Who doesn’t enjoy a good lovey-dovey movie about teenagers? For those of you who would like to avoid crying because of a tragic or unfulfilling ending, rom-coms are the movie genre for you. Movies about love can often be serious and boring with unhappy endings, but with this genre, a happy ending is always to be expected. And with this list, you’ll definitely be glad you decided to watch Clueless instead of some movie where the main character dies.
1. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
This movie is based off of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, but retold through a group of highschoolers living in Seattle, Washington. The story is focused mostly on Kat, who is an outsider at the school and has a sister named Bianca that is her total opposite. Kat unexpectedly falls in love with Patrick, who is originally paid to convince her to date him. Many other situations and points of view are also seen by the audience, and who wouldn’t watch a movie with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Heath Ledger starring in it?
2. She’s All That (1999)
Being one of the most popular movies during the late nineties, it’s no surprise people are still watching it today. Zack Siler, the popular “It Boy” at school, is dared to make a girl prom queen in six weeks. The only catch is that his friends get to choose that girl, and of course they chose one of the only girls that has never shown an interest in Zack. Like any other teen rom-com, they end up falling in love, but not without the occasional antagonism and drama.
3. She’s The Man (2006)
Based off of Twelfth Night, another one of Shakespeare’s plays, Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum play two high schoolers who share a love for soccer. In the film, Bynes plays Viola, a teenager who enrolls in her brother’s school by pretending to be him, all in order to play on the boys’ soccer team after her team gets cut at her school. While moving into the dorms, she meets Duke, her roommate and the boys’ soccer team captain. A large and complicated love triangle is created, making for an ending that is quite unexpected.
4. Clueless (1995)
If you’ve never watched this movie, what have you been doing your whole life? This cult classic focuses on the life of Cher, a rich and popular girl living in Beverly Hills. The film shows her daily life, including her drama filled relationships with family and friends. Throughout the film, Cher teaches important life lessons to other characters in the movie, as well as the audience. In the end, she finds love in a very surprising way while also creating stronger and long lasting friendships.
5. Legally Blonde (2001)
After her wealthy boyfriend, Warner Huntington III, breaks up with her instead of proposing like she expected, Elle Woods makes it her goal to become the woman that Warner’s family wants him to end up with. Since he’s been accepted into Harvard Law, she decides to apply and gets accepted as well. Not being taken seriously in school, she works hard and realizes that Warner was not what she wanted. By the end of the film, she graduates at the top of her class and falls in love with Emmett, a guy she met on the first day of school.
6. A Cinderella Story (2004)
Being another take on the folktale of Cinderella, the ending to this movie is universally known. Mean girls and greedy stepmothers are also found in this film, but the story is told differently. The plot revolves around Sam and Austin, two high schoolers from different crowds that unknowingly become internet pen pals. They bond through their shared dream of attending Princeton, a school that Sam can’t afford and Austin’s family doesn’t want him to go to. While at their school’s Halloween dance, they meet up and he reveals his identity while hers is kept a secret for most of the film. In the end, he finds out who she is and they end up attending Princeton together.
Romantic comedies are essential in life. They take a lot of the pressure and seriousness out of love. It’s always nice when you can laugh and relate to a character in any film. Yes, rom-coms can definitely have unrealistic events take place, but that’s the fun of it. Watching a film that’s both entertaining and enjoyable is all that matters, and if that’s a rom-com for you, just know that you have great taste in films.
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