The Princess Bride: Romance, Comedy, or Romantic Comedy?

The Princess Bride is a comedy that has stood the test of time and is known for its great storytelling. It begins with a boy who is home sick and his grandpa comes to read to him. As he reads, the viewer then watches the story, so much so that you forget it’s even being told. Within the book, Wesley, a farm hand, is in love with a girl named Buttercup but he is sent off to sea where he becomes the “Dread Pirate Roberts” in secrecy and fakes his own death. Buttercup’s heartbreak makes her vow to never love again. Then there are Inigo, Vezzini, and Fezzik. These are three con men who want to start a war between Florin and Guilder by kidnapping the princess to-be, Buttercup. Throughout the rest of the movie these main characters become friends, enemies, lovers, and teammates.

The Princess Bride shows characteristics of almost all types of comedy, the first being farce. Although it uses satire and a deeper sense of comedy, there also still those comedic moments when, for example, the Albino gets hit on the head so hard he becomes unconscious, Inigo falls face first into his food, and when Fezzik and Inigo play childish rhyming games. If The Princess Bride was only a farce, it would still be a fantastic movie, but they take their comedy even further.

The Princess Bride is also a romantic comedy because the heart of the story is love story between Wesley and Buttercup. However, because of the funny lines, exaggerated action, things that clearly are not real or are clearly staged, The Princess Bride isn’t just a romance movie.

The Princess Bride is clearly a satirical movie. From the beginning, the movie has many fairy tale elements: princesses, castles, true love, happy endings, but they are mocked and the story doesn’t turn out the way a normal fairy tale would. The wittiest character is by far Wesley, who is constantly shooting others down with his sarcasm and mockery. With each clever line, Wesley has the audience cracking up by the ends of his scenes. The movie also does a great job of pulling the reader into the “fairy tale” story, but right when you become really devoted to it, it flashes back to the reality of the grandpa and grandson. These two characters add a lot to the comedy of the movie because they mock and judge the story, emphasizing how much it isn’t a fairy tale.

Finally, almost every character is changed by the end of the movie. Every character has a motive that drives them forward, avoiding any flat characters. For example, Inigo wants to avenge his father’s death, Wesley wants to reunite with Buttercup, and Prince Humperdink wants to take over both the lands as king. The only flat character is Buttercup, the damsel in distress, who really serves no purpose other than being saved.

The Princess Bride is anything but unadaptable to the modern era. The jokes and comedy have stood the test of time and never fail to make the audience laugh.

Blogging Comedy

Write a blog post in which you defend or dismiss dramatic Comedy — as Aristotle defines it — as a meaningful art form. Whatever side you take, focus on one example of a long-form Comedic work and analyze how it enhances — or fails to enhance — our understanding of the world (the human condition, human nature, etc). You can bring up other works in order to demonstrate that your example is part of a broader trend — or an exception to the trend — but the bulk of your post should be a specific look at one work.

If you are looking for some ideas, check out this New York Times article on “Movies to Stream on Valentine’s Day, Whatever Your Mood.”

27 Dresses

What is a dramatic comedy? Dramatic comedy is a drama where the characters experience a change for the better and work things out with hope for the future.

In the movie 27 dresses, the main character, Jane is a perennial bridesmaid who always puts her needs of others before her own, making her the go-to gal whenever someone needs help with wedding plans. So when Janes younger sister Tess is about the marry the mane that Jane secretly is in love with. Jane finds herself questioning her role as a wedding junkie or the first time in her life which is a really big deal in the movie. Later on in the movie, a reporter sees Janes unusual story as his ticked off the bridal beat and soon they become connected and then Jane forgets about the man she uses to be in love with.

I thought this was a really good example of dramatic comedy because the main character, Jane will experience something better where she is questioning herself for a good reason and how she is doing this to find herself again. By questioning her job she has had her whole life to then questioning if she is still in love with the man she has known for a long time. In the end, Jane meets a very nice and handsome reporter who helps her find herself again and helps her realize that she isn't in love with the man who she thought she would be. The man who helped her along all of this is actually the man who she will fall in love with and she will still be helping plan wedding like she has been all of her life.

