Whether it be movies, TV shows, or books, people come back time and time again for a happy ending. Media provides an escape from the real world and what better way than seeing two people stumble through love for 90 minutes. There’s a reason romantic comedies are one of the most popular genres out there.From holiday themes to calling off a wedding, rom-coms repeat clichés that viewers eat up every time, even when they know what will happen. Some are now seen as problematic, such as the love triangle, but others will stick around for a long time because of how beloved they are.
10 The Reformed Rake
Common characters in rom-coms are the players with a fear of commitment. There’s nothing like a rake stumbling across “the one” and turning their world upside-down. In the TV series Bridgerton, a regency romance, Duke Simon Basset swears to never get married.
Yet when Daphne Bridgerton comes along, the rake finds himself changing his ways as their fake relationship blooms into something real. The show gets tons of praise, and a lot of that is thanks to the character arc of the Duke’s changing views. He went from swearing to never date, let alone get married, to faking a relationship with a woman, and, against his previous views, end up turning into real affection.
9 Big Romantic Gestures
Who doesn’t love being serenaded outside their window or getting a grand gift presented to them in public? While this event rarely happens or is charming in real life, movie characters literally “showing” how much they care pulls at viewers’ heartstrings.
Max Medina presented Lorelei Gilmore with exactly 1,000 yellow daisies in Gilmore Girls. Giving a girl flowers is a classic romantic gesture, but filling a room with hundreds of them takes the gesture to a whole new level to reveal just how passionate they are about a person like many underrated anime do.
8 Empowering Makeovers
Some critics might say makeovers are not a great cliché based on a character just needing to take off their glasses for their beauty to be recognized by the rest of the world. Yet, a makeover often empowers the protagonist to see their outer beauty as while as their inner. Mia Thermopolis gets a physical makeover and etiquette lessons in The Princess Diaries. Her friend Michael Moscovitz had feelings for her before the makeover, but it’s not until she finds self-love that she realizes this.
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Her new looks give her the confidence to see herself as worthy of the title princess of Genovia when before she had the same skill but couldn’t admit it. Her transformation is the catalyst for the whole movie to move forward.
7 The Unpopular And Popular Person
The jock falling for a geek is a trope that is often paired with a makeover. Viewers can’t get enough of seeing a character fall for someone they think is more attractive or talented. The wooing that follows leaves viewers confident that being different doesn’t matter because love conquers all.
She’s Out of My League showcases a TSA agent who encounters a beautiful woman at the airport. As the title implies, he believes she’s too good for him, so he works hard to win her affection.
6 An Awkward Meet-Cute
Many movies open with the main character colliding with their future love interest, spilling papers on the floor, or coffee on someone’s shirt. It’s over-the-top, awkward, and somehow endearing. When their gazes meet for the first time, it’s love at first sight (or at least one of them being flustered).
In The Wedding Planner, Mary Fiore gets pushed out of the way of a dumpster barreling straight for her by Steve Edison, and their gazes lock. Immediate chemistry blossoms from that moment on and they build on their relationship from there.
5 Fake Boyfriend
In movies or TV, acquaintances or friends decide to pretend to date for one reason or another. Even if this rarely happens to the everyday person, the uncomfortable affectionate displays make for hilarious encounters with others who don’t know the arrangement.
The relationship going from phony to genuine brings joy to the viewers as they follow along in the journey. This happens in the movie Holidate, where two single strangers decide to be one another’s plus-one to holiday events. As time passes, the fake dates start feeling like real ones.
4 Period Pieces And Holidays
There are specific settings in romantic movies that always seem to sell. Holidays are the perfect setting to add a big occasion to spice up the plot. Another place or time very popular are period pieces. Modern romance is great, but taking viewers back to olden times of courting adds another element that viewers can’t experience in their day-to-day life.
Outlander gets amazing reviews for its tale of time travel and love. Already in the past during World War II, Claire Beauchamp Randall gets sent back in time to 1700s Scotland where she meets a Highlander. Their love is spiced up by history in this film's case.
3 Kissing In The Rain
A kiss in the rain would be cold, soggy, and uncomfortable if it happened to the average person. But in a movie or tv show or anime, it’s romantic and dramatic and the perfect cinematic moment for a couple.
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A key example of this is one of the most famous romantic scenes; the kiss in The Notebook. Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton are desperately in love and after seven years apart, their kiss proves that their passion survived all that time. Weather doesn’t stop emotion, it makes it even more emotional for the viewer.
2 The Best Friend Gone Boyfriend Or Girlfriend
The love of someone's life was right there in front of them the whole time. In real life, this often happens when a person will develop a crush on their good friend. That’s why movies with this cliché work so well. Those viewers dream of having such a happy ending. The most successful relationships have a foundation in friendship.
In Love Hard, Natalie Bauer flew out to surprise her perfect dating app man Josh Lin, only to learn he was catfishing her. He helps her try to win over another man she finds attractive and along the way realizes that the man she finds physically attractive isn’t compatible with her emotionally, just like Josh, in this movie's case.
1 Hate To Love
Frenemies appear in many genres whether they end up as friends or as lovers. In rom-coms, the passion of hate hides the characters’ true feelings. They refuse to acknowledge their attraction for one another until that heat evolves into something new.
You’ve Got Mail is a perfect example of this, where online, Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox hit it off. Unknown to them is that in real life they despise one another as competing bookstore owners. The contrast in these relationships makes for much-enjoyed conflict.