Why you should start watching Romantic Comedies again

"That movie?" - "You want to see that movie?" - "Is your girlfriend making you watch it?"

Some of the phrases that accompany a desire to watch a romantic comedy. One too many times, my friends and I would want to see a movie only for 'nothing' to be showing. By nothing of course, it was meant that no big blockbuster hit was currently playing. The next marvel film hadn't dropped, the newest Star Wars had already finished. That romantic comedy, or that feel good film about love, that was considered 'nothing'.

When did we outgrow romance?

"You're going to see that chick flick?" Was a common phrase when I was growing up. Recent movements have made it to where the gender stereotyping has decreased, but the feeling is the same. "That movie?"

As a guy I'm not supposed to like those movies. I'm supposed to be thrilled about the newest action, horror, or sci-fi movie. I'm supposed to see every sports and war movie, and if it's about cars - I have to go.

Yet if it involves human connection in any way shape or form, forget it.

I just watched "Marry Me" and you know what? I loved it.

Was it cheesy? Yes. Over the top? You bet. Unrealistic? Mmm-hmm

Though it will never break box offices, or be critically acclaimed, I still liked it. It had plot holes, poor filming tropes, and an unoriginal story. I still liked it.

What's wild is that sports movies do the same thing. They're cheesy, over the top, unrealistic, they have almost no original stories, there's usually plot holes, but they're forgiven. Why? Because as a guy I'm allowed to like sports. Not Romance.

Let's change that narrative.

Reasons you should watch romantic comedies (even if you're a guy):

You know what you're getting into:

I mentioned sports movies as the same thing over an over, but I never said that was a bad thing. I think Hollywood, but more-s0, writers have figured out what works and they're sticking to it. That's not a bad thing though!

The couple meets, they don't like each other at first, then over the course of the story they realize that they aren't as awful as they each thought. They grow closer together. At the moment at which they're about to be very happy, one or both of the characters reverts to how they were at the beginning - then usually they're reminded by something (friends, pets, memories) that they're being idiots and at the end they say something along the lines of "I don't want to be who I was anymore, not without you."

It's the plot of every hallmark movie, but also the plot of most major romantic comedies in the past decade - and it' effective. There's a reason it resonates with us. We go into the movie theater, and we pay for an experience - we want to be whisked away to a world where anything is possible, even if it's the unlikely matrimony of two people who have no earthly business being together.

Predictability is no reason to hate a movie, otherwise sports movies should be vetoed. Knowing what's going to happen doesn't make the journey less magical, it makes the nuances shine brighter. It's why 10 things I hate about you is phenomenal, why people still talk about The proposal, and why I've seen Hitch like thirty times.

They challenge us

Stick with me on this one. Have you ever heard this: "I just wish someone would do that for me"

Mahatma Gandi said it best when he said "Be the change you want to see in the world," romantic comedies give us the impossible, they give us the unrealistic version of what our lives could be like. In that way though, they challenge us.

They challenge us to be better lovers, friends, coworkers, and people. They slap it across our faces at times. They remind us over and over again that if you love someone you'll do the impossible. You'll send letters every day for three years, you'll wait on the corner in the rain, you'll steal a blue french horn.

Okay, maybe you can't quit your job and change your entire life for someone you just met. But you can buy her/him a box of chocolates. You can spend the day together, focused on each other. You can let them know that they matter.

They make you believe in love

This last one's important. Romantic comedies give us the sense that anything is possible. Even love. In a generation and time where love is equated to a right swipe, and infatuation replaces intimacy it becomes easy to think that love is an antiquated ideal reserved for people who are unrealistic.

They're not perfect, and they're cheesy and usually they sum up a relationship in one, maybe two montages of scenes. They remind us though of the moments where once upon a time we felt loved. A good romantic comedy will make you wonder: Is that possible? Even for me?

From the 'meet cute' moment to the the conversations and montages - from the arguments that inevitably happen to the reconciliation and sometimes a relationship - Romantic comedies paint a picture of something that is precious, and pure - they paint a picture of love. One we can see, and admire and lose ourselves in.

Even if it's only for a moment - they make us believe, and that's important. (Yeah, even if you're a guy.)