Much Ado About Comedy

Much Ado About Nothing, one of William Shakespeare's famous comedies, is a prime example representing themes and motifs required of Aristotle for a comedy: sexual jokes (yes, actually, the great Shakespeare rarely gets through a play without sex jokes), romance, the rise in fortune of the fools, Dogberry and his crew, Benedick and Beatrice, and Hero and Claudio, and a happy ending.
Sex and romance are clear leading themes in the play, with the immediate attraction between Hero and Claudio upon first sight, as well as the evident dramatic history between Benedick and Beatrice, with an not-so-subtle underlying sexual tension. Shakespeare explores the folly of human nature in romance through the antithesized relationship between Ben and Bea, as their actions clearly counteract their deepest feelings and what they truly want. Additionally, through Claudio's misinterpretation of Hero's loyalty and chastity- one can argue Shakespeare even subtly criticizes the then present social taboo of women's sexual freedom by weighing it against Claudio's loyalty to Hero, and even the importance of true love itself.
And, as with any Shakespeare play, there are the bumbling fools, Dogberry and his watch, the equivalent of Dwight Shrute's volunteer sheriff's deputy position- basically fake police. This group slapsticks their way through trying to acquire occupational respect, and consequently accidentally succeeding and catching the "bad guys" and saving the day, without ever really realizing the gravity of their actions.
This double edged romantic comedy is brilliant because with it's two simultaneous love stories, Shakespeare presents opposing relationships, flips them, and then brings them to the same happy ending. The play is just a long taunting of the audience. Most importantly, it deals with real, sincere situations that many can relate to, and simply emphasizes and colors it in. That's why Shakespeare is so timeless, because despite era, the human condition and the inherently genuine dilemma's humans face stay constant.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

It’s a quirky story about two people who meet by chance (so it seems). Andie, the protagonist, works for one of the fastest growing beauty magazine companies. She is a deep, intellectual woman yet she is known as “Andie Anderson, the How to Girl”. To save her friend by proposing a unique story, Andie must emanate all the mistakes that women make to lose the guy such as being too clingy, possessive, and moody. Benjamin Barry, on the other hand, works for an advertising and specializes in “sports and beer”. In an attempt to obtain the chance to make a pitch to his company’s new client, a diamond provider, Benjamin is set up by his co-worker competitors to make a girl fall in love with him in ten days. Benjamin’s competitors who know about Andie’s article, match them together.

The story follows with Andie making the “common” mistakes testing Ben’s limits and Ben learning how to manage her. This relationship satisfies Aristotle’s definition of a comedy because Andie and Ben are obviously compatible (as seen during their first meeting), but their rise for power in their jobs forces them apart (although, ironically, it brought them together at first). The hurdles they face are their conflicting objectives and the importance they associate with their jobs. Though humorous, the mingling between the two is more meaningful than it seems. Similar to Pride and Prejudice, Andie acts as the stereotypical drama queen concerning herself in minuscule details when Ben just tries to cope with the relationship he is in. The twist, however, is that they are insanely compatible and only realize this once they escape New York and stay with Ben’s family. Only there can they be true as they are away from the societal pressures of the city and immersed in family life. This reveals that people are not always as they seem for a plethora of reasons.

As Andie quits her job in the end because her promotion does not allow her to write about what she really care about: politics and social events, she realizes that by trying to play the game of being an author of a cliche women’s magazine, she is not being true to herself. Ben also realizes this as he upgrades himself from “sports and beer” to diamonds. Here, both of the characters break through the barriers of stereotypes to discover that they can be whatever they want to be and that they love each other (of course, because it is a romantic comedy). Thus, the takeaway is that one should not let stereotypes and societal expectations hinder them from being true to themselves. The movie does this through over exaggerating the cliche dramatic relationship, thus demeaning it and instead letting a genuine relationship rise with the fall of the facade they both upheld.

My Fair Lady

I think that very few comedies can be considered meaningful. In fact, the meaning in comedies is not apparent or easily found. The reader or viewer must be intentional in their search. For instance, I easily enjoyed reading the "original" comedy, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, but once I finished I just as easily forgot the novel due to its lack of obvious meaning and importance, like that found in tragedies such as King Lear.

Nevertheless, I think there is something to be said about the humor and love stories of Jane Austen's novels and some of Shakespeare's plays such as "Twelfth Night", "As You Like It", and "The Taming of the Shrew". By crafting humor with irony and contrasting it with the seriousness of love, readers can take these works seriously and not just as entertainment for women. These comedies are the exception, though, as many more modern comedies use too little irony and satire for their humor and more ridiculous or extreme circumstances to convey a love story thus making the work less meaningful.

For example, the popular romantic musical "My Fair Lady," taken from the play "Pygmalion" by George Shaw, has many situational similarities to Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" though the characters are a little different. "My Fair Lady" is clearly a comedy as Aristotle defined it. The heroine (Eliza Doolittle) is a young women clearly of a low class due to her unclean clothes and accented, harsh speech. A somewhat abusive man takes on the challenge of transforming her into a lady and the sympathetic heroine rises in fortune through her new knowledge of what it means to be proper and her relationship with the man. This musical enhances the viewers understanding of love as something that can overcome the oftentimes ridiculousness of social classes. Furthermore, it emphasizes how love develops in the wake of prejudices such as sexism and misogyny. This musical is one example of a meaningful romantic comedy that should not be dismissed as trivial.

