movies be doing so well if a script had to be believable? Utter nonsense. Personally I would say that the actions/words of characters need to be engaging, interesting, humorous but not to the point where we disconnect from the world being created. There should be no obstacles? Again, a screenwriter? What the? The first thing I learned about screenwriting was there must be drama/tension, something to overcome, otherwise what's the point? Harry meets Sally, they like each other, go out on a bunch of dates, get to know each other more, become intimate and invite each other into their worlds.... BORING!!! That's called real life. Harry and Sally were constantly in debate and opposed to one another, that was the obstacle. What is Steve on about? All rom-coms need tension. Sure a few aren't hinged on the obstacles to being together, Romancing the Stone comes to mind as I just watched it again the other day. If anything the drama is pulling Jack and Joan together. But still Jack had to overcome his self-centered loner nature, and Joan had to loosen up and allow herself a chance to fall in love. The delayed payoff was well written imho. We like Joan, we want her to be happy. So when Jack rocks up in NYC with his boat we are happy for her, for them both. Is that story believable? Of course not, but it is engaging and entertaining and that's what the writer must be aiming for. I think Steve has an issue with the theme of love, ergo his jaded view of rom-coms. Anyway no offence intended Steve and thanks for sharing.

[@adelfo_micieli]

Thanks👏 I Think the same way. A Movie is not a one to one reflection of real Life. A movie creates his own Reality. It HAS to be unrealistic.

[@user-lu5cl2zt9b]

best romantic comedie: "A match made in heaven" seriosly, we should watch more Bollywood :) (Hindi title: Rab ne bana di jodi)