MemeMachineGo!

One of my Xmas gifts this year (by request) was Writing the Romantic Comedy by Billy Mernit. I was interested in Rober Ebert's synopsis of the formula in his review of "Two Weeks Notice"

If I tell you "Two Weeks Notice" is a romantic comedy and it stars Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant, what do you already know, and what do you need to know?

You already know: That when they meet the first time, they don't like each other. That circumstances bring them together. That they get along fine, but are sometimes scared by that and back off a little. That they are falling in love without knowing it. That just when they're about to know it, circumstances force them apart. That they seem doomed to live separately, their love never realized. That circumstances bring them back together again. That they finally cave in and admit they're in love.

You need to know: What her job is. What his job is. What they disagree about. What their personality flaws are. And whether, just when their eyes are about to meet, it is a woman who seems to lure him away, or a man who seems to lure her away? You also need to know certain plug-in details of the movie, such as which ethnic groups and ethnic foods it will assign, and what fantasy dreams it will realize.

I have not, by making these observations, spoiled the plot of the movie. I have spoiled the plot of every romantic comedy. Just last week I saw "Maid in Manhattan," and with that one you also know the same things and don't know the same things. The thing is, it doesn't matter that you know. If the actors are charming and the dialogue makes an effort to be witty and smart, the movie will work even though it faithfully follows the ancient formulas.

I'm taking a screenwriting course through the UC Berkeley extension this spring, and a couple of the things under consideration for what I'll write during the course are romantic comedies. Like Ebert says, they're the comfort food of movies, but like the titular character of Preston Sturges' Sullivan's Travels concludes, there's value in making people laugh.