Wholesome Humor

While a work of tragedy leaves the audience with a feeling of catharsis, I think the wholesomeness comedy brings with its finale is enough to also categorize it as a great art form. I think one of the main reasons people don’t think comedy can be as meaningful is because it can be ruined by trashy, cliche moments so quickly. But when done right, the either dreaded or beloved “rom com” can bring a feeling of wholesomeness that matches the catharsis that comes from a tragedy.

For example, She’s the Man, which is a modern take on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, takes the audience through mischief, humor, despair, and love, and ultimately has a happy ending. I admit that the “in the end, the athletic fun girl gets the mysterious but caring jock” chord is struck a little hard by this movie, I still think it qualifies as a comedy because of the investment the audience gets in the character’s lives. By the end of the movie, however corny it may be, you are happy to see Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum get together.

She’s The Man, and of course by extension Twelfth Night, is also a qualified comedy because it enhances our understanding of the world through the construction of gender roles in modern times. Amanda Bynes’ character, Viola, goes undercover as her brother to train with the men’s soccer team at her brother’s school, after the girl’s program was cut at her school, in hopes of beating her own school’s men’s team. Viola is not the typical “jock,” but ends up falling for him, and her experience in this role as a man shows the audience in a comedic but earnest way that there is not right or wrong way to be a gender, and that being your authentic self is the best thing you can be, no matter what it feels like other people or society are telling you.

The Breakfast Club

The movie, The Breakfast Club, was written and directed by John Hughes in 1985. The Breakfast Club is one of the most popular movies of all time and rightfully so. The movie is about five different people who all have to spend a day together in saturday detention. Each person in the detention represent a different high school stereotype such as jocks, nerds, goths, rich people, and fall outs. They are all in saturday detention for different reasons.  The film follows these five people and their transformation throughout the eight hour detention.

The students pass the time in detention by talking, arguing, fighting, and breaking the rules set by the teacher watching over them. Over time, each of the characters open up to each other and reveal some of their deepest personal secrets. What they learn from this is that they have all come from abusive households and all of their parents hold them to very high standards. This allows them to realize that even though they all come from very different backgrounds and are apart of different social groups in high school, they have things in common. They find out that even with their differences, they are face similar problems in their life which allows them to bond with one another. The experience that these kids had in detention changed how they all looked at their peers after the day was over.

I believe that The Breakfast Club helps people and students in particular to realize that we all share things in common and we all are not what everyone thinks we are. Everybody has problems and things that they have to deal with that they cover up to fit into a particular group or social norm. Every person in this world has an identity that has been shaped by their peers and family. This movie helped show the audience that everybody has more to offer and are completely different people than their groups indicate. For example, in the beginning of the movie Brian says that this detention consists of "a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Throughout the movie, we realize that there is much more to these characters then their description and by interacting with one another, the characters are able to find that out. In the movie, we find out that everybody is not all that happy with their lives. The two popular kids, Claire and Andrew, are not all that happy with their life. Everybody thinks that the nerd, Brian, has his whole life figured out but he actually does not and it tired of doing all this work just because his parents expect it of him.

I think that The Breakfast Club does a great job of reminding us that not everyone is who we think they are and that we all have things in common. The film helps us to realize that nobody is perfect, everyone has flaws, and it is ok to have those flaws because they help shape who you are. Lastly, the movie does a great job of showing the audience that just because you label someone and certain way and put them into a particular group does not mean that they fit that description or want to be a part of that social norm. The Breakfast Club is one of the most famous movies of all time and it does a great job of using dramatic comedy to enhance our understanding of the society we live in.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Here's a Sparknotes summary of A Midsummer Night's Dream

By now we all have read work from William Shakespeare, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. One work of his that has stuck out is A Midsummer Night's Dream. This play is a perfect example of a romantic comedy, introducing young lovers who fall in and out of love for a fleeting moment. Their real world problems are solved magically, enemies reconcile, and true lovers reunite in the end. The function of comedy is to entertain the audience, while also portraying social institutions and persons as corrupt, and mock them through satirizing, parodying, and poking fun at their debauchery. Plays are primarily concerned with idealized love affairs, it is a fact that love never goes smoothly; however true love can overcome difficulties and end with a happy union.

