Soda is opened and chips crinkle as friends come together to watch romantic comedies, called rom-coms. Many enjoy older rom-coms, like 2006’s movie “She’s the Man” and 1999’s “10 Things I Hate About You.” Modern rom-coms like “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before,” however, don’t have discrimination showcased in older rom-coms.
1980s : ‘Sixteen Candles’
The face of 1980’s rom-coms was “Sixteen Candles,” which was racist, homophobic and misogynistic. The plot starts off with the main character, Samantha Baker, on the day of her self-absorbed sister’s wedding, which just so happens to be Samantha’s 16th birthday as well.
It’s revealed that Samantha has a crush on Jake Ryan as she talks with her friend. Ten minutes later, Jake reveals to his friend that he has a crush on her too. As Samantha takes the bus home, a freshman known as “the geek” flirts with her. In order to deter him, she calls him a homophobic slur. This represents an older culture, where hatred and insensitivity was more broadly accepted.
As Samantha arrives home, she meets Asian Exchange Student “Long Duk Dong,” a racist portrayal of Asians. The geek ends up matchmaking Jake Ryan and Samantha Baker, and the film ends on a shot of the two blowing out Samantha’s birthday cake candles.
Throughout the film, the geek takes a drunk girl home and takes advantage of her, the Asian Exchange Student portrays the stereotype of “Asians are bad drivers” and Samantha’s grandmother gropes Samantha. While the film shows the uglier side of 1980s culture with misogyny, racism and homophobia, there is also a feeling of chemistry between Jake Ryan and Samantha Baker missing in most modern rom-coms.
1990s : ‘10 Things I Hate About You’
The misogyny decreases in the iconic 1990’s rom-com, “10 Things I Hate About You.” In this movie, there is a pair of sisters, Kat and Bianca, that are practically opposites. In “10 Things I Hate About You,” Kat is the main character.
The sisters’ father makes a rule that until the more disobedient sister, Kat, dates, Bianca isn’t allowed to date, and Kat would rather die. A new kid, Cameron, moves to town at the start of the movie and is shown around the school by Michael. As they roam the quad, Cameron sees Bianca and the two pals scheme to get him a date with her. They trick Joey, a high school model, into hiring someone to date Kat. As Kat and her fake boyfriend fall for each other, the two attend a party. Kat, surprisingly, gets drunk and tries to kiss Patrick . However, because she is drunk, Patrick is responsible and rejects her kiss. This shows progression on the genre’s part, compared to how the geek in “Sixteen Candles” took advantage of a drunk girl.
Secondly, the movie displays progression by openly mocking the now extinct clique of white kids who racially appropriated black culture. That doesn’t mean “listen to hip-hop,” but dreadlock-having, accent adopting, white kids.
2000s : ‘She’s the Man’
Of course, the rom-com genre wouldn’t be as popular among modern day teenagers without the 2000s. The zany, adorable and feminist “She’s the Man” is the modern face of teen rom-coms. In “She’s the Man,” a high school female soccer player whose team is cut goes to her brother’s boarding school in order to prove that girls can do anything guys do.
The plot of “She’s The Man” revolves around making Viola pretend to be a boy, specifically her twin brother. The movie plays with the complex ideas of gender identity and the not so complex screwball comedy- the manipulation of masculine and feminine energy in characters.
The movie is very progressive, showing how Viola’s hard work gets her on the boy’s team and that girls can do anything guys do. There isn’t much direct LGBTQ+ representation in the characters, but that isn’t necessary for a good movie.
2010s : To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
The main character, Lara Jean Covey, has unsent letters to each of her biggest crushes. She wrote them when she was at the height of her feelings for them to get all her feelings out.
As she started her junior year without a friend group, her younger sister Katherine “Kitty” Covey takes it upon herself to mail out the letters, creating a chaotic situationship. As her former crushes approach her in order to handle the situation, Lara Jean kisses one of her former crushes, Peter, to deter the four others. This ends surprisingly well, with them dating each other through college.
Out of all of the rom-coms, “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” is the most enjoyable. It still has the campy, zany and crazy aspects of former rom-coms, but without the racism and homophobia presented in past rom-coms.
For example, “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” shows Asian-American and LGBTQ+ representation in their film via both the main character and a former crush. This isn’t to say that older rom-coms weren’t enjoyable, but their quality was hindered by the insensitive things that their characters said and did. In general, rom-coms didn’t get worse.
