During the 1990s, cinema was dominated by rom-coms. Actors and actresses like Julia Roberts, Hugh Grant, and Richard Gere became Hollywood stars largely because of this genre, winning over audiences again and again with their box-office hits.
Pretty Woman (1990), My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), and Notting Hill (1999) are just a few examples of a cinematic phenomenon that ruled theaters in North America—and around the world.
However, with the rise of superhero movies in the 2000s, rom-coms began to lose traction. Investment in major franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) led Hollywood, for years, to prioritize purportedly “male interests” when greenlighting new films, increasingly neglecting romance-centric productions.
The genre’s main challenge became the sustainability of increasingly unrealistic portrayals of love. These films often present the perfect relationships between almost exclusively white, heterosexual, wealthy characters. Sexist stereotypes were repeatedly perpetuated and reinforced in major productions. Audiences stopped watching because they no longer identified with them.
So, how do we bring such a popular genre back on everyone’s lips—and hearts?
Made by Men, Consumed by Women: The Cracks of Misogyny
Rom-coms of the 1960s were often centered on female protagonists who spoke directly to women. Yet despite that focus, the films were not feminist—quite the opposite. Female characters’ desires frequently revolved around male leads, giving rise to the “manic pixie dream girl”: a figure whose narrative purpose is to support the male protagonist and alter his worldview, as often discussed in relation to Almost Famous and (500) Days of Summer.
These portrayals reinforced traditional gender roles: women aspired primarily to marriage, their arcs depended on romantic relationships, and those who secured the desired partner were celebrated as heroines. Often they resisted male advances so as not to seem “easy,” but agency was limited. Breakfast at Tiffany’s presents a protagonist who, while dreaming of marriage, initially rejects love and suitors—hinting that women could exercise choice, even within restrictive narratives.
Pretty Woman frames Vivian’s precarious circumstances as resolved through a relationship with a wealthy man—casting him as a modern “prince.” The familiar formula (obstacles to tension to happy ending) increases audience identification and emotional payoff, even as it naturalizes rescue narratives.
These clichés predate the 1990s. Comedy often relies on stock types— “the clumsy woman”, “the hopeless romantic”, “the single woman” — and the “Madonna–Whore Dichotomy” reduces women to saint or sinner. The “battle of the sexes” popularized by 1930s screwball comedies, satirized courtship by pitting men and women against each other; misogyny was frequently softened by humor and the illusion of equality.
Contemporary examples such as The Ugly Truth compress many of these stereotypes into a single story: a romantic female lead paired with a bombastic, supposedly “expert” man who claims to understand male behavior. Sexism in rom-coms was not always overt; it could be encoded in details like pink-collar jobs that kept women in subordinate roles, or in comic flaws assigned to powerful female characters (see The Proposal).
Cultural shifts—beginning with the flappers of the 1920s and amplified after World War II, gradually altered portrayals of women onscreen. The flapper’s independence evolved into more complex archetypes, and films began to offer richer stories about women while still often centering male perspectives.
Over recent decades, many rom-coms moved beyond earlier stereotypes. Films such as Clueless and Friends with Benefits challenged conventions by prioritizing female agency or subverting the mandatory fairy-tale ending. More recently, titles that foreground diverse casts and experiences—To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Crazy Rich Asians, for example—have broadened the genre’s scope and representation. Their streaming success encouraged platforms to invest more in original romantic comedies, giving the genre renewed visibility.
The industry is still evolving. The way forward is straightforward: abandon tired gender stereotypes, reflect how contemporary relationships actually function, and treat rom-coms as culturally valuable, not disposable. That approach will help produce more feminist, diverse, and representative romantic comedies in the near future.
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The article above was edited by Giovanna Rodrigues.
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