While the Shakespearean comedy is romantic, it mixes the light and the serious. Follies are exposed and ridiculed, but the laughter is gentile and sympathetic. We laugh with the people and not at them. Romantic love is the theme of this play, naturally this comedy was a story of love ending in marriage. The whole atmosphere of this comedy is filled with love. One line that really sticks out across the whole play and that embodies the overall message is "the course of true love never did run smooth" spoken by Lysander from the opening scene in act 1.

Comedy, specifically this kind of romantic comedy, is very meaningful. Nowadays most of us view comedy as a vehicle to only entertain, not teach. But Shakespeare's comedy introduces a universal truth that surpasses time. The truth that "the course of true love never did run smooth" is a part of every intimate relationship we will experience in our life. The play teaches us that though true love may not go the way we intended, it will (hopefully!) end with a happy ending. It also teaches us that you cannot take love too seriously, it requires the balance between comedy and honesty. Although this may seem cheesy, this is something that is relevant to all our lives, present and future.

Groundhog Day: A Romantic Comedy

Groundhog Day, directed by Harold Ramis in 1993, stars Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. This comedy involves the Bill Murray, playing Phil Connors, a weatherman who travels to a small town in Pennsylvania to cover a Groundhog Day festival and Rita Hanson, a news producer. After some interesting time stops, Phil and Rita fall in love and leave the town together. 

On the way to the town, he grumbles about having to go on this assignment and his coverage is mediocre at best. He wants to leave but a storm prevents them from traveling back to Pittsburgh. Phil Connors fits Aristotle's idea of a comic hero. The citizens in the town fit his idea of ordinary people. They are all going about there day. Some work in the diner, others are delivering the mail, some are headed to work. One steps into a big puddle on their way to work. In the morning, he wakes up on Groundhog Day again. He goes throughout the day thinking he is in a dream but wakes up the next day back on Groundhog Day. He realizes he is stuck in the town and everyday starts back at Groundhog Day. In order to try and break the loop, he commits suicide dozens of different times. This always fails and he starts to fall in love with Rita. After a seemingly perfect day, it starts all over again.

Bill Murray then commits himself to helping the town and spends years honing different skills, such as becoming a piano master, mechanic, and learning when and were someone would be choking in a restaurant. He wakes up one morning and travels around the town with Rita and is always in the right place at the right time. He tells her that no matter what, he will always love her. The two then leave and when they wake up in the morning, it is finally the day after Groundhog Day. 

Groundhog Day is a meaningful art form that expresses a bigger meaning of what is the purpose in life. Phil Connors lived the same day over and over again and did whatever he wanted. Over time, he began to use his predicament as a tool to help others. Little by little he starts to help people in the town. He fixes a car, saves a choking man, and makes everyone else have a great day. He learns compassion for others and what he can do for others in his lifetime.

How Greek is Roman Holiday?

When you hear someone say "romantic comedy", what do you think of? My mind immediately turns to Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck crashing through cafe tables and veering in front of buses on a runaway scooter.

1953's Roman Holiday follows Ann, the princess of an unnamed country, goes on a tour of large European cities. Frustrated with her busy, controlling schedule, she sneaks out of the embassy to experience Rome on her own. Under the influence of a sleeping drought, the princess, under the alias "Anya Smith", is taken in by an American reporter who takes her through Rome. The film, preserved in the US National Film Registry, is a regular on "Best Romantic Comedies of All Time" rankings. The film even calls itself an "immortal comedy-romance" on its promotional posters, but just how comedic (according to Aristotle) is Roman Holiday?

No one can deny the like-ability of Roman Holiday's heroine, Princess Ann, and, though she may be royalty, Ann longs for a freer, more ordinary life. Ann's "nobility", like Aristotle's comedic hero, is not derived from her blood, but from her charming personality, endearing quirks, and free spirit. In addition, despite her royal status, Ann's desire to escape, if only briefly, the pressures of her life is very ordinary. Ann does not face politics, death, serious betrayal, or other extraordinary problems. Her romance with Joe Bradley is, in less elegant terms, textbook dreamy, yet inaccessible due to Ann's royal obligations.

In a classic romantic comedy, Ann and Joe would find some way to overcome their barriers, reconcile, and marry. This plot point, however, is where Roman Holiday diverges from the classic definition of comedy. The film ends with Ann ultimately deciding to return to her royal responsibilities and bidding Joe farewell. Joe watches Ann's final interview, Ann secretly professes her love and admiration of Joe, and Joe is left alone, to wonder what might have been. The film's ending nearly disqualifies it from Aristotle's definition of comedy. However, Ann is still young, lively, and bright; abandoning her life in blind pursuit of love, while it may have been romantic, would not have been wise. Ann will, instead of providing the audience with the easy satisfaction of seeing true love prevail, carry her "Roman Holiday" as a fond memory, and retain some of the youthful abandon that carried her through her adventures. Things might seem more glum on Joe's end, but this is Ann's story, a story that launched Audrey Hepburn into fame because of its resonance.

