The 2000s were comprised of some of the best movies, especially romantic comedies! The girl and the guy meet, fall in love, something bad happens, and then it ends with an optimistic resolution every time.
In addition to these romantic comedies, there is a similar employment type among the main characters. It seems to me that communications was the most popular job for a woman to have in an early 2000s film. Between being a journalist like Andy Anderson, a magazine editor like Jenna Rink, or an assistant for a big fashion magazine like Andrea Sachs.
The communications girls seem to have such glamorized versions of their job. In each movie, they made it seem like they had it all together. A great job, great apartment, great social life, and free time. That is the key to a movie’s plot. But the plot wasn’t just fun to watch; it made people want to go into communications roles because of how amazing that “life” seemed.
The success of a romantic comedy with a lead in communications didn’t go unnoticed. People liked seeing this because it’s versatile. Communications is a varied field and a fast-paced environment. Therefore, directors could do anything with the movie’s plot. It engaged the audience by adding glamour, gossip, smart leads, and, of course, love.
Andy Anderson is often the first person people think of when this description comes up. From the hit movie How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey, Andy Anderson is an advice columnist at fictional Composure Magazine, where she is trying to make her column a must-read. The movie surrounds her newest article, “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” where she finds a guy to date and does horrendous things to make him retreat, just for the article.
Andy dreams of writing meaningful stories, not just advice on hair, makeup, and style. The movie makes it look like a dream place to work. Although she wants to write more political pieces, she still loves her job. Her office shows off a fun vibe— she has close friends at work, a great style, and a good social life. The movie made me want to pursue journalism like Kate Hudson’s character because of the glamorous depiction of what that life is like.
Jenna Rink in 13 Going on 30 was a character who made us all fall in love with the lifestyle of a magazine editor. She was played by the amazing Jennifer Garner, who made this role her own.
The character starts off as a 13-year-old girl who wishes she were older, wiser, and prettier— or thirty, flirty and thriving as she puts it! She gets her wish on her birthday and is transformed into her 30-year-old self, in a future where she is a magazine editor at Poise, a fashion magazine in New York City. We get to dive into the life of a magazine editor who is under the pressures of work, but is having a great time nonetheless.
The movie shows us a cutthroat side of the world of journalism where Rink is under a major time crunch, and things don’t go as smoothly as she’d hope, yet the movie still brings a glamorous tone. The work outfits make it even more iconic.
The Devil Wears Prada will continue to be talked about for years to come! The lead role, Andrea Sachs (played by Anne Hathaway), is a journalist trying to make it in the big city of New York. HR sends her to interview for a prized assistant position at Runway Magazine for editor-in-chief, Miranda Priestly, who is known for her cutthroat personality.
She gets hired, and with no fashion sense or idea of how important her job really is. The movie follows her transformation into someone who loves fashion, and we get to see her newfound fascination with her job. In the end, the job isn’t right for her, and she decides to follow her dream of being a journalist for a newspaper in New York City.
With these three icons of communications roles in early 2000s romantic comedies, it set up a cultural fascination for the audience. I wasn’t even born when these movies came out, and they are some of my favourites to this day. As a girl who wants to pursue a role in communications, these movies inspire me. And not just me, but many other individuals as well. The lead roles were always strong, beautiful, smart women who knew what they wanted and went for it.
With the mix of success and love, each watch grew our admiration not only for the movie but also for the potential career paths we take in the future!