What makes romance movies so good?

Fair warning: there's a ton of spoilers.

Being a romantic that loves a good romance movie... (Can we talk about how there are so many of them?!) I've asked myself this same question. (Can we also talk about how every cover is just them kissing in the rain? Is this really the greatest portrayal of love? Not sure about that, yet apparently every movie creator in the world thinks so).

What makes romance movies so good?

Because when analyzing, the result I found didn't actually make that much sense. Particularly, my favorite genre of romance movies are Jane Austen movies - such as - Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice...and shows like Bridgerton...these are the time period that I love. The late 1700s and early 1800s...set in England. But even if taking in other time periods such as Disney's Ever After, or The Notebook, all of these romance movies have a theme in common.

Can you guess what it is?

The theme is that all of the love interests - of all of these movies and shows - just can't COMMUNICATE for the life of them. Seriously, the romance is all thanks to "miscommunication." Which means that romance movie creators assume that, viewers love the suspense that builds up...what's going to happen? Is a love interest going to random a different random person? Will a love interest move on?

1. In Pride & Prejudice, the problems that Elizabeth Bennet has with Mr. Darcy is breaking up Mr. Bingley and his sister Jane, the offenses he says about her family (that they're just in it for the $), and additionally, the lies Wickham told her about him as well.

Well, Mr. Darcy, actually being a communication king for once, addresses all of these concerns. He believed Jane did not have feelings for Mr. Bingley, and was doing his favor a friend, about Elizabeth's family...well...at least he's honest. There's not much to say about the things he said about her family because it was just his impression and frankly not wrong. Elizabeth was just protective because of how close she was with her family. And truthfully as well, her mom did brag about the money aspect of it all on several occasions (in public). Elizabeth got too defensive and offended for her MOTHER'S behavior, not even her own. It made no sense for her to be so embarrassed. As far as Wickham, now he was the one in it for money alone all along. Wickham originally complains to Elizabeth that Mr. Darcy did not give him the money Darcy's father granted him in his will because he was jealous, but when Mr. Darcy addresses Elizabeth's concerns to her in a letter, he explains that the truth is that Wickham did get his money, and gambled it all away, and asked for more, for a "career in law," then when that money was lost, he asked AGAIN, that which was refused. He also ended up breaking Mr. Darcy's sister's heart. Short story: money. All you need to know: Wickham was all about money and ruined all his relationships. Actually, the plot twist about him ending up with Lydia is quite weird in my opinion, especially after we find out all these details about Wickham. But, oh well. He isn't all bad supposedly, just extremely passionate about money.

After Darcy confesses his love to Elizabeth, Elizabeth hotly refuses: on account of all the issues mentioned above. So that makes sense. Then Darcy does something quite stupid: (but I guess it makes sense, considering the whole point is that they're both so stubborn and prideful) he insults Elizabeth. He says that he's the one doing her a favor, offering such an advantageous marriage to her, (cause he's rich), and yeah...that was bad. After his confession, Darcy gives Elizabeth a letter in which he explains everything.

Then, the only reason the viewer has to wait until the end of the movie for these two to finally make up is because Elizabeth is so slow in acting. She clearly gets feelings for Darcy, and yet she has to wait until they see again (which, she tried to avoid!) and for him to AGAIN, confess.

Fair concession: she wasn't sure about her feelings yet? But meh, the entire movie after his confession/letter say otherwise.

2. In Sense & Sensibility, Bridgerton S1, and Ever After, miscommunication is even more evident. All throughout Sense & Sensibility, Elinor Dashwood does not act on her feelings for Edward Ferrars, and at the end of the movie when he comes back, he says the only reason he didn't either is because he thought she wasn't interested.

Isn't this just the dumbest plot ever? Like, it's a great movie, but the end and the realizations make you realize that romance movies can have dumb plots: dumb plots that could've been resolved with one sentence.

3. In Bridergton S1, Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Hastings are the worst communicators ever. Daphne decides to marry Simon because she doesn't want her brother to duel him, Simon decides that Daphne did it because they had a secret kiss, (meaning she was "ruined" back then). Simon decides Daphne is absolutely miserable and hates Simon, hates that she has to marry him. Daphne feels horrible because she thinks Simon is trapped when he never wanted to marry anyone. Both are thinking of each other, but both are miserable and the worst communicators ever. Obviously it works out! But it's the amount of miscommunication and suspense that keeps the viewer watching, that stretches the love story into a whole season long.

4. In Ever After, Danielle de Barbarac, unexpectedly meets prince Henry, and their interaction leaves King Henry extremely intrigued in the girl: Danielle continuously aggressively throws apples at him until she realizes it's the prince, of France! The looming miscommunication is that Danielle consistently lies to the prince about who she is: claiming she is Countess Nicole de Lancret (her mother) when is merely a servant of her evil stepmother, since this is a Cinderella story. This is the looming miscommunication, one that ends with the prince publicly humiliating and rejecting Danielle at the ball: he feels humiliated himself for opening up so much to Danielle and not even knowing her name.

5. Last but not least: The Notebook. Allie and Noah fight before they both leave: Allie to Sarah Lawrence College; Noah to the army. The miscommunication in this movie is actually somewhat permissible because Noah writes a letter to Allie everyday (how is that even possible) but Allie's mother is the one that keeps it from her. Still, Allie made no effort, did she? Yes, she tried to look for Noah before her parents made her leave, and obviously they had just had a fight (about Allie's parents disapproving of Noah?) but she never wrote him letters: and when some other guy (Lon Hammond, played by James Marsden), proposes to her, apparently all she sees is Noah's face and yet, still she says nothing.

Can YOU think of any other examples?

Let me know of what you think about this blog post!!☺