The notion can seem bleak, but almost everyone has something they've given up on. Maybe not every dream meets Hughe's prevised fate. Roman Holiday manipulates the comedic form to deliver an important, albeit concealed message. The true comedy in Roman Holiday isn't Peck's "Mouth of Truth" gag, or Joe and Irving giving up the pictures of Ann, but in Ann's growth: learning to balance responsibility and freedom.

Love Actually: Actually Pretty Meaningful

Love Actually is one of the most popular romantic comedies in America, especially with its holiday theme its hard not to love. Although it is a crowd pleaser, it makes you laugh, cry and even cringe, it also teaches its audience a great deal about the human experience and human nature itself.

As Love Actually shows its different characters and their stories of love, different aspects of human nature, both painful and happy, are revealed. One of the most powerful scenes for me is when Juliet discovers that Mark, her husband's best friend, is in love with her because all of his footage of her wedding is focused on her face only. This scene evokes painful sympathetic painful emotions in the audience for Mark. Although this may be a tough scene to watch,  it shows the audience the uncomfortable truth about how love doesn't always end the way we had expected it to. Movies don't often depict this kind of one-sided love, so its inclusion in a romantic comedy like Love Actually is unique and powerful.

Another character form Love Actually also shows the less popular, painful side to love. Karen finds out that her husband, and the father to her two children has a much younger mistress. As Karen weeps to a Joni Mitchell album, the audience is again shown a painful side of the human experience. Not only does the movie again show us a form of one-sided love, but also the sorrow of heartbreak and the death of love.

Love Actually is a meaningful art form because it shows the audience the more uncomfortable and painful scenes to depict a more honest view of the true human experience. Although some characters to have happy and joyful moments, Love Actually also shows us heartbroken and hurt characters so as to honestly show us the truth about love.

How I Met Comedy... Or Didn't

Four years ago, How I Met Your Mother released its final episode which left many viewers in shock. The moment we have all been waiting for was quickly taken away. Ted, the narrator who we waited nine years for to find his wife, found her, but then she seemed to have died much more quickly. In the final moments, we see Ted and Robin (his girlfriend from the very beginning of the show) leave for a date without ever getting to see the long term romance between Ted and his wife.

The show, at the time, definitely satisfied my conception of comedy. It had hilarious jokes alongside random and silly events that just made it funny. It was the funniest (and, really, the only comedy) I had seen. However, if comedy, according to Aristotle, demonstrated the rise in fortune of a sympathetic character, then How I Met Your Mother wasn't cutting it for me.

Sure, we see Ted advance in his career and eventually find love with his wife (who's name I don't even remember because that's how insignificant they made her seem to me). But then she dies. This part seems more tragic than comedic. I suppose we can account for his rekindling his romance with Robin as the ultimate rise, but the rise at the expense of the titled Mother didn't seem comedic.

Throughout the nine seasons we get to see Ted and Robin act as a couple, but we were lead to believe they didn't work together. If we group this show into the romantic comedy, then Ted and Robin would apparently have to be meant for each other. Are we supposed to just ignore all the other times their relationship didn't work out? Are we supposed to believe there was love all along when we didn't get the chance to see it develop in the final season? Maybe I am wrong and there was love all along; I was just blind to it.

Additionally, Ted may have passed the ordinary person role of comedy, but as for a sympathetic central character- that is debatable. I never really had the biggest appreciation for him. Yes, he was a reasonable guy, but he was never my favorite. In fact, I found him as one of the more annoying characters of the central group. I feel like the other characters could have been more sympathetic than Ted for many viewers.

Maybe the whole show was a satire for how, in this day and age, people don't marry the right person all the time; or maybe the message in the end was that a person will always find their true love regardless of the path it takes to get there. But, I cannot group it into Aristotle's definition of comedy.

Regardless of Aristotle's definition, How I Met Your Mother is still a fantastic show, and by far, funnier than Pride and Prejudice.

La La Land's Life Lessons

Nominated for 14 Oscars, La La Land is, at least in the minds of many critics, one of the best films of the year. It had what the Academy loves most: A focus on Hollywood itself, and incredibly long takes. There has been significant debate about whether it deserved the 14 nominations, but there's another debate right along side it.

Is La La Land a comedy?

