CONVENTIONS OF THE ROMCON

Characters –Protagonist:

This is the character that the audience routes for, he/she is usually the new kid in school, the new employee, or generally the “rookie” character in any setting. The audience is meant to connect emotionally with this figure, as they are able to identify with their feelings of exclusion and inability to get the girl or guy. Conventionally, the protagonist starts off in the film as the geeky nerdy character with little status or apparent beauty, yet as the film progresses they gain status and in chick flick comedy’s, get a makeover, and finish the film as the sexy confident character that they wished they were at the start of the film, as in “The Princess Diaries” with Anne Hathaway’s role. This character can be played straight, meaning that they lack of comedy and generally don’t react to or notice the comedy in other aspects of the film, as in Adam Sandler’s role in the RomCom “50 Firsts Dates”. Playing straight doesn’t mean the character isn’t funny, rather that they are not the main source of the humor rather their reactions to the sometimes bizarre characters and situations they encounter is, as Adam Sandler was to the humorous character of Drew Barrymore. On the other hand, they may be the comedic character in the film whose social awkwardness, or backfired efforts can create lots of humor in the film. Regardless of which way the character is played they are very endearing for the audiences the viewer associates with the characters plight and wants them to succeed. 

Antagonist:

This character has usually been round the block a few times and has been able to establish themselves as the king or queen of the situation and the top of the pile. In RomComs they are usually the

current jerk ass boyfriend or cheating girlfriend of the protagonists love interest, or they too are competing for the love of the love interest. They always seem to be the more obvious choice for the romantic interest, as they start the film usually as the high status, fit of form Jock or Popular Girl but nearly always by the dominator portrayed as petty and lacking in beauty compared to the newly reformed protagonist. This character traditionally sees the entrance of the protagonist as a threat to their status and does all that they can to cement it by pushing the protagonist down. By the end of the film the antagonist usually gets their comeuppance as their efforts backfire and they end up on the bottom of the social hierarchy and the protagonist at the top. In a series we have more time to explore characters, so usually we discover what it was that turned them so evil or petty in the first place, as with the mother character in the TV sit-com Miranda. This can partially be seen in movies yet to such a deep extent as they don’t have the time, as in Mean Girls, where we discover it was all parental pushiness that drove the antagonist to act in a certain way. In some films instead of ending up at the bottom they may reform and become a friend of the protagonist once they set aside their differences and work together to reach a goal. The Romantic Interest:

This is a key stock character in the RomCom genre being an object of attraction for the protagonist. Conventionally this character is often a female friend of the protagonist, who might have friend zoned him or doesn’t think he likes her, yet the character can be a male, as in Disney’s Cinderella. This romantic love interest can be divided into two characters, as in the case of along came Polly wherein Ben Stiller can’t decide between two girls. Deuterogamist (sidekick):

This is the ying to the protagonists yang, this character compliments the protagonist, usually having the opposite characteristics. They can mentor the character in trying to get the

romantic interest or just be the comic relief to the intensity of the main character.

Representations -In RomComs these conventions of representations are as follows:

The protagonist:

This character in RomComs is nearly always a white male, as demonstrated by the films Along Came Polly, 50 First Dates among many others. This is usually done because it is society’s perception that it is the guy that should go after the girl and certainly in western society, white ethnicity is the majority so is the one that is portrayed most often. However in more modern films, such as The Proposal and Leap Year, this idea of the male falling hopelessly in love is being subverted, with the girl chasing the guy in correspondence to rising feminist views. However films portraying this idea are still relatively rare.

Antagonist:

This character is conventionally the handsome Jock or the beautiful popular girl. Representations of these characters tend to portray the beautiful as brainless and stupid, all brawn no brain, and the reverse is true, ugly but smart (however these “ugly” characters usually end up beautiful at the end)

These characters are also portrayed as spiteful and mean even beyond the point of realism, just to distinguish for the audience that this is “the baddie” so to speak. Ethnicity:

This plays a great part of the modern media. Although now removed from its racist roots, characters of different origins tend to conform to stereotypes, especially in this genre, as this is where comic relief can be found. A prime example of this the Sassy Black Woman stock character, wherein any fat black woman will be portrayed as vivacious and loud and unafraid to

speak her mind. In comedies where the female is the lead, they often play the deuterogamist as they can make a good counterpoint to the more grim or snarky members of the cast. A male example shows all black males to be good at basketball and smooth with the ladies, a reason to be made the protagonists sidekick/mentor. It is also very rare to see ethnic characters made the stand alone lead in these films without a point being made of the fact they are ethnic, again a nod to society's previously, and perhaps currently racist views. Sexuality:

In the media, especially RomComs the sexuality nearly always means heterosexuality. Gay characters are nearly always male and there is the strong representation of the “camp gay” who will often speak with a lisp, and is given to flouncing, prancing, and standing with one hand on his hip as the other is held out in a limp-wristed gesture. Although attitudes are slowly changing, as demonstrated by media such as theTV program “Glee”, this is representation is still extremely prominent. Sound:

In the RomCom genre, many different sound devices are used to create effect. The most common of these is atmospheric music. This usually takes the form of lively upbeat songs, such as in the opening to 50 First Dates, which it begins with a slow romantic ukulele strum, a reference to the Rom of RomCom, which is quickly juxtaposed by a lively upbeat track, setting the tone for the comical fast paced events to follow. It’s not just music that’s used however, Directors like to make use of diegetic sounds, particularly bird song, to infer the natural love that is forming on the screen. However in the comedy and RomCom genre atmospheric music is the main audio device, as Foleys and other sounds are more typical in the thriller/horror genre as they seem to be slightly out of place in the romantic RomComworld.