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.RELATED:Dragon Age Inquisition: Every Possible Romance, RankedFrom holiday themes to calling off a wedding,rom-coms repeat clichésthat 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.
10The 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 seriesBridgerton, 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.
9Big 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 inGilmore 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 personlike many underrated anime do.
8Empowering Makeovers
Some critics might say makeovers arenot a great clichébased 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 inThe 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.
7The Unpopular And Popular Person
The jock falling for a geek is a trope that isoften 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 Leagueshowcases 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.
6An Awkward Meet-Cute
Many movies open with themain 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).
InThe 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 andthey build on their relationship from there.
5Fake 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, theuncomfortable affectionate displays make for hilarious encounterswith 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 movieHolidate, 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.
4Period 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.
Outlandergets 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.
3Kissing 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’sromantic and dramatic and the perfect cinematic momentfor a couple.
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A key example of this is one of the most famous romantic scenes; the kiss inThe 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.
2The 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.
InLove 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.
1Hate 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. Theyrefuse to acknowledge their attractionfor one another until that heat evolves into something new.
You’ve Got Mailis 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.