In many aspects, it easily fits the mold. We have two sympathetic comic heroes in Mia, portrayed by Emma Stone, and Sebastian, portrayed by Ryan Gosling. The audience is attached to them from the get go and really invested in their characters' development. While Sebastian may seem like a pretentious loser at first, we eventually grow to love him and his passion for Jazz. As for Mia, the viewers can immediately relate to her struggles, even though most of us have never given up our lives to move to Hollywood.

Mia and Sebastian also represent normal people, just two twenty-somethings chasing their dreams in southern California. They aren't movie stars or famous musicians, just regular struggling artists like everyone else. They aren't yet faced with the challenges of upscale Hollywood life, but they endeavor the same Layman's troubles that any one of us do, no matter the situation.

But here's the controversy, and, be warned, spoiler ahead: They don't end up together. We spend the whole movie rooting for these two people and their relationship just to see it end in the final act of the film. And sure, this may not match the typical Hollywood script or the traditional comedic style of a marriage at the end, but it makes the work meaningful, and doesn't detract from it's stance as a comedy.

At its core, a comedy is the rise of a central sympathetic character, or in this case, characters. While they don't end up together in the end, they both achieve what they were striving for the whole time. In fact, their success is what causes them to split, and without their departure from one another, they wouldn't have seen their dreams come to fruition. We do still see the rise of these two characters, despite their loss of each other.

Besides, if they stayed together, it would be just another Hollywood romance story, something the world has too many of already. But now, it's something that's more realistic, something more close to home. It reminds us that we can't have everything in life, and sometimes achieving our dreams comes at a cost. Everyone makes sacrifices in their life, and we see Mia and Sebastian's played out on screen. Sure they don't end up together, but in the end they're not sad. Nostalgic with a touch of melancholy, sure, but not sad. And, as an audience, we learn a lesson. We see that even though we don't have everything, we can still have a happy ending.

Bridal Sisterhood

When it comes to romantic comedies there are very few movies that pass the Bechdel Test.  The Bechdel Test is an evaluation in whether or not a film or other work of fiction portrays women in a sexist way or characterizes them by gender stereotyping.  To pass the Bechdel test a work must feature at least two women, these women must talk to each other, and their conversation must concern something other than a man.

One of the strongest female friendly rom-coms I´ve stumbled upon is Bridesmaids.  Primarily because it displays one of the most grotesque yet honest scenes on television, proving that yes, women poop too.

This movie features not one, but seven leading ladies as bridesmaids.  And yet, many of the conversations had did not involve the groom or any other men at all.  This movie illuminated a topic that usually does not get a lot of love in romantic comedies.  Female friendship and or the bond of sisterhood.

This movie was written by women (Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo) and made for women.  The women betrayed in this story are heavily flawed and spend the majority of the film trying to figure out who they are along with the world and all of its influences on them.  

This film exposes the truth.  Women are humans just like anybody else.  We make mistakes, we don´t always have the answer for everything, and we´re not objects that are going to sit around and be told what to do.

The protagonist, Annie, ends up with the guy in the end but instead of a ¨happily ever after¨ feel, the film ends with a, ¨happy for right now¨ tone.  Which in my opinion, is much more realistic.

Aristotle defines romantic comedies as a meaningful art form.  All in all I agree with him, as long as the women in the film are treated with respect.  From the beginning of time, society has formed stereotypes for women.  Films, media, and other social platforms that follow those stereotypes only inflate and plague the minds of girls wherever it can reach them.  Meaningful art forms such as Bridesmaids should be praised for the messages they are spreading and expand on those ideas instead of the poisonous ideologies that have been a part of society since the beginning of time.

If you would like to learn more about The Bechdel Test, please refer to the link below 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLF6sAAMb4s

You Aren't Laughing? Inconthevable!

According to Aristotle's definition, for a piece of performance work to be classified as a comedy, it must simply include a likable-enough character who ends up rectified and happy by the end of his or her story. The most common type of comedy takes form in the Romantic Comedy, in which the center plot is a love story between usually young, attractive and destined-for-each other couple who are kept apart due to pesky extenuating circumstances. Nevertheless, the two surpass all obstacles between them and end up living happily ever after. "The Princess Bride" certainly fits the bill of this type of entertainment.

