Romance movies often get a bad reputation, but is the genre really that terrible?
Everyone has their own opinions about what makes a good movie. And despite how passionate you may be about the quality of the movie, it truly comes down to individual preference. It’s a lot like having a ‘type’ when you search for a romantic partner. No matter how much you hate to admit it, you always find yourself going back to that one same cookie-cutter type that you know will crush your soul at the end.
With that being said, there are some patterns in the genres that consistently receive public praise and those that fall flat. While the quality of a movie may come down to a matter of opinion, some genres are simply better positioned for success than others. Let’s talk about the top three worst movie genres of all time.
One of those genres that often gets the short end of the stick is the romance genre. This genre seems to have more avid haters than any other genre. So much so that a jewelry company ranked each U.S. state’s most popular ‘bad’ romance movie (spoiler alert, ‘Something Borrowed’ is a fan favorite).
But in reality, the romance genre isn’t all that different from the murder mysteries or the slapstick comedies of the world. Sure, it follows a starkly different tempo and storyline and draws an entirely different audience, but are the two hours spent watching a Nicholas Sparks tearjerker all that different from one produced by Quentin Tarantino?
Romance movies get a bad reputation because they’re just close enough to reality to paint a picture of a situation that could very much happen to us, but far enough that it’s usually grossly unattainable. Similar to the concept of how editing an Instagram photo can make us feel bad about ourselves, a perfect love story displays one more thing to compare our own life to.
Of course, not all movies in a given genre are the same. Just because a movie gets labeled as a rom com, does not mean it’s not worth watching. In fact, even among the worst romance movies, the average film brought in a respectable $61 million.
So next time you or your friend avoids watching a romance movie, stop and think about it. Give it a shot and watch it with an open mind, you may just find your newest favorite genre.
