Romance Cliches

Romance Genre

Definition

The genre romance is when the plot of a film centres mainly on a relationship of love. The plot must be considerably interesting enough for the audience to have the characters’ emotions in mind and want the best for them despite the obstacles they may face. The story will focus on a relationship, and love between two people. Romance is a type of modern fairy tale.

There are lots of different clichés that appear in all romantic fiction films.

‘Mr. Right’ finds her initially annoying

At the beginning of a romantic film you don’t normally expect the two main characters to become a couple at the end. This makes the film more exciting and increases the audience’s interest. There is normally some difficulty in the path of the couple: perhaps one does not like the other for some mistaken reason, one is already in a relationship or a career or family is causing an obstacle.

Montages

A montage of the couple usually appears half way through the film and summarizes a mood or events that have happened in the last few months. Film makers sometimes use this technique as it stops detail becoming tedious and means they have more film space to add more detail to other scenes.

Love rival

At the beginning of the film the love interest doesn’t usually get on with the main character. This makes the film more exciting and less predictable at the end. It also builds suspense throughout the film as the audience aren’t sure if they will get together.

Pushy mother and subordinate father

In some romantic genre films there is a pushy mother or a subordinate father. This is usually the ‘villain’ in the film which adds good cop, bad cop. It gives the couple a difficulty they can triumph over and win against in the end. If the journey is too straight forward it does not make a good story.

Faithful side kick

In the film the main character and their love interest usually have a best friend in whom they can confide about their love life. This means that the audience can understand what they are feeling and know what’s going on all the time. It also usually adds a comedy aspect.

Coincidental bumping into each other

In romantic genre films sometimes the protagonists will bump into each other which causes ‘will they/ won’t they’ moments. This adds suspense and frustration to the film.  In a film of this type it is necessary to show how the characters first met and a quick accidental meeting is much snappier than a long drawn out acquaintance.

Happy ending

The end of most romantic films is positive. This will leave the audience believing that the two main characters’ love will last for the rest of their lives. However, this isn’t the case with some films for example Romeo and Juliet. These are known as romantic tragedies.  

The Film: Notting Hill

In the film Notting Hill a range of clichés are used. This adds predictability to the film. One of the clichés used is the relationship between Will Thacker and Anna Scott. This cliché is called ‘opposites attract’. Will owns an independent bookshop in Notting Hill and shares a small house with a room mate called Spike. In contrast to this Anna is a very well known and wealthy Hollywood actress living in America. This causes the audience to feel that this relationship will not work as they are so different and come from such diverse backgrounds. This is a strategy to make the unexpected happen in the end.

At the beginning of the film you find out that Will has been unlucky in love previously. This is another cliché as Will has lost his ‘Mrs. Wrong’. This grabs the audience’s attention from the start as they may feel they have been in the same situation and can identify with him. They also feel sorry for him and want things to turn out right for him in the end.

The part of ‘faithful side kick’ in this film is played by two characters: one being Spike who is Will’s room mate and the other being his bookshop colleague who has a much smaller part in the film. The function of Spike seems to be to add comedy to the film which lightens and contrasts with Will’s sadness. He is also someone that he can confide in about his relationship with Anna so that we know how he is feeling. Will’s conversations with his bookshop colleague enable us to see that Will’s love life is not his only problem: the business is going badly too.

Another cliché which we encounter at the beginning of the film is the ‘coincidental bumping into each other’. Will and Anna get to know each other through a minor accident in which Will spills orange juice over Anna. This causes the audience to think will they/ wont they get together? This adds unpredictability as they are not sure what will happen.

In the middle of the film you find out that Anna has a boyfriend which is a cliché as Will then has the competition which adds interest to the film.

The end of Notting Hill is happy as Will and Anna get on really well and end up marrying. The happy ending is a fairly predictable one for a romantic film of this type. It is what the audience have been wanting to happen.