This cinematic masterpiece depicts the epic tale of a young stable boy's rise to higher-level bandit-hood as he attempts to steal back the woman whom he fell in love with before she was taken away to be married to the evil Prince of the Land. Wesley, as he is known, and his Buttercup lived on a farm for years while he secretly adored her from a far. Then, literally two weeks before Wesley is drafted into the military, Buttercup realizes the love she has for him and the two vow to find each other again and spend the rest of their lives together no matter what blockades presently stand between them. Buttercup is left alone for sixty days - mourning the loss of her love - until she is brought to the palace where she begins the process of becoming a princess. In that time, Wesley assumes the identity of the Dreaded Pirate Roberts whose legacy is infamous among sea travelers. Buttercup is kidnapped by looters (who comprise three of the best movie characters ever written) and they hold her captive, declaring they will return her only after they receive a generous bounty. After battles of sword, wit and strength, Wesley is reunited with Buttercup and the fire of their love is reignited. Their happiness does not last long as the pair is promptly hunted down by the Prince's army; Buttercup is returned to the palace and Wesley is thrown in the Pit of Despair (a kinky torture chamber and brain child of the Prince's six-fingered right hand man). Wesley fights some more people, the men he battled with to save Buttercup find him and rescue him, the trio of men meet up with some miracle workers until, finally, they storm the palace and save Buttercup before she is wed to the disgusting Prince. The two ride off into the sunset to live happily ever after.

Now that the plot is understood, the question becomes what, if anything, this movie has to say about the inter workings of society.  The answer is yes and the reasons are what make the movie as well-received and beloved as it is. Buttercup is not your typical 'damsel in distress' nor is Wesley your typical hero. Buttercup is an agent in her own right. Though she requires a man for her salvation - what woman during that time period didn't? - she takes risks and experiences sorrow and torment of her own and through it all, never gives up hope that justice will rule. Wesley, on the other hand is a stable-boy turned fraudulent robber. He was trained in the art of deceit that, combined with sword skills and a hell of a lot of good luck, allowed him to exploit people and get what he wanted from them. He is driven by his unwavering love for Buttercup but little else. This juxtaposition of a female psychological hero and a capable male love bird speaks directly to the gender roles that tend to dominate society. The fact that the pair end up happily together is representative of the ideal that love that is meant to be overcomes all. In this way, "The Princess Bride" is a comedic tool.

Nicholas Sparks, Master of the Rom-Com

Nicholas Spark's, "The Notebook" has been classified as being a well-loved romantic comedy. Although the movie is not funny, it fits the definition of romantic comedies almost spot on. The difference, however, is that the ending is not particularly happy since one of the main characters has Alzheimer's disease and goes on to die. The movie starts out with in the typical way, youngsters falling in love. Much of the movie is about their
time spent together as teenagers learning the meaning of love and discovering more about themselves. Later on, however, things take a turn. The two lovers are forced to split when Allie, the main female character, is told she can never see her boyfriend Noah again, by her parents. While this may have been unexpected for the watcher of the movie, it follows the definition of a romantic comedy exactly.

The movie then fast forwards to a later year where Allie is shown with her husband. Although he is a successful, nice man, the spark that she and Noah had lacks in her marriage. When Allie sees a picture in the newspaper of Noah and the dream house that he promised to build for Allie when they were seventeen, she decides to take a trip to go see him. After being with him for three days, the two are completely in love again.

Here lies the problem in the story. Allie is still married to her husband and has now just committed adultery. She thanks Noah for the few wonderful days that they had together but insists on going back to her life with her husband since that is what is "right". Noah, on the other hand, is left all alone yet again. He is heartbroken and he lacks drive to find another love.

After the two realize that they are not happy apart, they come together once more for good, thus completing the definition of a romantic comedy. The movie strays from the definition, however, towards the end of the movie. When Allie is shown very sick with Alzheimer's Disease, it takes away from the "happy ending" that is necessary in this type of movie. One could argue that it is horribly sad that Allie and Noah spent so much time apart and when they were finally reunited, Allie was not mentally there. Another could say that it dying in the arms of your true love is the best way to go.

Either way, the movie "The Notebook" demonstrates the intensification of first loves. It shows how passion never really goes away and that true love always trumps success and content.

Elderly Looking Greek Women Can Be Beautiful Too!

In My Big Fat Greek Wedding, a movie of romantic comedy, a young, yet elderly looking, greek woman wants to get a job and wed a greek man. According to Aristotle, a comic heroine must be a somewhat average person, but must have charm in order for the audience to root for this heroine's happy ending. Toula, the main character, fits Aristotle's description of a comic heroine. She is average, but is smart. Her charm comes from her ineptitudes because her family makes light of these deficiencies. Over the course of the movie, Toula dates a white man, not greek at all. Their big hurdle is getting Toula's father's approval of her boyfriend, Ian.

Our basic human nature is to have sex and procreate. In today's society, however, our human want is love. It is in the nature of today's society to get a job, fall in love, get married, and have children. My Big Fat Greek Wedding exemplifies this human need to be happy in life and with another person. When the movie begins, she is average. Throughout the movie, she fights with her dad to let her be independent. She pursues this goal and goes to college to get a job at Aunt Voula's travel agency. Soon after, Toula fulfills another societal expectation and basic human need when she meets Ian at the travel agency. She sees him run into an old lady and the old lady hits him with her bag. Soon after Toula moves to greet him, but she is connected to her headset and falls over. Toula transforms into looking like an elderly woman, to a beautiful attractive young lady dating a man. My Big Fat Greek Wedding fulfills Aristotle's most important rule for a romantic comedy: the hero and heroine get married. This romantic comedy explains the path that most people in today's society want to follow at some point in their lives.

13 Going On 30

13 Going on 30 is a Romantic Comedy that mixes the comedy of a love story with a life lesson of the beauty of living in the moment. Jenna is a teenage girl going through middle school with the common desire to be a popular girl. She has one best friend, Matt, that she does everything with. At her 13th birthday party, the popular girls decided to ditch her, leading her wishing to be turning 30, instead of 13. Her wish comes true thanks to the magical dust of her dollhouse that Matt built, and her life is transformed when she wakes up as a beautiful, successful 30-year old woman with a high-ranking job and an athletic boyfriend. Jenna is naturally confused and tries to make sense of her new surroundings. She tries to meet up her with Matt to figure out what happened to her, but their meeting does not go well. Along the way, Jenna realizes the nasty things that she did in order to get to be the successful person that she is today. She realizes that the 30-year old popular girl is not all that its cracked up to be, and wishes that she would have been content with herself. Matt finally gives Jenna a chance. From that moment on, a love-story is set in motion as the two begin a journey to rekindle their love and friendship that began 20 years ago. Eventually the two get married and complete their love story as Jenna returns to her 13-year old self and changes her attitude about her desire to be popular and instead stays her true self.

A romantic comedy requires two well-matched lovers to overcome the obstacles and eventually be united. 13 Going on 30 Meets that criteria when Jenna reunites with her childhood best friend Matt, and the two develop a romantic connection. Their marriage at the end of the movie gives the story a fantastical happy ending that is typical of Romantic movies. Aristotle´s criteria of a comedy states that there must be a rise in the fortune of a central character. 13 Going on 30 satisfies this criteria and Jenna clearly climbs the societal totem pole as she obtains a fantastic job and popularity.

This movie uses humor to illustrate the irony in the saying ¨I wish I was an adult¨. Jenna learns that her life was just perfect as a teenager and that the adult world is not all that it seems to be. Jenna´s awkwardness as an adult illustrates the theme of the movie while also keeping it lighthearted and laughter filled. Jenna also realizes that being a popular girl ruined her friendship with Matt and how it was not worth it. Through humor, this movie helps the viewer learn that it is important to enjoy your age in life, because there are benefits to each stage in life that will not exist in the next stage of life.

Juno It's Funny!

The romantic comedy Juno does an amazing job mixing the hardships of teenage years and the comedy those years bring. The film is about Juno, a sixteen year-old junior in high school living in Minnesota who discovers she is pregnant with her best friend Bleeker's baby. Although this film covers a hard topic such as adoption, abortion, and teen-pregnancy, it sometimes keeps a light heartened, funny tone. The main character, Juno keeps a very sarcastic dialogue throughout the entire film, making her character not seem pathetic but charming and goofy. Juno's relationship with Bleeker also encompasses any awkward, suburban high-school type relationship that the viewer cringes watching, but also keeps a smile on your face. The whole movie uses witty dialogue to help the viewer stay upbeat through the hard times of the movie, like when Juno is contemplating abortion or when the father who is trying to adopt Juno's baby tries to make a pass at her.

By keeping a light tone but hitting somewhat controversial topics, the movie accurately portrays how it is important in life to have a sense of humor and optimism. Even when Juno tells her parents that she is pregnant, of course they were disappointed, but they also were very calm and still able to crack jokes. In life, I think it is important to take life as it comes and not to get so down when something doesn't go your way. As the common phrase goes, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!" Juno uses comedy to help the viewer grasp the dramatic, heavy topics and keep the mood endearing and light. Although Juno and Bleeker don't necessarily get married at the end, they do end up together and this ending makes sense more because of the modern setting and the ages of the characters. Although this movie doesn't follow the strict boundaries of a dramatic comedy where the characters experience a change for the better and work things out with the hope for the future, the change that Juno experiences helps her become a more complex, understanding person in the future. The change, or becoming pregnant, isn't necessarily a change for the "better", but I think the movie shows that life will go on and in the end, Juno found her happiness from the experience of being pregnant. Overall, I think the film promotes hope and optimism from coping with the turns life may give you.